HP Forum Archive 20

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HP50g Advertisement Message #1 Posted by NateB on 24 Dec 2011, 9:17 p.m. This is the first HP calculator advertisement I've ever seen in print. It is being run in the Dec 2011 issue of ASCE's Civil Engineering magazine.

Re: HP50g Advertisement Message #2 Posted by bill platt on 24 Dec 2011, 9:49 p.m., in response to message #1 by NateB That's pretty funny. Why would someone think to use a calculator instead of a laptop? I am curious how they came to that decision. I'm not saying it was the wrong decision--inquiring minds want to know!

Re: HP50g Advertisement Message #3 Posted by NateB on 24 Dec 2011, 10:07 p.m., in response to message #2 by bill platt Same here. Battery life? Durability?

Re: HP50g Advertisement Message #4 Posted by Raymond Del Tondo on 24 Dec 2011, 10:14 p.m., in response to message #2 by bill platt Maybe because a 50g together with a StreamSmart is cheaper than most laptops, or maybe because it's sufficient for the task. On a laptop one may have to install some suitable analysis software. Maybe the 50g built-in analysis features are either well suited for the task, or easily customized to do it right;-) And don't forget mobility: The 50g eats batts within a few weeks, but a laptop only runs 2 to 7 hours on a charge. Apart from that, HP sponsored the ad, and maybe more, so there are reasons beyond the above...

Re: HP50g Advertisement Message #5 Posted by bill platt on 25 Dec 2011, 12:29 a.m., in response to message #4 by Raymond Del Tondo Very plausible ideas. I think it is interesting and perhaps heartening to know that people doing this sort of project have the 50g "on the radar" as it were.

Re: HP50g Advertisement Message #6 Posted by Egan Ford on 25 Dec 2011, 12:44 a.m., in response to message #4 by Raymond Del Tondo Quote: Maybe because a 50g together with a StreamSmart is cheaper than most laptops Given the relative cost of the project as a whole the cost of a laptop vs. calculator would be a rounding error. I'd also wager for every 50g there is probably a dozen or so laptops. My guess, personal choice. The 50g isn't going to outclass a laptop in capabilities, but rather in simplicity. If any of us were on the crew we would probably do the same, not because we should, but because we could.

Re: HP50g Advertisement Message #7 Posted by Ethan Conner on 25 Dec 2011, 1:30 a.m., in response to message #6 by Egan Ford Looking at the NAE website HP is a listed sponsor. I would say that if a wealthy Chinese business man gave them a couple million to keep making runs and told them to say they were taking their data on an abacus they would gladly go along.

Re: HP50g Advertisement Message #8 Posted by NateB on 25 Dec 2011, 1:48 a.m., in response to message #7 by Ethan Conner I thought the same, but HP also sells laptops.

Re: HP50g Advertisement Message #9 Posted by Howard Owen on 25 Dec 2011, 11:14 a.m., in response to message #8 by NateB Quote: I thought the same, but HP also sells laptops. They make just a little bit more from the laptops too. This is the marketing team targeting a particular product. Someone higher up has invested some marketing budget into sponsoring this particular effort. A pretty smart buy, I'd say. Flying a jet on the ground at supersonic speeds has appeal from applied math to the NASCAR crowd. I'm sure they are using this affiliation to push laptops too, but the 50g is an obvious niche product that can benefit from the jet afterglow. None of which speaks to why you might use a 50g for something like this. Perhaps weight on board a grounded jet is at a premium? Maybe the 50g performs better than a laptop when confronted with extremes of temperature, vibration and dust? A laptop designed to survive those conditions would cost a lot more than a 50g. Just because a project will take a lot of money to complete doesn't mean money isn't tight. Quite the opposite, in fact. It's all speculation. But one thing doesn't seem speculative to me. That jet is cooooool! :)

Re: HP50g Advertisement Message #10 Posted by Vince (Italy) on 25 Dec 2011, 4:51 a.m., in response to message #2 by bill platt It would be an unreasonable choice if it were real. Such a complex and difficult task cannot be accomplished using a (sophisticated as it is) calculator. They mainly use a CFD system from FARO Technologies Inc. running on PC platform supplied by Lenovo. The Hp 50g is used in the context of some "educational" activities that are a by-product of the main project; so the advertisement is a sort of publicity gimmick: http://www.landspeed.com/jetcar/classroom.html

Re: HP50g Advertisement Message #11 Posted by bill platt on 25 Dec 2011, 10:52 a.m., in response to message #10 by Vince (Italy) Now that makes sense! It also explains the tone of the ad copy--which seemed targeted to students...

