HP 50G Arrived Today

[Han]

(01-29-2014 06:02 AM)MathyTortoise Wrote:  Then I found this forum!

I grew up on TI calcs and have most of the graphing line, from TI-85 to TI-nspire Touchpad.

I started off on TIs as well (from TI-80 days), but quickly switched to HPs when I saw another classmate using an HP48G.

Quote:I think the TI-86 is the sexiest calculator ever made, aesthetics wise.

I always like the aesthetic appeal of the original TI-89 (not titanium) among all the TI calculators.

Quote:I discovered HP when I found my mom's 48G, which baffled me. I am finally getting the hang of thinking through solutions using RPL, but I haven't done any programming so everything is still a little inconvenient to type in.

RPL takes a while to get used to; once you do get used to it, it's hard to go back.

Quote:Matrices are absolutely maddening. Even if I master my HP 50G, and 48G I guess, I will never approach doing matrices with anything other than my TI-nspire; no other calculator is faster for input.

Are you using the matrix writer? I bypass all those fancy interfaces and just type my matrices on the command line: [ [ 1 2 ] 2 3 -1 4 ] ENTER will create a 3x2 matrix. You can specify the width of a row by how you enter the first row. Fewer keystrokes.

Quote:My mom also had a 32SII, which is just gorgeous.

The entire Pioneer series had the best look and feel among all the families of calculators offered by HP. They are my favorite.

Quote:Lurking around I find people adore the power but are spoiled by the button feel and layout, and a drop in quality. Personally, as someone who has recently become addicted to collecting calculators, I don't think it even matters. It is astonishes me that people who are so proud they can do all that math they are mentally capable of on a 20 year old machine will bitch that something objectively more powerful is inferior, simply because the plastic is lighter.

Power doesn't mean much if you can't even use it because it breaks easily. But I do agree with you for the most part.

Quote:Okay, while I am still tired and scattered, I'll bitch and ask a question. The HP 48G make weird vertical stripes when changing screens. While adjusting the contrast on the HP 50G, I noticed that similar lines appeared.

Not sure what you mean; have any pictures to share?

Quote:Okie. I am excited to have become a part of this dying community. I hope to contribute something useful in the future.

"I'm not dead, yet!" -- Monty Pythons