HP50g spins circles around the TI-89

[AnalogJoe]

Im a hardcore HP user, I own 4 HP calculators (48GX,50G,35S,Prime), but I also own a TI Voyage 200 which is pretty much the same as the TI-89, and yes, in most cases the hp50g spins circles around my TI, but there are some things in which (IMHO) my TI calculator beats all of my HPs.

First of all: Symbolic manipulation is a lot easier on the Ti than on any HP calculator (Including my HP Prime), the HP Prime suffers from the CAS/Home incompatibility, you cant easily copy paste something from the CAS into the plot window or home, and viceversa, that is not the case on the TI's, however writting equations on any HP is a breeze compared to the TI's in which you have to use parenthesis inside parenthesis inside parenthesis inside parenthesis and non graphical notation in order to write polynomials, and such, the Equation Writter on the 50g and 48G is great, sometimes it takes some time to write an equation with it, but the reward is not having to spend minutes looking for that missing or extra parenthesis.

The "stock" equation library on the Hp50 and 48G is in my opinion inferior to the stock library on the TI Voyage, the Electrical Engineering app on my TI is overall the best and most useful app for me from of all the calculators I own, the HP Prime has a complete lack of Equation Libraries.

TIs have the advantage that you can just throw in equations written in less than ideal ways and hit solve and the TI will do all the factorizations, and operations needed to give you an answer, for example it can easily solve multiple equations with implicit variables, or even non-trascendental equations, etc, the HP50G and 48G do not do this, at least not that I know of, on the 48GX and 50G you have to tidy up your equations before you put them in. The HP Prime is more like the TI in this aspect, and far more powerful, however for some equations you have to suggest values or a method of solution on the Prime, so it requires a bit more human interaction, while the TI will do everything for you.

That being said, I find myself using the HPs 99% of the time and once every blue moon Ill bring out my Ti, however with the recent HP Prime I bought, I believe the TI will be collecting more and more dust. Of all the HPs I own, the 50G is the one which gets most use, and the 48G is the one I like the most, A 48G with a faster CPU would be the best calc in the world.

In any case, for me the TI VS HP debate boils down to a single thing: RPN, I feel sick just to think about all the parenthesis and order of operation I have to use on a non-RPN calculator. In fact im completely crippled if I try to use a non-RPN calc, I will try to use it as an RPN calc and just end up wasting time on my exams!