An unusual 48G. What is it?

[Cristian Arezzini]

I recently acquired a very nice 48G. It looked totally ordinary, until I turned it on (it came with batteries installed): then I saw a very cool 6-level stack.
Then I checked the available RAM: I got 66,707.5 bytes free.
Then I checked the Library menu: it shows 3 ports (:0:, :2: and :3: ).
Ports 2 and 3 are empty, while port 1 has the following: 4, 257, 228, 182, 179, 178, 177, 176, 1200, 809, 808, 224, 1201, 1122, 234 and 805.
What is this calculator? It looks brand new, totally unmarked in any way, so I can't guess how it could have been opened (and closed again so perfectly).
What is the software installed in port 0? Can I find infos/manuals? And, should the batteries die... would I loose everything and get a normal, "pristine" 48G (with more RAM)?

   

[Jlouis]

Yes, some Memory was added.

Look like speedUI, but Raymond can tell better.

I have a 1997 48gx with black LCD. No one can tell that the calculator was opened.

[rprosperi]

(03-05-2016 03:55 PM)Cristian Arezzini Wrote:  I recently acquired a very nice 48G. It looked totally ordinary, until I turned it on (it came with batteries installed): then I saw a very cool 6-level stack.
Then I checked the available RAM: I got 66,707.5 bytes free.
Then I checked the Library menu: it shows 3 ports (:0:, :2: and :3: ).
Ports 2 and 3 are empty, while port 1 has the following: 4, 257, 228, 182, 179, 178, 177, 176, 1200, 809, 808, 224, 1201, 1122, 234 and 805.
What is this calculator? It looks brand new, totally unmarked in any way, so I can't guess how it could have been opened (and closed again so perfectly).
What is the software installed in port 0? Can I find infos/manuals? And, should the batteries die... would I loose everything and get a normal, "pristine" 48G (with more RAM)?

This machine definitely has SPEEDUI installed, the port indicators in the upper right corner and LIB 4 confirm this. Use [LS] [Library] to get a VARS-like list of the installed libraries, which may reveal what they are; some Libraries include an About function to explain what they are. IIRC, the 48 FAQ (Google it; you will easily find this) lists some common Library numbers which may help.

[Raymond Del Tondo]

Hi,

I can confirm that this HP 48G has SpeedUI installed:-)

If you somehow loose the RAM contents, you can download the latest SpeedUI version here:
http://www.hpmuseum.org/guest/deltondo/sui_1501.zip

A feature overview can be found here:
http://www.hpmuseum.org/guest/deltondo/speedui.pdf

Depending on the version you have installed, you can cycle through up to four font sizes.

The small font is a special case in many respects. Since all HP 48 internal routines expect a 22 char wide stack, there are still some display glitches during editing using the 33 (34) char wide small font. This issue may be addressed at some time in this year.

[Han]

Your HP48G was upgraded to include 256KB of RAM, permanently installed in what would normally be considered card slot 2 of an HP48GX. It additionally has had its 32KB RAM chip replaced with a 128KB RAM chip, for a total of 384KB.

It is quite possible to open an HP48 without leaving a single trace. With practice and knowledge of where the heat stakes are, one can open the calculator without any damage, and similarly close the calculator.

[Vtile]

Is it possible to upgrade 48S memory, by opening the device? ..or is it that much a collectible that it should be left intact?

[ElectroDuende]

(03-19-2016 07:40 PM)Vtile Wrote:  Is it possible to upgrade 48S memory, by opening the device? ..or is it that much a collectible that it should be left intact?

Yes, it is possible to do it in the same way that our fellow here showed on his 48G (but keeping the 32kB chip in place). When I was at the engineering school in the 90's it was quite a usual upgrade among the students...

Anyway, I wouldn't risk a 48s in good shape to do such a change... it will have more memory, but still be very slow... you can get a 50G cheap now.