Stupid 18C question

[Lithium]

Hi there!

I have a stupid 18C question... I haven't been able to source a 18C manual, and while it works like a simplified 19BII, I can't figure out how to check the memory. On a 19B you just push the yellow key and 0, but how to do that on a 18C?

The reason I'm asking is because my 19II is pretty beat up, and I have bought a very nice 18C.

Since replacing the shell is out of question, I was thinking of simply replacing my 19B by the 18C, but the lack of mempry will probably be a problem ; I'm usually using between 1500 and 2000 bytes on the 19B, depending on equations, lists, etc, and I wonder if it will fit on the 18C (28C has barely over 1600 bytes available, hope the 18C is more toward 2K).

Any thoughts? My wife will kill me if I buy another 19BII !

[Massimo Gnerucci]

(04-10-2016 07:49 PM)Lithium Wrote:  My wife will kill me if I buy another 19BII !

You are not alone.

[Katie Wasserman]

If you're serious about HP calculators, I highly recommend that you buy the full set of manuals available here.

I don't think that there is a user command to report the amount of free memory. To start with there's only 1200 bytes available to the user, there's a section of the manual that details how much is used up by each data type, formula, etc., but that's about it. You're probably going to need something else. The 18C like the 28C is severely memory challenged.

[Tugdual]

(04-10-2016 08:26 PM)Massimo Gnerucci Wrote:  

(04-10-2016 07:49 PM)Lithium Wrote:  My wife will kill me if I buy another 19BII !

You are not alone.

I'm sure your wives have more rings than you have calcs...

[rprosperi]

(04-10-2016 07:49 PM)Lithium Wrote:  I'm usually using between 1500 and 2000 bytes on the 19B, depending on equations, lists, etc, and I wonder if it will fit on the 18C (28C has barely over 1600 bytes available, hope the 18C is more toward 2K).

Any thoughts? My wife will kill me if I buy another 19BII !

By coincidence I had my 18C manual out yesterday. Both of Katie's observations are correct, 1200 bytes and no command to check free RAM.

Amazing memory (sorry) Katie, if you recalled such details on such an unpopular machine.

(04-10-2016 10:02 PM)Tugdual Wrote:  I'm sure your wives have more rings than you have calcs...

You say that like it matters. Are you married?

[Katie Wasserman]

(04-10-2016 10:36 PM)rprosperi Wrote:  Amazing memory (sorry) Katie, if you recalled such details on such an unpopular machine.

I got one of these and a 28C when they first came out -- a gift from HP for giving a couple of talks at their New York headquarters -- and thought them to be very cool, but was quickly disappointed by the lack of memory. I mostly remembered the facts but did check the manual before posting my reply and read through the Memory Management section to confirm that there was no command to show free memory.

[rprosperi]

(04-11-2016 01:17 AM)Katie Wasserman Wrote:  I got one of these and a 28C when they first came out -- a gift from HP for giving a couple of talks at their New York headquarters -- and thought them to be very cool, but was quickly disappointed by the lack of memory. I mostly remembered the facts but did check the manual before posting my reply and read through the Memory Management section to confirm that there was no command to show free memory.

I read the same section. Not really very helpful (which is uncharacteristic for an HP manual of the period) other than to tell you that if the calc. says it's out of memory, it is. I didn't have an 18C back then, but did get a 28C. Just about when you started to grok RPL and getting into it, it was full. The good news was that since there was no way to backup the system, you didn't lose all that much when you crashed it, which I did often, but it sure seemed like a lot when I had to recreate all that was in there....

[Massimo Gnerucci]

(04-10-2016 10:02 PM)Tugdual Wrote:  

(04-10-2016 08:26 PM)Massimo Gnerucci Wrote:  You are not alone.

I'm sure your wives have more rings than you have calcs...

You are wrong, by far.

And, as Bob pointed out, that really doesn't matter...

[Massimo Gnerucci]

(04-10-2016 10:36 PM)rprosperi Wrote:  

(04-10-2016 10:02 PM)Tugdual Wrote:  I'm sure your wives have more rings than you have calcs...

You say that like it matters. Are you married?

Now this is a married man!

[Lithium]

Thank you all for answers. I was considering for years buying the manual set, but I'm still hoping for a downloadable set

It seems the 18C is even more memory challenged than the 28C, what a pity. 1200 bytes will take you to what, 2-3 equations, one or two lists of ~10 items (I'm used to store file number in my calc for my work, they are 8 digit long).
I just checked my 17BII backup which gets virtually no use, and I'm using 921 bytes just with a few equations...

I've read somewhere there's a way to increase memory on a 28C, so maybe on a 18C too? But if I open my 18C, that will be to put a 19B motherboard in it!

[Thomas Radtke]

If the 18C is not sufficient and the 19BII too expensive, try getting a 19B. Besides some more memory it comes with a better solver and trigs.