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Most underrated programmables
03-23-2014, 08:54 PM
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Most underrated programmables
What programmable calculators (or pocket computers) are much more useful than their current prices let on? I imagine most of them would be non-HP brands, as the HP models tend to be fairly high-profile.

HP 20S: Algebraic, but surprisingly capable. 99 program steps, 16 labels, subroutines, and 10 storage registers. Usually pretty cheap for a programmable Pioneer. The 21S is extremely similar, but slightly more exotic, and tends to be priced accordingly.

HP 17BII: Not strictly programmable, but the solver is quite sophisticated, and can be used to good effect for some programming tasks. No trig, but financial models tend to sell for less than scientifics (and it's a very nice financial, I might add).

TI-95: I just got one of these, and it feels like a hybrid of an HP 20S and an HP 41C. It's VERY open about poking at its internals, and gives you access to most of the system, as well as many indirect evaluation/execution capabilities. The user-defined menu functions allow writing a TVM solver that would behave very much like a 12C or 17BII as far as UI. This is keystroke-programmable, rather than the TI-BASIC dialect of the graphers.

TI-86: If I need to use a TI grapher (and don't need a CAS), I'll usually opt for this one. It's very feature complete, and has a good deal more memory than other models of its time - around four times the usable space of a TI-82/83. Lots of different stat regression models, as I recall. Looks like they sell pretty cheap right now.

What else has a really high coolness-to-dollars (or preferred local currency) ratio these days?
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Messages In This Thread
Most underrated programmables - Dave Britten - 03-23-2014 08:54 PM
RE: Most underrated programmables - HP67 - 03-24-2014, 08:28 AM
RE: Most underrated programmables - HP67 - 03-24-2014, 10:26 AM
RE: Most underrated programmables - HP67 - 03-24-2014, 01:14 PM
RE: Most underrated programmables - HP67 - 03-24-2014, 03:35 PM
RE: Most underrated programmables - HP67 - 03-24-2014, 05:15 PM
RE: Most underrated programmables - Hlib - 01-28-2015, 06:13 PM
RE: Most underrated programmables - Hlib - 02-06-2015, 10:45 PM
RE: Most underrated programmables - Hlib - 02-07-2015, 01:11 AM
RE: Most underrated programmables - Hlib - 02-07-2015, 01:27 PM
RE: Most underrated programmables - Hlib - 02-07-2015, 09:15 PM
RE: Most underrated programmables - Bit - 01-31-2015, 01:56 AM
RE: Most underrated programmables - BruceH - 02-10-2015, 01:28 AM



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