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Handhelds HP Toys Hardware

HP Calcs Live On Under PalmOS 191

Posted by timothy from the symbolic-replacement dept.
philipsblows writes "Emulators for HP Calcs have been around for a while, but HP is actually getting behind this one, allowing ROM images to be included to support emulation of 48sx, 48gx and 49g (all separately and at the same time) on your PalmOS device. Unfortunately, it has to be a color device, but this is great news anyone who would otherwise miss out on using an HP calc. Check out Power48 here." And unlike a calculator, the software is free (and Free).
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HP Calcs Live On Under PalmOS More

HP Calcs Live On Under PalmOS

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  • But (Score:1, Interesting)

    by deadsaijinx* ( 637410 )
    can it do reverse polish notation? Seriously, that would be so sweet.

    Anywayz, I hate the Company Hewletcompagergishmess. Their computers are flaming shit piles. But there calcs rival Ti (some argue that they are far bettr) and it is totally cool that they are supporting emulation (unlike the console game industry - as if they are still making money off of the SNES!). But the coolest part is that it's OSS, so I could just program it to do reverse polish notation if i really wanted to.

    FP (okay, first relave
    • Troll? I object to that. There is nothing trollish. A troll is someone who tries to get dumb replies by posting inaccurate info. Nothing here is inaccurate, and i was not trying to get dumb posts. I say that HP makes crappy comps because THEY do. I would know, I own some.

      • Re:But (Score:3, Insightful)

        by afidel ( 530433 )
        They also make one of the best corp pc lines around (the Vectra line is one of the most supportable pc's ever, remote management include BIOS updates etc, motherboards that can be removed and replaced in less than a minute on some models etc). Their workstations aren't all that bad either (if a bit expensive).

    • Re:But (Score:5, Insightful)

      by Anonymous Coward on Saturday April 12, 2003 @02:58PM (#5716857)
      TI calculators may have had better toy value than HP's, but they were never even close to HP's as calculators.

      Sure, they were popular with highschool and college kids, but people who do real work with calculators are pretty much unanimously in favour of HP's. Of course, this is a small and shrinking group of people, which is why HP is out of the calc business.

      One of my HP's is over 15 years old, has been dropped from a third story, has been in a lake, and still works perfectly. Try that with a TI (I have, and they didn't cut it).

      HP also made the best programmers calc ever. Limited market for those, these days too.

      • Re:But (Score:2, Interesting)

        by neurostar ( 578917 )

        I completely agree. I love my HP48G. I wouldn't trade if for any other calculator. (Well, maybe for a 48GX ;) ). I love RPN. In fact, I've become so accustomed to it, I have difficulty using a TI-pile-of-shit when I'm forced to.

        I also love the equation library. It's very useful, especially with the pictures.

        neurostar

      • Re:But (Score:1, Interesting)

        by Anonymous Coward
        Interesting you mentioned TI calculator being dropped in a lake. As it so happens during my high school days I was at a summer camp and dropped my TI calculator in a nearby lake. The calculator die to say the least. Well my parent spent quite a bit of money on this calculator and it was the second calculator that I have destroyed/lost. I went to a K-Mart store and stole a brand new spanking TI calculator. Dumbass me wasn't aware at time that the damn thing had one of those things that sound the alarms. Next

      • Re:But (Score:2, Interesting)

        by Uber Banker ( 655221 )
        I love my TI85. It's still going strong, sitting next to my monitor right now. Totally sentimental value.

        I learnt to program on this thing for hell's sake! It still has the same programs i typed into it when i was 16... fractal generators, data calculation routines, inbuilt poly solver!, i even made a 2 player game with a friend via the commumication cable!!!

        I never tried a HP, so can't compare, but damn I live my TI, it released my geekness, never harnessed, so will be forever grateful to TI.

        Not sure
      • I don't think you've been properly introduced to the better of the TI calcs... I've got 'em both:

        A TI-83 which is overclocked... (!) Still works like a charm after having its guts ripped out repeatedly. Now, I didn't drop it in a lake, but it's been in the shower... so... hehe

        And then, the workhorse, my beloved TI-89. Let me just say to all the HP holier-than-thou people out there: AOS ownz.
        So it doesn't have RPN (but I remember seeing a few packages on ticalc.org)... but it does everything else. I mean j
        • i forget what half of them do

          So did I until I started playing with custom menus (which come pretty intuitatively to HP48 users). Being able to find progs according to context makes a big difference if you've got a lot of them. Saves a lot of time spent wading through var-link listings.