Re: HP50g Advertisement Message #12 Posted by Gerson W. Barbosa on 25 Dec 2011, 7:03 p.m., in response to message #2 by bill platt One of these days when I was watching a Discovery Channel program about the SpaceShip One project I noticed there was an HP-48G (or GX) on the aerodynamics engineer's desktop. I think he was actually using it, but I'm not sure.

Re: HP50g Advertisement Message #13 Posted by Garth Wilson on 26 Dec 2011, 12:31 a.m., in response to message #2 by bill platt Quote: That's pretty funny. Why would someone think to use a calculator instead of a laptop? I am curious how they came to that decision. I'm not saying it was the wrong decision--inquiring minds want to know! When I got my 41cx in the 80's, others would say that for the price, you might as well get a PC, as if the only reason to get a 41 was if you couldn't afford a PC. I did get a PC later of course, but I'm glad I got the 41cx first. There's little overlap in the purposes of the two types of computers, and I did a lot with the 41cx that I could not have done with a PC, because of issues of size, portability, durability, ease of personal programming and interfacing to several pieces of lab equipment at once, etc.. For some purposes, GHz speeds and 64-bit buses are irrelevant to the value of a computer.

Re: HP50g Advertisement Message #14 Posted by bill platt on 26 Dec 2011, 12:44 a.m., in response to message #13 by Garth Wilson *networking* was Wild West on "PC" or Apple in 1982. The 41CV came with a built-in networking feature.

Re: HP50g Advertisement Message #15 Posted by hpnut on 24 Dec 2011, 10:31 p.m., in response to message #1 by NateB Übercool ;-)

Re: HP50g Advertisement Message #16 Posted by Thomas Klemm on 25 Dec 2011, 10:40 a.m., in response to message #1 by NateB So I guess they are just happy they don't have to do multiple integrals.

Re: HP50g Advertisement Message #17 Posted by bill platt on 25 Dec 2011, 10:53 a.m., in response to message #16 by Thomas Klemm Hahaha, I just started reading that thread last night. I think I need to do some brushing up before I understand all of it :-D

Re: HP50g Advertisement Message #18 Posted by Eric Rechlin on 25 Dec 2011, 11:58 a.m., in response to message #1 by NateB Strange that that ad refers to it as the "HP-50g" when the official name (used in all other HP material) is the "HP 50g". Eric

Re: HP50g Advertisement Message #19 Posted by Gerson W. Barbosa on 25 Dec 2011, 12:41 p.m., in response to message #18 by Eric Rechlin Because of formatting, perhaps. Without the hyphen HP and 50g would be in different lines. When this happens I usually add an hyphen too (or any other character), but I set its color to white.

Re: HP50g Advertisement Message #20 Posted by Neil Hamilton (Ottawa) on 25 Dec 2011, 1:52 p.m., in response to message #19 by Gerson W. Barbosa Most editors have non-break spaces and hyphens for just this purpose. IIRC try ctrl-shift-dash for a non-break hyphen and ctrl-shift-space for a non-break space. YMMV with editors.

Re: HP50g Advertisement Message #21 Posted by Gerson W. Barbosa on 25 Dec 2011, 2:29 p.m., in response to message #20 by Neil Hamilton (Ottawa) These work on MS Word 2007. Thanks for the tip :-)

Re: HP50g Advertisement Message #22 Posted by Patrice on 25 Dec 2011, 6:18 p.m., in response to message #21 by Gerson W. Barbosa If not mistaken, it works the same since 20 years :)

Re: HP50g Advertisement Message #23 Posted by Gerson W. Barbosa on 25 Dec 2011, 6:40 p.m., in response to message #22 by Patrice Oh, what I've been missing! :-(

Re: HP50g Advertisement Message #24 Posted by Martin Pinckney on 26 Dec 2011, 4:39 a.m., in response to message #1 by NateB I've seen print ads for the 50g in surveying magazines for about a year, now.

Re: HP50g Advertisement Message #25 Posted by Eddie W. Shore on 1 Jan 2012, 9:39 p.m., in response to message #1 by NateB Quote: This is the first HP calculator advertisement I've ever seen in print. It is being run in the Dec 2011 issue of ASCE's Civil Engineering magazine. This is a first.

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