HP Forum Archive 20

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No new scientific calculators from HP? Message #1 Posted by Ivan Latorre on 25 Jan 2011, 5:23 p.m. Is the 35s the latest RPN scientific calculator from HP? I bought it in summer 2007! No new scientific calculators from HP since then?

Re: No new scientific calculators from HP? Message #2 Posted by Martin Pinckney on 25 Jan 2011, 5:37 p.m., in response to message #1 by Ivan Latorre Correct. Two new business models with some scientific features (20b and 30b), and an upgraded 12c, but no scientifics. Unless you count the SmartCalc 300s, which is not HP-developed, but just a re-badged something-or-other. People on here have been clamoring for a new HP scientific ever since 35s, the main reason being the real or perceived deficiencies of said model. It's a popular topic. Edited: 25 Jan 2011, 5:39 p.m.

Re: No new scientific calculators from HP? Message #3 Posted by Michael de Estrada on 25 Jan 2011, 7:42 p.m., in response to message #2 by Martin Pinckney I was in a Home Depot today to buy some tax software and compressed air dusters, and checked out the calculator rack. There were several HP business calculators, but not a single HP scientific calc. Meanwhile, there were 6 or so TI high end graphing calcs, and dozens of other lesser scientific calcs from other brands. It used to be that you'd find at least one or two HP scientific calcs there, but I guess the market has been lost to TI and others. Correction: I meant Office Depot Edited: 25 Jan 2011, 9:37 p.m. after one or more responses were posted

Re: No new scientific calculators from HP? Message #4 Posted by Don Shepherd on 25 Jan 2011, 7:54 p.m., in response to message #3 by Michael de Estrada I hope you mean Office Depot. I don't think Home Depot carries calculators. : )

Re: No new scientific calculators from HP? Message #5 Posted by Eric Smith on 25 Jan 2011, 8:07 p.m., in response to message #4 by Don Shepherd The Home Depot web site lists four calculators, but none are HP.

Re: No new scientific calculators from HP? Message #6 Posted by Martin Pinckney on 25 Jan 2011, 8:32 p.m., in response to message #4 by Don Shepherd Quote: I don't think Home Depot carries calculators. : ) Actually, the stores here do carry the Calculated Industries dimensional calculators.

Re: No new scientific calculators from HP? Message #7 Posted by Michael de Estrada on 25 Jan 2011, 9:35 p.m., in response to message #4 by Don Shepherd Yes, I meant Office Depot. Home Depot went out of business here. Now we just have Lowes.

Re: No new scientific calculators from HP? Message #8 Posted by Walter B on 25 Jan 2011, 5:38 p.m., in response to message #1 by Ivan Latorre Sorry - no new scientific since then. HP focusses on financial calcs - must see a bigger market there or greater need since 2008 :-(

Re: No new scientific calculators from HP? Message #9 Posted by John B. Smitherman on 25 Jan 2011, 5:45 p.m., in response to message #8 by Walter B Quote: HP focusses on financial calcs - must see a bigger market there or greater need since 2008 :-( LOL. I guess that with the "Great Recession" HP felt the need to help the financial community with better high quality tools. ;-) Regarding a new scientific... I would be satisfied with a better 35s. Regards, John

Re: No new scientific calculators from HP? Message #10 Posted by Martin Pinckney on 25 Jan 2011, 5:53 p.m., in response to message #9 by John B. Smitherman Quote: Regarding a new scientific... I would be satisfied with a better 35s. For me, that depends. I could live with ergonomic problems like the glare on the display, the odd (to me) display font, combined parenthesis key, and shifted STO function. The bugs would presumably be fixed in any "better" 35s. But the antiquated Solver I could not abide, even if everything else was improved.