      • Re:But (Score:3, Informative)

        by pongo000 ( 97357 )
        Sure, they were popular with highschool and college kids, but people who do real work with calculators are pretty much unanimously in favour of HP's.

        Not "were", but "is" (at least in Texas, unfortunately). TI has a sweetheart deal with the state: Their TI-83+ is the prerequisite calc for all schools administering the state-standardized exams (and that's basically every public school in Texas). Hundreds of thousands of dollars, per school district, flow into TI's coffers as a result.

        Having been raised

      • Re:But (Score:3, Informative)

        by 0x0d0a ( 568518 )
        Sure, they were popular with highschool and college kids, but people who do real work with calculators are pretty much unanimously in favour of HP's. Of course, this is a small and shrinking group of people, which is why HP is out of the calc business.

        No, TI is more popular with incoming people than with dinosaurs precisely because HPs used to be more popular globally, fell out of popularity, and now all the younger people are using TIs. HP lost the market themselves, not because of a bunch of people who
      • I have both an HP48G+ and a TI-89. I love RPN, which of course is native to the HP beast and available to the TI as a userspace program.

        The pro for the HP48 series is the nice positive "clickiness" of the keys - and, of course, the nice big fat Enter key right where your index finger can find it (if you're right-handed, that is; never thought of that before :-))

        However, it is slow. The TI-89 is much faster for just about everything. No, correction: everything, no "just about". and I put up with the spongy k

      • Both TI and HP calculators are good, in their own ways. (I have both HP48G+ and TI-89.) From where I sit, though (as a biotechnology student) most students around me use Casio machines - OK, so they're not serious about maths :-). Next in popularity is TI (mostly 83+ I think) and lastly, a few stragglers with HP38 or 39s. I see very few 48s and I've only seen two HP49s in use at my university.

        The case for HP hasn't been helped by the fact that they have dropped development for their calculators.

    • Hey now the gameboy advance plays many rereleased games from snes as its own now. I think the snes is the only console who would even have an argument against emulations
    • I'm working on a Java RPN calculator, here [frob.us]. I regularly use the console version on my Zaurus.

      The upcoming version has loop structures and code objects to allow for more advanced scripting. Symbolic manipulation is planned for the future. I could use some help with this if anyone has Java or RPL math code they'd like to contribute.

  • Nice..... (Score:3, Interesting)

    by Neophytus ( 642863 ) on Saturday April 12, 2003 @02:56PM (#5716851)
    Now if only console manufacturers would get behind emulation development for vintage consoles. Sure, you can still buy games for the SNES on eBay or your local odds and ends store but none of that money will be going back to Nintendo or the developers.
    Actually on thinking about it much of the nintendo GBA catalogue...
  • played Minesweeper was on a 48SX. Now I'm an MCSE.

  • A color Palm isnt cheap (Score:4, Interesting)

    by nurb432 ( 527695 ) on Saturday April 12, 2003 @02:57PM (#5716855) Homepage Journal
    For the price of ONE of those you can have a pocket full of REAL HP's...

    But for those that have one already, its damned cool.

    Though you cant really replace a *real* keyboard for lots of number crunching..

  • Apparently not on my PalmOS device... (Score:4, Informative)

    by Fesh ( 112953 ) on Saturday April 12, 2003 @02:58PM (#5716856) Homepage Journal
    I've only got an m515, looks like this sucker will only work on a Tungsten or Clie.

    Drat.

  • Lives on? (Score:5, Interesting)

    by praxis ( 19962 ) on Saturday April 12, 2003 @02:58PM (#5716859)
    I never realized that HP calculators died? Have they stopped selling them? Granted I've had my 48gx since 1995 and never looked at another calculator since then. What do people use these days? I've actually seen fewer calculators used as they get replaced with Matlab or Maple or Mathematica being more and more at hand for people, but I still find myself reaching for my 48gx even when I am near a computer just because they're so convenient.

