[Hp48] Bricked

[Didier Lachieze]

(01-10-2023 08:21 PM)gwh Wrote:  I do find it a bit disappointing to see how "repairability" seem to never have been a concern during conception… Oh well.

The priority for the HP 48 design was to leverage the Pioneers assembly processes to reduce costs and design time as explained in this HP Journal article from June 1991 describing the detailed assembly process of the 48SX:

Quote: When work started on the HP 48SX, design engineers were given the goal to use as many of the design concepts from a 1-and-2-line display family of calculators (HP 10, 14, 17, 20, 21, 22, 27, 32, and 42) as possible. This was done to reduce the amount of new development needed and to allow the new machine to be built on the same production line as its simpler cousins. The 1-and-2-line family set new standards in HP for calculator manufacturing efficiency and we wanted to extend this efficiency to the HP 48SX. Using proven designs shortened the typical design/build/test/redesign cycle, shortening the whole design process. It also meant that there were no new manufacturing processes to develop. This reduced the cost and delivery time for the assembly tooling.