Salvaging the HP-33s and 35s

[HP67]

If you look around a little bit you can find a new 50g for the price of a beater 48. I bought two new ones for 75 and 79 dollars in the last few months from retail shops.

Don't get me wrong, I would take a mint 48 over a new 50g like most people. It's just that for 100 bucks you're not likely to get any model of 48 in mint condition. For the 50 bucks that Dave mentioned all I have seen is beaters. There may be nothing wrong with a beater 48 if you don't mind the dirty looks. They take a beating and still work like a champ.

Either the 50g or the 48 is more capable for programming than the ones you mentioned and even if you don't use the graphics (so far, I don't) the additional screen real estate is great for programming and even regular calculations since you see more of the stack.