Re: No new scientific calculators from HP? Message #11 Posted by Paul Dale on 25 Jan 2011, 5:55 p.m., in response to message #9 by John B. Smitherman Quote: Regarding a new scientific... I would be satisfied with a better 35s. I'd be very happy with a 35s that addressed the known bugs. - Pauli

Re: No new scientific calculators from HP? Message #12 Posted by Jim Yohe on 25 Jan 2011, 8:52 p.m., in response to message #11 by Paul Dale Is there a bug list for the 42s?

Re: No new scientific calculators from HP? Message #13 Posted by Martin Pinckney on 25 Jan 2011, 10:04 p.m., in response to message #12 by Jim Yohe Excellent question! Apparently not very many. Searching this site brought up a few questions, but not many answers. There is this thread for instance, but the URL given to Finseth does not work for me.

Re: No new scientific calculators from HP? Message #14 Posted by Jim Yohe on 25 Jan 2011, 11:10 p.m., in response to message #13 by Martin Pinckney Too bad that URL (http://www.finseth.com/~fin/hpdata/hp42s.html) at the end of that thread no longer works.

Re: No new scientific calculators from HP? Message #15 Posted by Howard Owen on 26 Jan 2011, 6:06 p.m., in response to message #13 by Martin Pinckney The page moved to here: http://www.finseth.com/hpdata/hp42s.php

Re: No new scientific calculators from HP? Message #16 Posted by John B. Smitherman on 25 Jan 2011, 10:33 p.m., in response to message #12 by Jim Yohe Jim, this is all that I'm aware of: 42s Regards, John

Re: No new scientific calculators from HP? Message #17 Posted by Jim Yohe on 25 Jan 2011, 11:11 p.m., in response to message #16 by John B. Smitherman Thanks John. Interesting long and detailed list. -Jim

Re: No new scientific calculators from HP? Message #18 Posted by Martin Pinckney on 25 Jan 2011, 11:29 p.m., in response to message #16 by John B. Smitherman Only two bugs? Incredible.

Re: No new scientific calculators from HP? Message #19 Posted by Fred Lusk on 26 Jan 2011, 12:18 a.m., in response to message #18 by Martin Pinckney Actually there are a couple more. When I bought my HP-42S in 1989, it came with a "Manual Update" page that described two stat bugs (I am using # in place of the Greek letter sigma): [1] "If you have selected LIN# mode and execute LASTX after #+ or #-, you will get an incorrect result....This update describes a method to correct mistakes in statistical-data entry. This problem applies to executing LASTX after #+ or #- only in LIN# mode. The default is ALL# mode (see page 234)." [2] "If you try to use the HP-42S power curve-fitting model to forcast a x-value as described on page 240, you will get an incorrect solution. This manual update provides a method you can use to get a correct solution. This problem applies only to the method for focasting an x-value within the power curve-fitting model. All other methodes for the curve-fitting and forcasting models (including forcasting y-values within the power model) are correct as described in the manual." BTW, the solution for problem #2 was a little 7-step program. The Update Identification for this page is as follows: Update Number: 1; Part Number: 00042=90042; Date: December 1988 If anyone needs a copy, drop me a line and I will email it to you. I vaguely recall sending a copy to Dave Hicks to post on the site, but haven't checked to see if it's there. Fred Edited: 26 Jan 2011, 12:19 a.m.

Re: No new scientific calculators from HP? Message #20 Posted by Martin Pinckney on 26 Jan 2011, 10:42 a.m., in response to message #19 by Fred Lusk Hi, Fred. Good to hear from you again. Like hoping for a new scientific from HP, I am still hoping for a 42s revision to your Feet-Inches-Fractions program. {:-)

Re: No new scientific calculators from HP? Message #21 Posted by Fred Lusk on 28 Jan 2011, 8:47 p.m., in response to message #20 by Martin Pinckney Martin… It's STILL on my To Do List. I have had very little time for programming the last several years. I actually have the update for the 41CX version of the program about 95% done--just need to resolve one issue where the physical machine and my emulators differ (IIRC one or the other, but not both, doesn't like the depth of my subroutine calls). After that, the 42S version requires only buiding the menus. I should have it done sometime before get men back on the moon, but hopefully sooner. Fred

Re: No new scientific calculators from HP? Message #22 Posted by Martin Pinckney on 28 Jan 2011, 10:52 p.m., in response to message #21 by Fred Lusk Thanks!

