Recommendations for RPN Calculators? 580
sg3000 asks: "My trusty old HP 48S graphing calculator, that served me since engineering school, seems to be giving up the ghost. I haven't used it in a few years, but recently I put new batteries in it. It works, but it makes a loud static/white noise sound when it's on. The noise is not as noticeable when I hold it, but when I set it down on a hard surface, it's really loud. Then it sucks the batteries down incredibly fast (I put new batteries in it, and two days later, they were drained). Any suggestions on what I should buy as a replacement?"
"I'm in graduate school now, and since I'm taking an accounting course, where they don't want us digging out our laptops during a test, I need to buy another calculator. I'm a big fan of reverse polish notation (RPN), so I'd prefer to get another HP calculator.
Do companies still make calculators? I'd love to get another HP 48, but I'm not even sure if HP even makes calculators like that any longer -- on their web site, they're all cheapo-looking single line deals. I've read about something called an HP 48g, but HP has nothing about it on their web site."
Real Soon Now (Score:5, Informative)
My choices... (Score:5, Informative)
I also wrote a GTK based one:
ghsilop [sourceforge.net].
Inverter toast? (Score:5, Informative)
New Hp49G+ (Score:2, Informative)
Re:HP 48GX (Score:5, Informative)
TI-89? (Score:2, Informative)
Re:New Hp49G+ (Score:3, Informative)
Brief HP calculator guide (Score:5, Informative)
16C - awesome calculator for programmers, especially embedded work. There is no better number system converter available at any price. No I can't do bin/dec/hex in my head faster than the 16C and neither can you. Expensive due to relatively low numbers produced.
42S - pricey, even used, but excellent. Two line display, a replacement for the 15C.
32SII - somewhat like a 42S but with single line display, not so nice to use.
15C - same form factor as 16C. At the time HP's top scientific.
11C - a simpler 15C
10C - a simpler 11C
All the above have solid old-HP build quality, excellent key feel and outstanding battery life.
Older HPs are also usable (and may be preferred) - but they have even greater collector status and sometimes fetch higher prices. They will go through batteries faster and the red LEDs can be harder to see.
Forget the 48 models, the 49 and all the new stuff. The 48GX is OK if you have to have graphing but the single and dual-line models have better UI for daily use. The 49? HP died when Carly took over. Now they make pretty colored plastic boxes that only work with windows and they have forgotten how to spell "engineering". In fact they fired all the engineers and HP is now run by MBAs in shiny suits.
(I own 16C, 42s, 15C and 11C models.)
Can be fixed (Score:5, Informative)
The truth about RPN (Score:2, Informative)
I hope when he wrote- "Do companies still make calculators?", he meant 'still make RPN calculators.'
use a software emulator (Score:2, Informative)
HP-48 and friends banned on PE Exams (Score:2, Informative)
Re:Why are you using RPN? (Score:2, Informative)
I find it hard and annoying to use "regular" calculators now. I have been using my HP 48SX for almost ten years now and it still runs like a charm!!!! BTW, HP has revived their calc division. See www.hpcalc.org [hpcalc.org] for details. They have a line of new calculators on the way too!!!
Manual is already on HP website... (Score:1, Informative)
http://h20015.www2.hp.com/content/common/m
all 856 pages of it...
I doubt the 49g+ is a hoax by any stretch of the imagination.
48G vs 49G (Score:2, Informative)
In the end, it really depends on what you'll be using it for. If you're not going to be doing calculations involving more complex equations (especially calculus or variable isolation involving many instances of the variable -- the 49G beats the 48G hands down here), the 48G (or 48GX) is probably best. Since you've gotten along with your 48S this long, the 49G is probably overkill.
HP will also be releasing a few new [hpcalc.org] calculators soon, including a 48GII & a 49G+. Hopefully they will address the 49G's horrible key action!
Re:Real Soon Now (Score:3, Informative)
Re:HP 48GX (Score:5, Informative)
Absolutely untrue. They're made by the same calculator division that worked on calculators before HP spun off Agilent. It's just that Agilent got the calculator division.
The division was rebranded, not the calculator.
Jeremy
Got a Palm - want a HP - get this (Score:2, Informative)
http://power48.mobilevoodoo.com/
Re:rpn = racist (Score:1, Informative)
Wait until HP releases new calcs. (Score:5, Informative)
Palm PDA + HP4[8,9][S,G]X emulator (Score:3, Informative)
The emulator seems to get good reviews. Unfortunately it doesn't run on my Treo 90.
