Current HP offerings

[John Galt]

Bill, my daughter faced the same requirements in pre-calculus, and we decided upon the 50g. Given HP's current offerings will be hard to come up with anything more suitable, not only for its graphical display, but for complex number manipulation.

It's very similar to the 48GX, which I already had, but it is much faster and its menu system makes it easy to use.

The cost is very reasonable ($85 or so).

The TI-83's equation entry and graphing functions are arguably easier to use than the 50g, but even it has odd quirks. Other disadvantages are far too numerous to give the TI any serious consideration.

I also considered the Prime but it has too many detractors who I think are justified in their opinions of it. Its battery life alone would be a problem.

The only thing I don't like about the 50g is its placement of the Enter key. Muscle memory keeps taking me to its traditional place, but my daughter doesn't have that problem. I think HP was trying to copy the TI in that respect - a very bad decision IMO. The keys themselves are rubbery which I don't like, but they have excellent tactile feedback. A 50g with the 48GX's keyboard would be perfect IMO. Its case with a single magnetic catch isn't that great either. I bought an aftermarket case for $15.

She started with a 35s, a great calculator but no graphics. Dad broke it anyway :-(

Quote:And what about the WP34s?

The WP34s is the last word in a compact complex number-crunching handheld powerhouse. In those terms nothing comes close, but again it's not a graphing calculator. A 30b that can be converted to the WP34s is ridiculously cheap, so much that I bought a spare and am about to buy another. For $20 and sometimes even less it's hard not to.