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N7XW · 12-14-2015, 02:11 AM

Hello all. I am new here, just registered. I have been an HP calculator fan for many years. I am currently using the 33s, 35s and a 48s that has seen its better days. I have been debating between the new Prime and the more familiar (for me at least) 50g for some time now. I just noticed Amazon has the 50g for $48. I guess they are trying to close them out before the end of the year. I ordered two just to have a backup.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000GTP...ge_o01_s00

Thanks for having me.

**rprosperi** · 12-14-2015, 02:29 AM

(12-14-2015 02:11 AM)N7XW Wrote: Hello all. I am new here, just registered. I have been an HP calculator fan for many years. I am currently using the 33s, 35s and a 48s that has seen its better days. I have been debating between the new Prime and the more familiar (for me at least) 50g for some time now. I just noticed Amazon has the 50g for $48. I guess they are trying to close them out before the end of the year. I ordered two just to have a backup.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000GTP...ge_o01_s00

Thanks for having me.

Welcome to the MoHPC Forums. You've come to the right place for lots of information (and opinions) about all HP machines.

If you like the 48 and RPL, you will love the 50g. If, otoh, you are looking for a dramatically more powerful, but also dramatically different platform, the Prime is unmatched in power, graphics, and arguably, CAS capabilities for advanced symbolic math. Prime has a "Pascal-like" programming language, but lacks any kind of RPN/RPL programming. There is an interactive RPN mode for straight math, but it is limited and does not access all the features of the Prime - it's in there as an homage to HP's RPN history, but the Prime is really an algebraic machine, as it's geared towards educational markets.

Thanks for info on great 50g price. That's cheaper than they sell the HP-35S!

N7XW · 12-14-2015, 02:54 AM

I really loved the old 48 series. My first one was a 48s in college in the early 90's. The 48 I have now came from ebay. Unfortunately it only lasted about a week before it died. I knew the Prime was more geared for the educational market but didn't know it was that limited in RPN capabilities. I thought that since it does do RPN it was the same as the 50g in RPN functionality. Thanks for the information. It makes me even more glad I got the 50's.

On a side note, my occupation is land surveying and civil engineering. I am looking forward to programming the 50 for surveying. Not long ago I just finished programming my 35s for surveying. I spent about 25 hours total on it. I left the calculator in the office during some vacation time. When I returned the office manager told me she borrowed it. She wanted to make sure the memory was clear so it wouldn't 'mess up' her calculations. She couldn't figure out how to clear the top row and .... you know where this is headed. Yep, cleared memory, all my programming gone forever. My heart sunk. I haven't even started back on it again, but need to. Needless to say I'm not going to leave it sitting on my desk unattended again!

wojtek · 12-14-2015, 03:50 AM

(12-14-2015 02:54 AM)N7XW Wrote: On a side note, my occupation is land surveying and civil engineering. I am looking forward to programming the 50 for surveying. Not long ago I just finished programming my 35s for surveying. I spent about 25 hours total on it. I left the calculator in the office during some vacation time. When I returned the office manager told me she borrowed it. She wanted to make sure the memory was clear so it wouldn't 'mess up' her calculations. She couldn't figure out how to clear the top row and .... you know where this is headed. Yep, cleared memory, all my programming gone forever. My heart sunk. I haven't even started back on it again, but need to. Needless to say I'm not going to leave it sitting on my desk unattended again!

Had you seized on a chance of talking about rise?

N7XW · 12-14-2015, 04:02 AM

(12-14-2015 03:50 AM)wojtek Wrote: Had you seized on a chance of talking about rise?

No, afraid not.

N7XW · 12-14-2015, 04:03 AM

Looks like the price just went up by $10.

wojtek · (This post was last modified: 12-14-2015 07:23 AM by wojtek.)

Just of curiosity, why 50g sells so cheap, even cheaper than 35s. Or maybe the other side, why 35s with its bugs, very limited programming capabilities, awkword editor, is so expensive compared to 50g?
Of course 35s is much smaller and lighter which can be an advantage to some, but certainly it's less expensive in production.
Stores are full of 50g's? (but supposedly it's still in production). Somebody overestimated the market demand?
The market laws are like black magic sometimes.

toml_12953 · (This post was last modified: 12-14-2015 10:43 AM by toml_12953.)

(12-14-2015 02:11 AM)N7XW Wrote: I just noticed Amazon has the 50g for $48. I guess they are trying to close them out before the end of the year. I ordered two just to have a backup.

On the US page the price is $57.99 for a new one. The $48.00 price is for a used one. (as of 6am EST on 14 December)

Tom L

matthiaspaul · (This post was last modified: 12-16-2015 12:43 AM by matthiaspaul.)

(12-14-2015 07:18 AM)wojtek Wrote: Stores are full of 50g's? (but supposedly it's still in production).

Unfortunately, the HP 50g has been discontinued this year according to Klaas Kuperus (Moravia):

https://web.archive.org/web/201504021122...-of-an-era
(the link is no longer working as that forum has been set up new from scratch recently, but it is archived in the internet archive)

See also:

http://www.hpmuseum.org/forum/thread-326...l#pid29694

Greetings,

Matthias

N7XW · 12-14-2015, 05:07 PM

The price of the 50g has been fluctuating on Amazon from $48 to $58 (brand new) over the last 12 hours. Still a great deal at $58, cheaper than a new 35s.

Rsponholtz · 12-17-2015, 04:07 PM

I just got a brand new 50g from Amazon and the LCD screen is defective (see photo). I'm a bit disappointed.