Re:PDA? Found another! (Score:3, Informative)
I recently got a Palm OS device I can use, a Treo 300 (I'm Graffiti-challenged - way to sloppy a handwriter to ever train myself to make the symbols consistently enough) and have been looking around for a good RPN calculator for it. So far I'm using RPN [seul.org], a simple RPN calc released freely under the GPL, but I've also discovered another one [infinitysw.com] that I'm tempted to check out even though it's probably way more than I actually need these days. From the sound of it, if this calc is all it claims to be, it may be exactly what the poster was looking for (if he/she has a Palm device). There are also several other versions for whatever your needs.
I am not associated with Infinity Softwaorks, the developers of this calculator. In fact I haven't even tried the calculator I mentioned, I just happened to have discovered it recently and thought it was relevant.
Re:Real Soon Now (Score:3, Informative)
What they lack in a whiz-bang fast processor, they make up for in efficiency. I've had the same batteries in my HP-48SX since 1994 and it is still going strong. A fast calculator will do you no good if it runs out of juice.
Palm HP48SX, 48GX and 49G Emulator (Score:4, Informative)
It works really well. Hope this helps.
Buy new batteries (Score:4, Informative)
Buy new(alkaline) batteries for it. I kid you not, it'll speed it up- if you haven't noticed, performance is noticeably dependent upon battery voltage, and the thing crawls when the batteries get low- possibly on purpose, I dunno.
I've had mine since the early 90's, and I never though of it as slow at anything except menus, graphing, and equation solving. For standard math and even running RPN programs, it's pretty quick- I never felt it was a 'hinderance'.
Re:HP 48GX (Score:2, Informative)
RPN is a neat way to be able to chain calculations, but it's now a myth that it saves keypresses when compared to modern "real" algebraic calculators.
GNU Emu48CE for Pocket PCs (Score:3, Informative)
Re:rpn = racist (Score:5, Informative)
Because a Polish man came up with the idea?
Prefix and Postfix notation were developed in the 1920's by Jan Lukasiewicz (who was, in fact, Polish). Prefix notation was often called Polish Notation in honor of Lukasiewicz.
Postfix turned out to be useful for computer operations, if you made it into a stack and then did operations upon that stack. It was called Reverse Polish Notation, since postfix is the opposite of prefix, and prefix was called Polish Notation.
Simple.
Re:Brief HP calculator guide (Score:1, Informative)
Fixed, fortunately, on the 49G+ [hpcalc.org].
(ahem) (Score:5, Informative)
And there are many occasions where the graphing functions of my TI have proved useful in the workplace. To name a few:
- being able to view every key I've entered before evaluating the expression
- being able to revise and edit incorrect expressions
- to determine linear regression fits for data sets
- to perform functions like logarithms and square roots on said data sets, in order to linearize them (linearity being checked, of course, by the R^2 correlation of my fit)
- anything at all to do with linear algebra, especially solving systems of equations or matrix manipulations. RREF is a bitch by hand.
For more "pure" math (like Diff. Eq.), I agree that pencil and paper are generally easier. But any applied math (a.k.a. engineering) requires an insane amount of busy work that could not be handled with a puny scientific calculator. I know you said Engineering and Physics are different stories, but everything I just wrote could certainly apply to all sciences (even the "soft" ones like Psych. and Sociology), or anything at all requiring data collection.
For the record, I use a TI-86 daily at a bio-tech job. It has the stats capabilities of the 83, plus all the good parts of the 85.
speedup (Score:4, Informative)
Once you know that secret, the speed isn't a problem (and I've got a 48S and a 48SX... that's a 1 MHz processor vs. the 2 MHz processor of the G's)
Re:Real Soon Now (Score:3, Informative)
I love my HP, but I have to say the ONLY reason I would want to change to a TI is speed. Cuz there's NO way you can say a 48G(X) is faster than a TI.
Re:Real Soon Now (Score:2, Informative)
The 49G has been out for years, not that I can find it on their web site now; I own one. Their processors have the same clock speed as the 48Gs (at least roughly), but they feel faster because the software has been optimized (read: rewritten). HP tried to add a bunch of TIish features (including a non-RPN mode); some of them even worked, but many didn't. They added lots more memory.
