HP-48S vs. 48G vs. 42S

[Jeff O.]

(06-28-2016 10:13 AM)JDW Wrote:  4. I hear the 42S is "the best calc HP ever made," and yet many I see on EBAY, selling for $230 to $330, have chipped paint or dents in what appears to be a metal plate in the calculator. How does it sell at those prices despite unsightly cosmetic damage? I've owned a 28S for 26 years and never had such ghastly damage even after a drop. So with that "negative" in mind, what would make the 42S superior to the 48S? Sentimental value alone? Or is it that the 42S is simply thinner and lighter than the 48S? Something else?

Thank you.

My personal take is that the 42S is viewed as the last of the line of the great RPN calculators. While the 48 and other RPL calculators may be technically more powerful, the 42S is at the peak of the curve, so to speak, of the plot of size vs. power vs. ease of use. The high prices are of course a reflection of supply (limited, because those who have them use them and want to keep them) vs. demand (those who recognize the power and want one). The cosmetic damage reflects the fact that these units were well used. Unfortunately, the lifespan of the units is limited. My original 1988 vintage unit has several buttons that are “clicky” or “sticky” (hard to explain, but the key sort-of clicks or sticks after releasing it). There is a well-known issue with a foam compression pad deteriorating and causing the keyboard-to-processor connection to fail. I am also not sold on the long term viability of the keyboard mechanical construction (of all of the pioneers, not just the 42S), which is I believe plastic domes with some sort of conductive carbon spot on the backside, at least not compared to the longevity of the metal strips and domes of earlier and later models.

With the above points about the power and desirability of the 42S said, I view it as another near miss to being a truly great calculator. If it had an “i” key, to allow direct entry of complex numbers instead of requiring them to be assembled using the shifted “COMPLEX” function, and more importantly, had some means to store and retrieve data and programs to some outside storage device, it would have been darn near the most perfect RPN calculator ever made.

Just my opinions, no disrespect to the RPL-o-philes out there.