The Prime is just an Expensive Toy

[DrDarius]

I agree with medwatt. HP Prime is a, to certain extent, a toy. (Let's not discuss "expensive" part here.)

That said, let's stir the pot a bit, and have a look at the issue from somewhat broader perspective.
1. It's not an engineering calculator.
2. It's a calculator, not a computer (in a colloquial, not technical meaning of this word). There is certain threshold above which engineering problems should be solved using professional tools.
3. A calculator which would satisfy everybody's needs does not exist. At least not yet.

But, having used quite a few calculators in my life (programmable and not programmable), I found Prime, as buggy and sometimes inconvenient to use as it is, the calculator which I like the most. Discussing pros and cons does not belong to this post, so I leave them aside, maybe with an exception of this one: after I bought it, I spent some some on porting applications I had written on other programmable calculators to Prime; this way I killed two birds with one stone: learned Prime and understood how it works, and configured it to my liking, so I can use it efficiently. Assessment/investment of some sort. Without customization Prime would not be useful for me at all (okay, maybe "at all" is a slight exaggeration).

I still keep a few calculators handy in my office and switch between them depending on the task I am working on, but Prime is the most often used calculator. Maybe it is, indeed, a fascination with a new toy...

Darius