42th anniversary of HP-35?

[HP67]

(06-22-2014 07:19 PM)Mike Morrow Wrote:  There's nothing inherently wrong with an ARM-based calculator.

That's a matter of opinion. And I believe there is a lot wrong with it.

(06-22-2014 07:19 PM)Mike Morrow Wrote:  What is very wrong with most attempts is using the original firmware of some legacy model on an emulation of the original hardware on an ARM. The emulation layer ruins the result, not the ARM.

That's an implementation problem, not an indictment of emulation. Maybe the emulation just isn't good enough. Given buying any new device means having off the shelf el-cheapo commodity SOC crapware jammed down our throats I would prefer to go with known good firmware that behaves exactly like it did in the real device they're copying rather than a whole new set of problems caused by reinventing the wheel. Why mess with success? All they needed was higher clocks and maybe a little better display. The old HP 48 would be as good as ever with a faster processor.

(06-22-2014 07:19 PM)Mike Morrow Wrote:  Speed improvements of the HP 49G+ and HP 50G resulting from introduction of ARM processors are minimal, due to the Saturn emulator layer that runs on the ARM. It would be lightening-fast without an emulation layer.

They would also be lightning fast running on a Saturn chip clocked around 100 MHz, with good battery life and something that could actually be called an HP calculator, rather than a generic creation from Kinpo running on a generic platform just like all the other handheld devices in the world.