    • Re:Lives on? (Score:5, Informative)

      by jorlando ( 145683 ) on Saturday April 12, 2003 @03:23PM (#5716952)
      HP calculators still being sold, but nobody is sure for how long. There was thread discussed at hp.misc.calculators (that can be read at http://www.hpcalc.org). One thing is certain: the division responsible for R&D new HP calculators, the ACO has been closed during the merge with Compaq (http://www.hpcalc.org/goodbyeaco.php). In five years from now, HP will be recognized as a brand of so-so printers, shitty computers, not as an inovative and ingenious company as once has been. But that's the life... and Carly won't be near the mess... But that's my opinion...

    • Going, Going, Gone. (Score:4, Informative)

      by Detritus ( 11846 ) on Saturday April 12, 2003 @04:13PM (#5717135) Homepage
      While recently looking at HP's online store, I noticed the HP-48GX was listed as a "closeout" item. It appears that once the existing inventory of HP calculators are sold, HP will be out of the calculator business. Carly sucks.
    • HP just introduced two low end calculator models.

      http://www.hp.com/hpinfo/newsroom/press/2003/030 12 3b.html

      I have read in a few places that they have a high end one coming out closer to the end of the year.

      New calculator division distributor expansion:
      http://www.hp.com/hpinfo/newsroom/pres s/2002/02103 1a.html
    • Good ol' Carly decided that it would be a good idea to drop the entire calculator development division.

      Well, regardless of whether the real money is in low-margin PCs or not, she got her merger bonus, so maybe it was the right choice...for her, if not the company.

  • Old. (Score:4, Informative)

    by Anonymous Coward on Saturday April 12, 2003 @03:00PM (#5716868)
    The 48GX and SX roms have been freely available (courtesy HP, of course) from www.hpcalc.org, and probably other enthusiast sites. It is interesting that HP is actually backing an emulator, though. Hey, where's that RPN troll when you need him???

  • Back and White? (Score:5, Informative)

    by negyvenot ( 582011 ) on Saturday April 12, 2003 @03:01PM (#5716869)
    I am a bit disappointed that it does not work on monochrome devices like the good old Palm Vx, which I'm happily using for a long while now. The original HP48 display was monochrome and would perfectly look on my Palm. Now only if those keys weren't color :)
    • Well, it is OSS, so it may be possible for someone to hack at it till it functioned on a monochrome. But judging by the images on the site, it might not work out to well on monochrome displays.

    • i tried to install it on my palm Vx even though it supposedly wouldnt run, and guess what, it didn't. Not only does it need a color display, but it needs special sony libraries.
    • It's not a matter of color or b/w, but resolution. It just so happens there aren't any 320x320 or better b/w or greyscale Palms out there. You try fitting 80 or so buttons in 160x160 pixels.
      • I don't know if Palm has come out with any b&w units with 320x320, but my Clie T415 is one from Sony and it's not the newest.

        Looking at their site [sonystyle.com], it looks like the SJ20 is their only current high-res monochrome option, but they've had a few in the past, including the SL10 that they currently have available as a $99 refurb.

  • Cool, but done already (Score:5, Informative)

    by RzUpAnmsCwrds ( 262647 ) on Saturday April 12, 2003 @03:01PM (#5716871)
    This is cool, but it's not new. There has been a HP 48/49G emulator for Windows CE for some time now. It even runs at an acceptable speed on the newer Pocket PCs. There has also been a Psion version.<br><br><a href="http://www.hpcalc.org/hp48/pc/emulators/">ht tp://www.hpcalc.org/hp48/pc/emulators/</a>

  • Pocket PC absurdity (Score:5, Interesting)

    by panurge ( 573432 ) on Saturday April 12, 2003 @03:02PM (#5716873)
    HPQ sells pocket PC devices. This emulator runs on PalmOs.
    I'd love to be a fly on the wall in the relevant bit of the HP marketing dept. Is this the start of something new? Is HP going to start bringing out PalmOs devices or Linux PDAs?
    So few questions, so many answers.
    • The relevant bit of HP marketing can't even remember that HP once ruled the calculators market, if not for profit margins, just to add finesse to that market... even the financial calculators ruled... the HP12c is 20 yrs old and couldn't be outdone even by other HP calculators (more powerful, like the 19b)... the 48 series was the dream of the engineering students (as the 28 eas before, and the 42, and the 41c...)

