HP 48G - what next?

[Voldemar]

(02-23-2019 09:29 AM)grsbanks Wrote:  blue version of the HP 50g. It's fugly

It is not fugly. It is nice.

[Steve Simpkin]

(02-23-2019 09:58 PM)Voldemar Wrote:  

(02-23-2019 09:29 AM)grsbanks Wrote:  blue version of the HP 50g. It's fugly

It is not fugly. It is nice.

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder although I have a hard time believing *anyone* would think the HP 33Ss is nice looking

[Joe Horn]

(02-24-2019 04:38 AM)Steve Simpkin Wrote:  Beauty is in the eye of the beholder although I have a hard time believing *anyone* would think the HP 33Ss is nice looking

Hmmm... The 33S was the closest that HP ever got to my ideal keyboard layout. Before you consign me to the loony bin for saying that, please let me explain. I have always thought that a rectangular grid of keys is the least *efficient* layout for anybody who has to actually USE a keyboard. But almost all keyboards are exactly that: a rectangular grid. It's stupid, because the desired key is buried in a forest of similar-looking keys. The RIGHT way to do it (in my famously humble opinion) would be to have all the keys look as different from each other as possible, with related keys gathered in groups that look different from all the other groups. The placement and size and color and shape of the keys would look (and be) quite chaotic. Yes, it would look hilariously awful at first to old farts whose human inertia is too great to overcome ("Nobody has ever done it that way before, therefore it must be awful!"), but newcomers would find it so easy to use (you can find any key easily and quickly using even peripheral vision, because they look so different from each other) that they would find our rectangular grid keyboards hilariously old-fashioned and thankfully obsolete. The 33S was the farthest HP ever ventured from a boring old rectangular grid, and that's why I like it.

[JSS]

(02-22-2019 02:32 PM)Nigel (UK) Wrote:  ........

However, I think that you might be happier with the HP50g because of your stated need for "EE and physics libraries". There is an excellent Prime app called SolvSys that acts as a solver and equation library, but if it doesn't do what you want there may not be many alternatives. The HP50g has a lot of third-party applications available; the Prime does not, at least not yet. (Of course, you can write your own!)

Nigel (UK)

I have read through the libraries available in hpcalc.org. There seems to be more interesting software for Prime, too. Just for curiosity I tested the Prime Lite app on my Android phone but it looks like the program language is available only for the Prime Pro emulator (21,99 EUR.)

[I don't want to spend too much for this project since my employer has decided that (for a reason so far unknown to me) they give us whatever we need for computers, phones, software licenses like Comsol, MATLAB etc but we need to buy our programmable pocket calculators with our own money. Probably since they don't want to support the use of software that is not easily kept updated and documented. Their point of view might also be that it is expensive and time-consuming to let us play with new calculators during work-hours (which we are anyway doing on our own time.) However, the use of our own personal calculator programs is not so far prohibited in my work.]

So, I am going to find a "refurbished" or used 50G since I have some of my own RPL programs ready for the new device (I hope). I think 50G might be the best fit for my use. I use a calculator only for quick approximations (which I still find uneasy to program for simple RPN calculators like 35S) and when I don't want to carry my laptop around and play with MATLAB scripts or even more time consuming FEM models.

Thanks Nigel and all others for your invaluable comments.

I apologize for my english language.

BR JSS

[ijabbott]

(02-24-2019 08:27 AM)JSS Wrote:  Just for curiosity I tested the Prime Lite app on my Android phone but it looks like the program language is available only for the Prime Pro emulator (21,99 EUR.)

You can download and run the fully functional HP Prime Virtual Calculator and the HP Prime Connectivity kit for Windows or Mac if you want to try out the programming environment.

But I think you'll be on more familiar territory with a 50g.

[pier4r]

At least in Europe I find on ebay or classified sites 50g units quite depriced as many people think they are not worth much. Then there is also the person saying "I saw it on amazon at 299 EUR so I want 290, eheheheheheheheheheh".

Of course one has to be patient while searching. I am at 4, of course I'd like to have more but a part of me is trying to keep me calm at 4 units. Also because using them is not that easy if one has little time. Though if one use them for weighted timers, it is easier to have them running often collecting weighted elapsed time. See http://www.hpmuseum.org/forum/thread-11363.html

[JSS]

Just another question. (Thank you for your patience.)

Is it likely to find a 50G from ebay in good working condition with about 100 - 125 USD? What can you expect to find (with a reasonable probability)?

BR JSS

[rprosperi]

(02-25-2019 08:06 PM)JSS Wrote:  Just another question. (Thank you for your patience.)

Is it likely to find a 50G from ebay in good working condition with about 100 - 125 USD? What can you expect to find (with a reasonable probability)?

