Is 50g good or crap?

[jonmoore]

(05-03-2023 09:06 PM)avsebastian Wrote:  If I had to choose the 10 best calculators of all time that Hewlett Packard has made, they would be (quality/design/relevance), regardless of the ranking :

hp prime v2.0
hp 50g
hp 48 gx
hp 12 C
hp 42S
hp 41 CX
hp 10bII+
hp 35S
hp 20s
hp 17bII

if i had to choose the 5 best calculators:

hp 50g
hp 48gx
hp 12C
hp 42s
hp 41Cx

I'll play on the top 5 front but in no specific order

HP15C
HP50g
HP97
HP Prime G2
DM41X

Sure I'm cheating with the DM41X, but in 2023 I have no need for HP41 peripherals, so the Swiss Micros hardware makes far more sense for my needs.

My HP48GX didn't quite make the list (much as I love the occasional afternoon exploring math with mid nineties hardware) but the 50G can do everything the 48GX can muster and a considerable amount more on top. The one area where the 48GX edges the 50g is linear algebra. There's some great matrix focused libraries for the 48GX that weren't rewritten for the 50g. And with all the bells and whistles of SpeedUI, the general UX is snappy too (as long as you don't allow the garbage collection routines to spoil your day).

As for which calcultor I use most often, it's surpisingly the HP Prime G2. For many years it was the 50g, but most of the time I don't need to create a bespoke programs, so speed and convenience is my priority. It's a real pity HP didn't provide the Prime with a proper RPN/RPL mode, but what's the point in getting hung up on what might have been.