+- HP Forums (https://www.hpmuseum.org/forum)
+-- Forum: HP Calculators (and very old HP Computers) (/forum-3.html)
+--- Forum: General Forum (/forum-4.html)
+--- Thread: Bug in HP 300s+: FACT on powers > 9 (/thread-17912.html)
Bug in HP 300s+: FACT on powers > 9 - Joe Horn - 01-10-2022 06:44 AM
The HP 300s+ has a FACT button which finds the prime factors of integers. For example, if you enter 10! and press = then press FACT, it displays 2^8 × 3^4 × 5^2 × 7. But FACT has a bug in it: The powers are always displayed in hex! (This is noticeable when the power is > 9, of course).
Examples:
2^15 = FACT --> 2^f
2^16 = FACT --> 2^10
2^33 = FACT --> 2^21
12! = FACT --> 2^a × 3^5 ... etc.
Although the HP 300s+ is often characterized as a rebranded Casio, I am unaware of any Casio model that has this bug.
Note: FACT only returns prime factors <1000. This is not a bug, but a documented function limitation, shared with Casio.