Re: No new scientific calculators from HP? Message #23 Posted by Mike Morrow on 26 Jan 2011, 1:58 p.m., in response to message #19 by Fred Lusk My HP 42S with Rev. A firmware (2934Sxxxxx) has this Update 1 sheet with the manual. Apparently the problems were corrected by Rev. C firmware on my two later HP 42S units (3328Sxxxxxx). The Edition 7 manual (January 1992) contains no caveats about these two issues. I've never personally come across an HP 42S with the Rev. B firmware, but I'd bet that it was corrected also. It is amazing that such capable and complex firmware as is found in the HP 42S has so few imperfections. What a great job by the HP team that was responsible for HP 42S issues two decades ago! Edited: 26 Jan 2011, 2:00 p.m.

Re: No new scientific calculators from HP? Message #24 Posted by Rav Walia on 25 Jan 2011, 9:54 p.m., in response to message #1 by Ivan Latorre There hasn't been any new scientific calculators from HP and I'm fast beginning to think that we wont see any. It's unfortunate, but I'm going to go and start looking at non HP scientific calculators and start to learn how to use a non RPN calculator. My feeling is that if you want a scientific calculator it might be better to start looking at other companies, at least they 'appear' to be more active in producing new scientific calculators. Edited: 25 Jan 2011, 10:26 p.m.

Re: No new scientific calculators from HP? Message #25 Posted by Martin Pinckney on 25 Jan 2011, 10:30 p.m., in response to message #24 by Rav Walia Quote: ... I'm fast beginning to think that we wont see any... other companies, at least they 'appear' to be more active in producing new scientific calculators. Hold on, there. Let's see, the 35s came out in 2007, right? The 33s in 2004? So after the demise of the Pioneers, we've had two about fours years apart. Meanwhile the progression of the larger 48/49/50 series has continued. In the same time period HP has updated the 10b once, 17bii twice, the 12c, what, three times? But these are largely cosmetic changes, except increasing speed of 12c. But no real change in functionality, unless you allow for adding ALG to Platinum. Granted, this is arguably more activity than for scientific, but the only new business calcs are 20b and 30b. So I, for one, believe HP is working on a new scientific, and we are about due for one, perhaps as early as this summer. Edited: 25 Jan 2011, 10:32 p.m.

Re: No new scientific calculators from HP? Message #26 Posted by Jim Yohe on 25 Jan 2011, 11:55 p.m., in response to message #25 by Martin Pinckney Hope your crystal ball is right! :-P

Re: No new scientific calculators from HP? Message #27 Posted by Paul Gaster on 26 Jan 2011, 11:33 a.m., in response to message #26 by Jim Yohe I hope for some new things too, but I'm not going to hold my breath. The 35s made sense for multiple reasons. People complained loudly about the 33s, and with the 35th anniversary of the HP-35 the timing was right for the 35S. I could see HP making a revision to the 35S to fix bugs, but to invest time and money for a new model...well, I just don't see it right now. Everyone wants a new 42s, but there is no anniversary coming up for that as far as I know. On the graphing side of things the 48GII was changed once already to add a USB port and equation library. I don't know how anyone could add more to the 50G, so that will probably be left alone too. The 12C really needed the speed upgrade to make it competitive with the TI offerings, so that makes sense to me. Everyone seems to like the 30b so it should be stable, and the newest 10bII seems decent for a lower end financial calculator, so I don't see any changes there either. TI calculators own the high school and college math class market, so maybe HP will focus on that for a while. Most of us here wouldn't want an algebraic calculator, we like our RPN, but that is a huge market. If HP could just get a better foothold it could mean a lot of extra cash for them.