The architecture did not lend itself to other kinds of upgrades (say, a faster processor or higher-resolution screen), and a complete redesign was apparently not feasable (or at least worthwhile) for the company. The same page [hpcalc.org] you linked to suggests that the 49G+ may have better hardware that emulates a real 49. Time will tell, I guess.
Re:Real Soon Now (Score:3, Informative)
Back when I was in high school ('87), the HP 12C [hpmuseum.org] reigned supreme. RPN and fast.
The HP 48S and 48G's are much slower than the 12C was for simple arithmetic, which is mostly what those tests were. The slowness for simple arithmetic is probably due to the bit mapped display. Still, they're faster than you can mash the keys ...
But once you start using the calculator's symbolic and graphing functions, you'll realize just how slow they really are.
Still, they're awesome calculators, and I love mine. (I've also got a HP 28C [hpmuseum.org], the predecesor to the HP 48 line. God, I love these calculators!)
If somebody needs one, check the local Goodwills, Usenet, newspaper classifieds and if you're desperate, Ebay. (Ebay will cost a good deal more, but will get you one quickly.)
Agilent (Score:3, Informative)
Re:Can be fixed (Score:5, Informative)
It's funny that someone would think that this comment is funny.
A DC-DC converter converts one voltage (battery voltage) to another (operating voltage). They often work by converting the DC signal to AC oscillations, transforming, and then back to DC.
Subharmonic: a harmonic less than the fundamental frequency. The DC-DC converter switches at a frequency much higher than audible range so you could never hear its switching but you could hear subharmonics.
Inductor: Used to transform the AC current. An introductory electromagnetics text will describe how. Inductors are usually made of coils of wire. Transformers are just two coupled inductors.
Core: Winding the wire around an iron or more exotic core will increase the inductor's efficiency.
If there is damage (i.e. cracked inductor core), you might actually be able to hear the switching used to convert the DC voltages. The cure: replace the inductor.
HP 49G+: new high-end RPN calc (Score:5, Informative)
HP's new calculator division is based in San Diego. I was just at the HHC conference this past weekend, and the division director, marketing director, engineering manager, and lead software engineer were there. They seemed to be very concerned about customer feedback and fixing any problems (or perceived problems) with product quality.
Their first new high-end RPN calculator in four years is the HP 49G+, which will be officially announced in the US on October 6. (It's already available in some parts of the world.)
The HP 49G+ has similar capabilities to the HP 49G, but with a larger display (25% more pixels), faster processor (75 MHz ARM), more memory, better keyboard, USB interface, and an SD slot for flash memory expansion.
Re:Real Soon Now (Score:3, Informative)
I was in high school at the same time and the 12C isn't the calculator you're thinking about. At least I don't think so. The 12C is the financial calculator in that form factor, and wasn't appropriate for those contests since it had only financial functions. No trig, no factorials, no logs, etc. It's an amazingly durable financial calculator however, and one I used in business later in life.
You're probably thinking of the 15C. Practically all the winners in those years were using the 15C.
Re:HP 48GX (Score:3, Informative)
I've got a 20-year old HP-11C that I still use heavily, also an HP 48G that's served well for a few years. These things have been dropped, spilled on, carried in back pockets, etc with not a single problem. These things are built like tanks.
In the same period of time, my wife, who treats her stuff really well, has gone through over a half-dozen TI calculators. They just don't last. And, even when they do work, they go through batteries at a rate four times or greater than my HPs. Heck, my 11C has only had it's batteries replaced four or five times in 20 years. Having the display on the TI go so dim you can barely see it, because the batteries are getting low, is extremely annoying.
Nitpick (Score:3, Informative)
Brits stole our Enigma credit, the French took Maria Sklodowska-Curie so at least let us keep our good ole RPN.
Re:Inverter toast? (Score:2, Informative)
Re:Inverter toast? (Score:1, Informative)
A capacitor or two! (Score:3, Informative)
You could at least try opening it up to see if there's big (relative to the rest) "can" capacitors (not sure of the proper english term, sorry :-) They often feature in the 100+ uF range.
When they dry out they often (but not always) start looking like they're about to explode (which they sometimes do). And best of all - if the solution is that simple it will probably cost you $2 in parts and a few minutes with a soldering iron.