What's your favorite non-RPN HP?

[rprosperi]

(05-20-2014 06:49 AM)Dave Britten Wrote:  Yes, thanks for clarifying that. I tend to lump the two processing environments together as "RPN", despite the obvious differences. I much prefer RPL personally.

I like both RPN and RPL. Different tools for different problems in my mind.

RPN is my first go-to for pure number crunching when the problem (or formula, etc) is clear and the task is to crunch, crunch, crunch. I am still exploring the amazing WP-34S, and indeed after almost 40 years of RPN, this cool little tool is teaching me new RPN tricks and insights.

RPL is better for exploratory math where you aren't necessarily sure how the problem at hand needs to be solved. Plus symbolics, CAS and exact mode stuff offers power not available in any RPN machine, but frankly my life has few of these challenges. Exceptions are the little number theory exercises that appear here in the Forrums. Always interesting.

Mostly I enjoy RPL for the pure fun of exploring RPL; its endlessly wonderous inner workings never get old and there is no better platform for creative solutions to interesting challenges.

In short, I will not balance my checkbook with a 48GX or 50g, but I also can't disassemble portions of the 42S or 15C or 34s right on the device to see how it works.

A large tool bag, that can hold many tools, is the key to fun with all these great tools. Mine is even big enough for Algebraic tools as you can see above.

(05-20-2014 06:49 AM)Dave Britten Wrote:  The asinine battery door is really the only big strike against the 19B/19BII....
I see a lot of fans if the 71B. Is there a good emulation for iPad and/or Android?

Yeah, of the various design flaws in the long rich history of HP calculators, I have the hardest time imagining the meeting where the consensus of the engineers, industrial designers and marketing folks was "YES - that battery door design is the best we can do and our customers will love it. And it likely will never break". Must have been a hell of a meeting.

The 71B, while very different than all the other HP machines (OK, not the 75C/D) is a wonderful machine, which has lots of unique capabilities, like Forth, big Qwerty keyboard, a rich BASIC implementation, whose language itself was extensible via LEX files, etc. Try one. You'll like it.