      I think that these market droids think that the legal dept should sue that company that uses
    • Uh, HP has nothing to do with this software, other than the fact that they relesed their ROMs when they stopped making calculators.

      Maybe it's the lameness of the pocketPC software authoring community that allowed this to come to PalmOS first. There have been offical-HP-ROM based emulators for X11 and mac for some time now.

    • You can get HP calc emulators for PocketPC and WinCE as well. I was using one on an iPAQ over a year ago. I do not know how new this POS version is, but all the same, it isn't something you can do on WinCE/PPC and Linux PDAs already.

      Why the hell would this emulator- not written or supported by HP- have anything to do with HP producing POS-based PDAs? It's like making the deduction that OH! Windows runs on my Mac using VPC or Bochs - I bet Apple will be dumping OS X and switching to Win 95 soon! OOHHHOO!

    • Well, it seems very likely to me that HP has nothing to do with this. HP calculator emulators are a very popular thing to make. There are emulators [hpcalc.org] for pretty much anything on which you want to emulate an HP calculator (and some you probably don't).

      It's perfectly legal to make an HP calculator emulator, by emulating the processor inside, but you can't distribute the essential ROM images that make 'em work. At least, that's how it was, last time I checked. If you have your own HP calculator, though,

  • I wonder if they will add support for the old 41CX? God I love that calculator (mine still works). I used it all through college and to this day my fingers have that keyboard memorized.
  • was a best calc the HP48* !
    get plenty more softwares & games on palm ;)

    way to go to get it on palm.
    but i'm sad i can't it get work because have no display color. why such a restriction :(

  • Reverse Polish Notation and Stacking Languages (Score:5, Interesting)

    by GregBildson ( 316305 ) on Saturday April 12, 2003 @03:07PM (#5716891) Homepage
    As far as I know, the unique feature of HP calculators is that they use reverse polish notation by default so I expect that is what this one uses.

    RPN is similar to stacking languages where the variables are pushed onto the stack first and then the operators are applied to the appropriate stack entries. So, a + b x c should be entered as b c x a + and (a + b) x c should be entered as a b + c x

    Similar to other stacking languages like Postscript and SmallTalk.

    Note that this should be the same as the desktop "dc" command on linux except that dc is only good for integers (and you need to enter "=" to see the result). I routinely add a few extra significant digits when using dc so that I can deal with fractional values. Works nicely occasionally when doing command line scripting.
    • Wow, if it's only good for integers, I wonder why they allow you to set the precision with "k", and why I routinely use it for decimals. As for displaying, I use "p". You should really take a look at the manpage sometime, or next you're gonna be saying it's only good for base10.
      • Thanks. You learn something new every day. That is what is nice about unix style commands. And, yes p is for printing the current top of stack not =.

        You know I've read most man pages a fair number of times but there is always something to be missed. I should have known in this case since I always thought it was a glaring shortcoming but I've never seen the K used in practice.
    • Comment removed based on user account deletion
      • is much faster to evaluate, especially on the 49g's 4mhz processor when doing symbolic shit.

        Those who don't have a compatible palmtop can use FlameCalc [frob.us] if their pda supports Java. The development(next) release has enough features to do nearly all of my AP Physics stuff on my Zaurus, but loops/constructs are too unstable for a public release at the moment.

        What I'd really love is Linux PDA in a graphing calculator case. I honestly don't care that it would be larger, a usable numeric keyboard would mak
      • is the fact that the Enter key is in the wrong place. (And not big enough.) If the 49 had the same keyboard as the 48, I would probably never have bought a TI-89.

    • Re:Reverse Polish Notation and Stacking Languages (Score:5, Informative)

      by Bishop ( 4500 ) on Saturday April 12, 2003 @03:32PM (#5717003)
      The other unique feature of many of the HP calculators was the bomb proff design. The keys are tough clicky keys designed to be used by professionals for years. HP made scientific and bussiness calculators. On the HP calcs (11B ??) has as strong a following in the account world as the HP48 in the engineering/scientific world.

