My personal calculator history

[naddy]

I updated the initial post to reflect the fact that I have now dipped a toe into the Pioneer model pool.

As impressive as the HP-42S is, I can't make good use of it. Complex numbers as a first-class data type? I haven't really needed them in decades. Matrices? Linear algebra is something of a black hole in my math education and solving systems of linear equations doesn't come up. Most importantly, the machine begs to be programmed, for the user to develop their own library of programs. Well, I just haven't done that in decades, so I'm unlikely to do so now. Nope, an HP-42S would be wasted on me.

It came down to the choice of HP32S versus HP-32SII. I agonized sufficiently over this that I actually got both models and compared them head-to-head for a couple of weeks. Finally I settled for the 32S and resold the 32SII again. Did I mention that I'm not a collector and don't want to become one?

Most people prefer the 32SII. And that's fine. The 32SII adds:

• Equations in algebraic syntax. I can see why people love this and for many it will obviate the need for programming entirely, but on an RPN calculator this feels like a very square peg in a round hole.
• Fractions. Nice, but I never missed them. This may be a feature more for the Americans, who measure things in eighths for an inch or such, than here in decimal Europe.
• Various minor improvements that don't add much (R↑, \(\sigma_{x}\), individually allocated statistics variables, a few unit conversions, ...)
  

So it really came down to the revamped user interface, with two shift keys, fewer and flatter menus at the cost of four symbols per key. This imposes its own cognitive load, although it might just be a matter of getting used to it. But not everything has been flattened: you still need four (or, in extreme cases, five) key presses to set the display format. And the down function now requires shift, ugh.

In the end the HP-32S design just felt... conceptually cleaner, if that makes any sense.

The key labels also looked less robust on the 32SII. I don't know if those stand prolonged use or will wear off.