Re: No new scientific calculators from HP? Message #28 Posted by Don Shepherd on 26 Jan 2011, 11:53 a.m., in response to message #27 by Paul Gaster Paul, don't look for HP to attempt to enter the education market. TI has a lock on that. TI calculators are the standard in the US education market, from elementary school through college. The textbook manufacturers write lessons specifically for TI graphing calculators. TI has a nationwide network of support and training people who offer training classes to teachers and special deals to school systems. The TI Nspire will eventually become the standard calculator in high schools and colleges (Casio Prizm notwithstanding). It would be economically foolish for TI to try to insert itself in that market at this point. Not to mention, the TI-8x series of graphing calculators are fundamentally good products.

Re: No new scientific calculators from HP? Message #29 Posted by Eric Smith on 26 Jan 2011, 12:53 p.m., in response to message #27 by Paul Gaster Everyone wants a new 42s, but there is no anniversary coming up for that as far as I know. HP usually does not time calculator introductions based on anniversaries. Although there have been "anniversary editions" before the 35s, they simply consisted of putting a special label on an existing calculator. Whether a new 42s is introduced has nothing to do with anniversaries, and everything to do with how much engineering it would take and how well it would be projected to sell. Not being an HP employee, this is of course only my opinion. As with most discussion of future products, those that speak don't know, and those that know don't speak. Edited: 27 Jan 2011, 6:22 a.m.

Re: No new scientific calculators from HP? Message #30 Posted by Martin Pinckney on 26 Jan 2011, 1:26 p.m., in response to message #27 by Paul Gaster Quote: Everyone wants a new 42s... I want the functionality of the 42s and 27s all wrapped up into one neat package with the traditional HP look and feel, and only a few bugs.

Re: No new scientific calculators from HP? Message #31 Posted by Ren on 26 Jan 2011, 12:56 p.m., in response to message #1 by Ivan Latorre Gee, why should they make new ones? Science has reached its zenith, no new discoveries are to be made. As The Sun and Earth are now middle-aged, everything is downhill from here! Except for personal/national/global debt, which will continue to increase until the end. Therefore mankind has a need for financial calculators that have more significant digits. B^) Ren dona nobis pacem

Re: No new scientific calculators from HP? Message #32 Posted by Martin Pinckney on 26 Jan 2011, 1:21 p.m., in response to message #31 by Ren Quote: Therefore mankind has a need for financial calculators that have more significant digits. Can't we teach the financial types to use the EEX key?

Re: No new scientific calculators from HP? Message #33 Posted by Walter B on 26 Jan 2011, 1:33 p.m., in response to message #32 by Martin Pinckney Quote: Can't we teach the financial types to use the EEX key? Except Katie: No!

Re: No new scientific calculators from HP? Message #34 Posted by gene wright on 26 Jan 2011, 1:56 p.m., in response to message #33 by Walter B Hey, I know how to use the EEX key too!

Re: No new scientific calculators from HP? Message #35 Posted by Mark Harman on 26 Jan 2011, 2:48 p.m., in response to message #33 by Walter B I likewise know how to use the EEX key...

Re: No new scientific calculators from HP? Message #36 Posted by Katie Wasserman on 26 Jan 2011, 3:08 p.m., in response to message #35 by Mark Harman I'm only a financial person by accident I was suppose to be a scientific person then later a computer person, but fell off the wagon, twice! :( I think that financial calculations should be done in logarithmic space. It used to be that a million <insert your preferred currency here> was a lot of money, not that long ago it was a billion, now it's trillion.

Re: No new scientific calculators from HP? Message #37 Posted by Michael de Estrada on 26 Jan 2011, 3:40 p.m., in response to message #36 by Katie Wasserman Being an engineer, I have little need for a financial calculator. However, I really love my old HP-12c, because in so many ways it works like a scientific calculator and has so many of the basic features and capabilities. Not only is it RPN and does it have EEX, but it also has all the power and log functions as well. It even has linear regression, which is universally used by engineers, scientists and financiers. That's all that is needed for many engineering calculations.

