What would your ideal HP calc look like now?

[Garth Wilson]

We seem to go through this exercise from time to time, but it's always fun, so I'll jump in.

Echoing what Ángel said, the 41CL with time module (and lots of ROM module images) does not lack much to be my ideal calculator. I will add:

• RPN should be standard. Keystroke programming is nice for the short programs typically done on calculators, although other languages should be possible too (and assembly should be more practical than it is on the Nut), which means you need to be able to do text editing on source-code files. Myself, I'm done with algebraic languages.
• I want a reflective LCD screen that can be read in normal room light to bright sunlight. I don't want color, partly because of battery-life issues and partly because I've never seen a color screen that's easily readable in sunlight. I have no need for color anyway.
• I want standard AA or AAA batteries that give months if not years of battery life without replacing or recharging. Rechargeable is ok as long as it does not preclude the use of alkalines. Even when I was using my 41cx heavily every day with instrumentation interfaced through HPIL, a set of batteries still lasted a couple of months.
• It must be made to last for decades. A cell phone will probably be in the landfill in two years, but I still use my 28-year-old HP-41cx every day, and some of the programs that I commonly use have been in it continuously, without re-loading, for nearly 25 years. To really get good at using a particular machine requires a big investment in time that I am not willing to repeat frequently just because the next big thing comes along.
• In the 80's, everyone always wanted more speed and memory; but I think nearly anything would meet those needs today.
• SD card, but also megabytes of internal flash which is available today in tiny SPI ICs.

Quote:a) we like high quality keys and would be willing to pay a premium to get them.

Yes, and there needs to be good key de-bouncing in software too.

Quote:b) a portable/pocket calculator should fit comfortably in a pocket! Ie. be very robust but slim and small. Thus a Pioneer (Voyager) type format.

"Pocket" refers to the size, not the method of carrying. I will never put a valuable thing like this in a pocket. That makes a lot of lint get into the unit, risks dumping it out on the floor if you bend down to access a bottom file cabinet drawer, or, if in a pants pocket, risk breaking it when you sit down, or scratching it with coins or keys or something else you forgot you had in there. Never.

Quote:c) graphing capability doesn't seem to be high on anyone's list.

Right. A single-line screen is fine for me, but it ought to be dot-matrix (like the 71's, not the 41's) so all the special characters can be displayed correctly. Greek letters are used a lot in engineering. Case may change meaning, as with M (mega, or million) versus m (milli, or one-onethousandth). The display ought to be long enough to show both parts of a complex number (room for text to tell what it is, at the same time, would be an added bonus), but I personally have almost no use for graphing. I'll leave the graphics for CAD, web browsing, photo editing, etc..

Quote:d) expansion/interfacing capabilities are nice

For me, it more than just nice. The unit must be able to be used as a hand-held controller, to control equipment and take data on the workbench. HPIL was great. A laptop takes too much room on the workbench, and is not as practical to unplug and carry from the workbench to my desk and back. The laptop's battery life is pittiful, at a few hours max, and I constantly have to be thinking about it. Then it takes time to charge it up again too. I don't use my 41's ability to control instrumentation much anymore, but I still want the capability. USB does not qualify, for several reasons. A serial port would be great too, with user programs able to directly access it at the byte level, unlike the TI-8x calculators; ie, it can't be just for file transfer by underlying layers of software which you can't easily get past. I use the FSI164A (like to the HP82164A) HPIL-to-RS232 to get RS232 with my 41 and 71.

The Arithmax that debrouxl mentioned above has some attractive features in the I/O department. They are a fairly typical microcontroller inventory of onboard support modules. I've developed many commercial products using microcontrollers, and would say that using a microcontroller is probably a given for any new calculator; but when you say "Chinese-made" for keyboards and a lot of other things, right away it gives me visions of things that hardly last until the credit-card bill arrives.

Quote:And still, I'm wondering what people(**) use them for - ie. when/why they wouldn't use a computer.

• better portability
• instant turn-on
• battery life of months or even years without recharging
• no hasles with updating OSs and finding that something doesn't work anymore, at least not the way you liked, or that your OS is too old to run something new that you want
• greater stability of something that lasts decades instead of just a few years max, and not having to frequently transfer things to new computers

and I'm sure I can think of other reasons with more time.