BR JSS

Yes, you definitely can find a working condition 50 g(though likely with no accessories) on eBay for 100-125 USD, being sold from USA (so, add shipping cost - ~ 20 USD for USA to Germany, other parts of Europe vary in ways I don't understand). You will have to be patient, it will not appear in the first day or 2, but if you are willing to hunt for a few weeks you should find one. Also of course, the more you are willing to spend, the easier it is to find one.

There seem to be a lot of 50g machines being sold recently from Venezuela so that may be a good source, though I've no idea if shipping from there is more or less than from USA.

[Craig Bladow]

If you are patient you can find a 50G for less than $100 on eBay. I found one for about $75 this past December.

[JSS]

Good news. Thanks Bob and Craig. I have started the hunt for a 50g in ebay.

BR JSS

[EugeneNine]

I happened to notice this http://www.hpmuseum.org/forum/thread-12500.html

[rprosperi]

(02-27-2019 01:56 PM)EugeneNine Wrote:  I happened to notice this http://www.hpmuseum.org/forum/thread-12500.html

And I just saw this: https://www.ebay.com/itm/HP-Graphing-Cal...3666885706

[Vtile]

(02-23-2019 09:29 AM)grsbanks Wrote:  

(02-23-2019 07:35 AM)ijabbott Wrote:  Don't you have enough already?

There's no such thing as "enough" 50g units

(02-23-2019 07:35 AM)ijabbott Wrote:  For the benefit of JSS, we should explain that "TAS" is a running joke here for "eBay". ("TAS" = "The Auction Site").

And the "frozen hamster butt" refers to the comparatively rare blue version of the HP 50g. It's fugly but it's rare

I have blue in better condition.

[EugeneNine]

where's the enter key

[grsbanks]

(02-27-2019 05:32 PM)Vtile Wrote:  I have blue in better condition.

So do I now

Found one on TAS last week and snapped it up straight away. It's in much better condition than this one.

Edit: Here's the gruesome twosome:

[JSS]

(02-27-2019 05:32 PM)Vtile Wrote:  .....
And the "frozen hamster butt" refers to the comparatively rare blue version of the HP 50g. It's fugly but it's rare
.....

I don't think it is that bad. I could probably get used to it. The keyboard might be quite easy to read compared to more traditional HP colors.

BR JSS

[rprosperi]

(02-28-2019 03:46 PM)JSS Wrote:  The keyboard might be quite easy to read compared to more traditional HP colors.

The keyboard of the Blue 50g is definitely easier to read than the normal Black 50g, even more so than photos reveal. Something about the shade of blue used does not photograph well, as the difference on real machines is more distinct.

As has been noted before, the color scheme of the 48gII is by far the best (looking and clearest) of the ARM machines. One might expect the black-on-white and white-on-black schemes of the 39gs and 40gs would be even better, but the muted colors of the Alpha labels ruins the effect, and I find them both harder to read than these listed above.

[BruceH]

(02-23-2019 06:58 PM)ijabbott Wrote:  

(02-23-2019 04:22 PM)Joe Horn Wrote:  I'm 99% sure that the author of the infamous phrase "Frozen Hamster Butt" (to describe the color of the HP 49G) was Chris Campbell, a great HP 48 programmer and prolific contributor to comp.sys.hp48 under multiple pseudonyms. I *think* that he first used his hilarious FHB description in a posting under the name Tiny Wanda, but I haven't been successful in finding that posting.

The earliest reference I can find from The Almighty Google is this post from 1999-05-23: https://groups.google.com/forum/#!msg/co...Q_KMo5vP8J

EDIT: Also this from 1999-05-24 which seems to be a transcript from an IRC (or maybe a bulletin board) conversation or something: https://groups.google.com/d/msg/comp.sys...SXFA16AmkJ

Back in 2006, Joe attributed the phrase to TranslucentAmoebae (i.e. Chris) in this post.

FWIW, I don't recall ever seeing an 'original post'. But then again, TA's stuff was usually so rambling that I may have skipped it.

[Jlouis]

(02-23-2019 09:58 PM)Voldemar Wrote:  

(02-23-2019 09:29 AM)grsbanks Wrote:  blue version of the HP 50g. It's fugly

It is not fugly. It is nice.

I agree, it's fugly. Worse, it hurts my eyes. I am not able to use one.

Blind regards

JL

[JSS]

Hello again,

I don't have the understanding about 50G 's communications capabilities and have a lot of open questions. Hope I can solve these issues before my 50G arrives.

1) Anyone knows about the 50G 's non-standard RS232 low voltage level serial port? A special cable which includes low voltage level driver electronics is needed, but does someone still sell them?

2) 50G 's USB port, is it fully standardized (e.g. USB1.0 & normal voltage levels) and supports similar functionality than using the serial cable connection?

3) Finally, about max 1 GB SD memory cards, they state that 50G supports FAT32 only partially and is restricted to max 1GB, but does it accept larger memory cards if formatted into 1GB partitions?

Thank you again for your answers.

BR JSS