      "dc" command on linux except that dc is only good for integers

      You probably want to check the man page on that:

      dc - an arbitrary precision calculator

      Look for the 'k' command. Also you should be useing p not =.

      'dc' is GNU software and should compile on anything with libc.
      • The other unique feature of many of the HP calculators was the bomb proff design

        strong but not that strong. especially the LCD screens on the HP11's. I used mine for surveying and it lasted 1/2 the semester before I smashed the display in the bottom of my pack.
      • Yes sir. HP calculators are made very well. One of the things that made them special are that the faces of the keys will not have their labels rubbed off (just the main one, not the top/bottom ones) because they're not decals, but are actually plastic in another color, combined with their backgrounds.

        My 11C has been with me for around 20 years and still going strong, on its 2nd set of batteries. One of those rare products that says "USA" in the back and is worthy of those letters. Sure don't make 'em like
    • Um, since other people have already corrected you on dc, I guess it's up to me to point out that you don't need to change the order of the operands with RPN. If you want to compute a+b*c, you enter "a b c * +". For different precendence, as you point out, you just change where you put the operator, but not the order of things.
  • This program emulates the hardware of the HP48SX, HP48GX, and HP49G. In order to legally (morally?) use this software, you need to have the ROMs, or develop your own equivalents. The ROMs are copyrighted by HP.

  • not only 'color device' (Score:3, Informative)

    by MarcoAtWork ( 28889 ) on Saturday April 12, 2003 @03:16PM (#5716922)
    but also with the new high definition screens (320x320 or higher) so people who have a IIIc (like myself) are SOL.
  • The 48g was a godsend for me in university. This was before the masses knew anything about being able to store and retrieve any decent amount of text from a calculator. All my biochem formulas got neatly stored in a little app called YONPY or something like that (I think it stood for Ye old notepad). People supervising the exams had no clue -- prolly just thought I was a big geek with a calculator at least twice the size of others. I dont think you can get away with this now though.
    • You're lucky: in most of my biochem exams, no calculators are allowed.

  • RPN defined in User Friendly (Score:4, Funny)

    by scubacuda ( 411898 ) <scubacuda@gmai[ ]om ['l.c' in gap]> on Saturday April 12, 2003 @03:25PM (#5716962)
    Reverse Polish Notation [userfriendly.org]: press two numbers THEN the function you want... ...kinda like the way Yoda talks.

  • Judging by the excitement, I think it's no coincidence that "under palm os" can be rearranged to spell "unload sperm."

  • zaurus port (Score:2, Insightful)

    by net_bh ( 647968 )
    Is it possible to use this on the Sharp Zaurus? Is it worth trying?
  • It's not an HP calculator if it doesn't have a keypad; it just ain't the same thing. Plus, I can't exactly take a palm pilot into my exams now can I? It's the read thing for me.

    I heard HP is supposed to be thinkinga bout releasing another calculator.... it's probably just stupid rumors however.

    • Releasing New Calc...I hope so (Score:1, Informative)

      by Anonymous Coward
      I sent an email to HP customer service, asking what they had for RPN calcs since I wanted a scientific RPN calc, but was too cheap to pay $150 or whatever.

      In addition to pointing me to low-cost retailers, the reply hinted that there were going to be new models coming.

      I hope that the calculator business doesn't die. I only like RPN calculators. I have a mangled 17BII on my desk and a 12C in the drawer. I want one to replace my 12C so that if the new one grows legs, I won't care as much.

      That brings anot

  • Links to HP emus: (Score:5, Informative)

    by fbg111 ( 529550 ) on Saturday April 12, 2003 @03:32PM (#5716997)
    PC HP calc emus:

    http://www.hpcalc.org/hp48/pc/emulators/ [hpcalc.org]

    Or check out all the other emu goodies at that site:

    http://www.hpcalc.org/hp48/ [hpcalc.org]

    Or just search http://www.handango.com [handango.com] for "HP 48" for more emus for all portable computing platforms.
  • HP emulators are available for almost every platform you can imagine.

    Dan East
  • There were times when I really liked my HP28S. It was cool and made my life in the university much easier.

