New HP-50G owner and new to the forums

[javimm]

Hi.
After a lot of years lurking in the old forums, I've decided to join the community.

I've used HP calculators since 1995, when I entered university and my father bought me a 48GX that cost him 300 euros back then. I was hooked. What a fantastic calculator. I loved everything about it and learned everything about the Saturn architecture: SysRPL, assembly and all kinds of hacking. I bought a Epson 128KB card and a Klotz 2MB card. The HP 48 was the standard in my university too (Civil Engineering in Universidad Politécnica de Madrid) so everyone had one. They even sold them in the university library.

Fast forward 20 years. My beloved 48GX started developing the dreaded ON key symptom and the top row of keys stopped working properly unless you pressed the metal plate between the screen and the keys, so I read that the calculator could be repaired by opening it and cleaning the contacts. Well, without too much detail, I'll say that I was unable to open the thing and damaged it. Now the calculator can't be closed and the + key is almost dead because I damaged the membrane below the key :-(.

Looking for a replacement in Ebay, I found that they sell for about 80 to 90€. Among all the Ebay listings I noticed that the 50G sold for the same price as the 48, so I researched it and found that unlike the 49 that had a bad rubber keyboard and bad firmware and the 49+ that had a lot of problems registering keys (just to name one problem), the 50G seems to have solved the issues and is a great calculator overall. I downloaded the Debug4x software that includes Emu48 with the 50G emulator and I feel at home using it. It's the same as the 48GX plus all the Libs I had installed: Java, Erable, ALG48, TED, MatrixWriter,...

On the other hand I don't like the Prime. Too short battery life, no RPL (I'm a RPL guy much more than a RPN guy, although I own a HP 45, HP 35S and HP 25), and oriented to students and not so much for professionals. Not the calc for me.

I scanned through the Ebay listings and found one unopened in the box 50G and did the "last second bidding trick" and won the auction for 54.50€!!!. That's a fantastic price as it sells for 105-135€ in the brick and mortar stores and Amazon and about 80€ on Ebay. I have to pick it up tomorrow, as the seller is in my own city, so no shipping charges either. Sweet.

I hope I like the calc. The 48GX has set the bar too high. Its fantastic keyboard and reliability during 20 years has made the 48GX the most cherished piece of tech I've ever owned. Even after buying the 50G I'm still considering getting a 48GX just for that keyboard before they run too scarce and the prices raise more.

Cheers.