Re: No new scientific calculators from HP? Message #38 Posted by Andrés C. Rodríguez (Argentina) on 27 Jan 2011, 3:30 p.m., in response to message #36 by Katie Wasserman For my country economy, logarithmic is not enough, but complex currency may do. Our brazilian neighbors name REAL their currency, sometimes argentinian currency works like an imaginary number; so our incipient common market (Mercosur) need a currency with REAL and IM parts for sure.

Re: No new scientific calculators from HP? Message #39 Posted by db (martinez, ca.) on 27 Jan 2011, 10:25 p.m., in response to message #38 by Andrés C. Rodríguez (Argentina) Andres; So since it's not REAL, and not not an imaginary number, what is the Chilean Unidad de Fomento? Maybe a complex number? Carrying this on we could define the Boliviano as a random number and the Sucre as "funny money". BTW: I understand the concept of the UF. It's very Chilean: let's vote our way to equality, act our way to decency, and now calculate our way to fairness. It might work there. It's never been tried on a national scale in North America. - db

Re: No new scientific calculators from HP? Message #40 Posted by Marcus von Cube, Germany on 26 Jan 2011, 5:59 p.m., in response to message #32 by Martin Pinckney That would not help because the trillion $$ debts must be computed to the cent. ;) We need big integers for that, not floating point.

Re: No new scientific calculators from HP? Message #41 Posted by Andrés C. Rodríguez (Argentina) on 27 Jan 2011, 3:32 p.m., in response to message #40 by Marcus von Cube, Germany There are public budgets with more than 10 significant digits... I wonder who may care about the cents when spending 1.000.000.000 dollars!

Re: No new scientific calculators from HP? Message #42 Posted by rav walia on 26 Jan 2011, 1:25 p.m., in response to message #1 by Ivan Latorre Reading all that's been posted in the past asking for a new 42s or new 15c's and multiple threads like this that have been posted here and on other forums, I'm going to have to look elsewhere for my next scientific calculator. I had to use an algebraic calculator last week and after too many years using rpn, it was painful. However, the sooner I start the sooner I'll become used to it. The way the situation is now, I couldn't in good faith recommend to any students/colleagues that learning RPN would be a good way to go. Even if four years is the time between scientific calculators, which I don't think it is, I don't think that's a good strategy in the modern market. Edited: 26 Jan 2011, 1:37 p.m.

Re: No new scientific calculators from HP? Message #43 Posted by Walter B on 26 Jan 2011, 1:42 p.m., in response to message #42 by rav walia Is anyone of HP reading/listening? Here it goes, a significant part of your market ... :( Don't you complain later! >:-(

Re: No new scientific calculators from HP? Message #44 Posted by Martin Pinckney on 26 Jan 2011, 2:17 p.m., in response to message #43 by Walter B Well, Tim is, but refer to Eric's post above: Quote: As with most discussion of future products, those that speak don't know, and those that know don't speak.

Re: No new scientific calculators from HP? Message #45 Posted by Egan Ford on 26 Jan 2011, 5:15 p.m., in response to message #1 by Ivan Latorre Quote: Is the 35s the latest RPN scientific calculator from HP? I bought it in summer 2007! No new scientific calculators from HP since then? Didn't you hear? Money is the new science (and religion). Get a 30b, it has a good balance of finance, classical scientific functions, and stats. Everything you need in this age of consumerism. :-)

Re: No new scientific calculators from HP? Message #46 Posted by Patrick Rendulic on 27 Jan 2011, 6:17 a.m., in response to message #45 by Egan Ford The biggest bug of the HP-35s is the problem with the missed keystrokes. That's why the calculator is USELESS for my professional use.

Re: No new scientific calculators from HP? Message #47 Posted by Jim Yohe on 27 Jan 2011, 2:58 p.m., in response to message #46 by Patrick Rendulic Wait ... a missed keystroke is a human error. ;-)

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