    However, anyway you look at it, any PDA being sold today is *much* more capable (except perhaps for the lack of a decent keyboard).

    I mean, if you want to do numeric calculations just run a scaled-down version fo MATLAB (or Octave for those who prefer Free software).

    If you need symbolic calculations run Derive, MuPad, Yacas or whatever...

    All of these programs are much more capable than the HP calcula
    • But with those other programs you listed, do they have hundreds of applications written to do pretty much anything you can think of? I doubt it.
      This is nice for people who have a palmos device but still need some of those programs but don't want to/can't carry around their large calculator.

      So yeah, it is progress.

  • Does NOT work on most PalmOS devices... (Score:4, Interesting)

    by Manuka ( 4415 ) on Saturday April 12, 2003 @04:06PM (#5717112) Homepage
    I tried installing it on my colour palm, and it requires a High-res Palm device. This is pretty much a Clié-only application. Pity it doesn't work on my i300, since most palm-based calculator apps out there are fscking worthless.
    • Yeah, I'm not sure why the specs are so limited - even if it needs high-res for the keys, it should at least run in monochrome. The best palm-based calculator I've found is EasyCalc [freewarepalm.com], which runs on pretty much everything (it isn't RPN, though). I just wish there were portable keypads you could plug in like the portable keyboard - so the combined machine would still be around the size of a scientific calc and the numbers would be in a pattern that's actually usable. (All the keyboards I've seen for the pal
    • Try landware's FinCalc - a decent calc that does RPN and some scientific calcs. I used it on my PalmPilot Pro in B-school. (along with my HP48g and 11c.). I got the 48g for $20 as a demo unit, so it repalced my 41cv, which repalced my 45. Still have them all, even the plastic box and leather case for my 45. Ah, the memories...

  • Observations on it.... (Score:5, Informative)

    by shlong ( 121504 ) on Saturday April 12, 2003 @04:22PM (#5717170) Homepage
    Well, it appears from most of the comments here that no one has actually test driven the program yet. Well, I just fired it up on my shiny new NX70V, and I got to say that I'm quite impressed. I already own a 48GX and 49G, so I had no moral delimmas with installing those rom images. I don't own a 48SX, so I can't comment on it. Anyways:
    • The speed is very impressive. I ran some of the TEACH examples on the 48GX mode and they fly. It's easily 2-3 times faster than the real hardware. Of course my hardware is StrongArm based, so I wonder how well the DragonBall hardware will work. Time to go dig out my wife's N760.
    • Button layout for the 48GX was nearly identical to the real hardware. Button layout for the 49G was a little strange, with the arrow keys being shoved off to the left side and the 6 function keys that used to be next to them compressed from 2 rows of three to 1 row of 6. Not a big deal, but tough to get used to.
    • As impressive as it is, I still prefer the feel of the real 48GX hardware. That machine was designed back when HP knew how engineers operated. Of course, I hate the 49G key layout and rubberized buttons, but that's a bikeshed of a different color. Anyways, even with the 320x480 screen, the buttons are a bit too small to comfortably work by finger-touch. Using the stylus is fine, but not like having the real buttons.
    • I haven't tried any 3rd-party programs. From reading the documentation I'd guess that things written in SysRPL and and UserRPL will probably work fine, but I wonder if ASM stuff will also work.

    In all, I'm highly impressed with this, though it will take a few weeks to see if I treat it like a toy or a real calc.
    • I already own a 48GX and 49G, so I had no moral delimmas with installing those rom images.

      HP supports the 49 and 48G/GX emulation efforts, and has released the ROMs freely for non-commercial use. AFAIK, you're welcome to use them even if you don't already own a real 48 or 49.

  • I don't know _what_ I'll do when my venerable HP11c finally bites the dust. I'm not a huge fan of the 12c.

    I don't even like to _think_ about losing my 11c. *cringe*

    Time to read a different Slashdot thread...

    • Re:HP11c 4EVA! (Score:2, Interesting)

      by SN74S181 ( 581549 )
      I've had an HP-11c since about 1983 that I still dote on. And a HP-15c (the 11c's big brother, identical except with more memory) that I got at a swapmeet for ten bucks. For years I ran it on these smaller around but the same thickness hearing aid batteries I got as free samples at work.

      It unnerves me how much people are willing to pay for 11s and 15s on eBay.

      • TEN BUCKS! You dawg. Maybe I should start scrounging around swapmeets...

        I didn't know about the 15c - once I got my 11c (in 1985), I never really bothered looking at the calculator market again. :)

        re: price of 11c's on eBay

        Yeah, it's pretty frightening. Once mine gives up the ghost, I'll willingly pay those prices to get another, though. Hard to imagine HP doesn't see the market for 11c's. You'd think they could be made much cheaper with modern technology, too. I wouldn't mind a new version with a rep
      • And a HP-15c (the 11c's big brother, identical except with more memory)

        The 15C isn't just an 11C with more memory; it has a few extra functions not present in the 11C. The ones I remember off the top of my head are complex number support and matrix support.

        • Mmmmm... Complex matrices...

          Seriously, I don't know what I would have done in my circuits classes (circa 1985) without my 15C and its complex matrix support. After graduation and my entry into the fine world of firmware development, I managed to buy a used 16C for $50. What a deal! Best danged programmer's calculator ever made. Later, a co-worker gave me a brand-spankin' new 42S, free-for-nothin'. (He was the lead on my project, and I think he just wanted to keep me happy.) The 42S does everything t

  • Easycalc.... (Score:2, Informative)

    by sergio ( 35237 )
    I had many HP calculators. Lved them all. Loved RPN.
    Power48 is an impressive emulator... BUT:

    1.- Start time is too long. Screen is too crowded and plain complicated for a PDA LCD.

    2.- If you need a very good calculator use EasyCalc and you'll be happier at any resolution. http://easycalc.sourceforge.net/. Fast startup and
    decent interface. Clearly not as programable nor a large library of tools, still very usable.

    Now, here is the irony: HP should have been a king of the PDA arena using their experience in

    • Re:Easycalc.... (Score:2, Informative)

      by SN74S181 ( 581549 )
      HP's Corvalis group (the Calculator team) designed the first two HP Omnibook portable PCs (I have an Omnibook 300), which reflect the same tight design as the calculator line. Then the 'Omnibook' brand was stolen off to HP's shit-oriented PeeCee branch.

      Some of the first computers I programmed on in High School were Hewlett Packard timesharing minicomputers. Built to the same quality standards as the H-P instrument line.

      Some day someone technically oriented is going to disembowel and then slowly strangle

  • Sci/Graph calc for Palm (Score:3, Informative)

    by RomulusNR ( 29439 ) on Saturday April 12, 2003 @05:23PM (#5717460) Homepage
    If all you want is a good scientific/graphing calculator for your Palm, get EasyCalc [sourceforge.net].
    (It appears to be in English now, too. :) )
  • My employer back in 1993 gave me an HP19C. It's still running, has had the same batteries for, jeesh, at least 5 years now, and has a wonderful solid feel to it. Can't folks find them used? I like Palms, but an emulator just doesn't compare to a Real HP Calculator.

    • I've had my HP32S since 1988. Only one battery change. I got sick of buying a new calculator every school year, so I got the HP, and it lasted me through my entire college career. I still have it at work. If I need to quickly add numbers, I use the HP instead of my Clie or the MS calculator program because the tactile feel is just great.
  • I'm still using my HP 28S, bought in 1988 for 300$. It still kicks ass, does anything math related I oculd ask it to, and is built like a tank. Unlike current PDAs...

    • Unfortunately not quite a tank.

      I had one for the longest time (got mine around 1988 too) but had the battery door problem.

      This seems to be not too uncommon on this model - the springs inside were a bit too strong and the area around the battery door eventually broke. I used it taped up for a few years but got tired of that and eventually broke down and got a 48gx. I like the 28S better though (since I used it for so long, and to me it seems more responsive and I like the clamshell design even with the ba
  • I wrote a gtk-- based Reverse Polish Notation calculator for my Linux based computers. It only has basic and some intermediate functionality, but it does what I need.
    I love RPN and my HP 48GX.
    ghsiloP RPN calculator [sourceforge.net].

    ghsiloP == g + reverse("Polish")
    It's not a recursive name, but I like it.

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