Top three calculators ?

[Dave1947]

The one I reach for first is my HP-15C. I bought it in the mid 80’s to replace the 11C that I wore out. Before that I used my HP-35 that I bought in 1973 and still have. The one I use on the road is the HP-15C app on my iPhone or the 32S-II that I carry around in my backpack. I’m really comfortable with the 15C so it gets all the use.

Other than those I have an HP-21, a 41CV, a 67 and a 71b. These are used mostly to fill my idle time and keep me out of mischief.

[knife31]

Mine was the HP-11C. I'm retired military and it's been with me all over the world. Next would be the HP-41CV then a toss-up between the HP-48GX or the HP-35S depending on the day.
RH

[KF6GPE]

I can't remember if I posted here, but the lineup has changed again.
1. DM-16L. I've been doing a lot of low-level embedded software work, and the computer arithmetic & base conversion functions are priceless. (I don't want to use my vintage HP-16C on my desk.) When I've traveled on business, I've carried the DM-16 in my laptop case.
2. Plus42 on my phone or laptop, because I can't seem to get the hang of int->float conversions on the 16L to do the occasional bit of floating point math I need to do.
3. DM-41L. Around the house.

The DM-41X and DM-42 are safe on the shelf next to my desk. I know I could do the base conversions on either (thanks to the Advantage Pac or the 42's built-in functions) but the DM-16L is faster for me.

And a shoutout to Maple, which I've been increasingly using for various sonification projects for fun. It's not a calculator, but hey, it's fun math.

[Raymond Del Tondo]

Actually at some time a few years ago, an era ended, at least for me.
Therefore my current favourite three HP calculators are not exactly the same as back then.

- HP-41CX
- HP Prime
- HP 30b

A few years ago I never thought that things like the Prime
or 30b would find their way into my home again.

I wrote some posts about the 30b when it was relatively new,
and the points of criticism about the ergonomics are still valid.

But: The 30b is the cheapest RPN capable HP calc with nice keyboard feedback,
and (after some accomodation) nice RPN user interface.
Everything on the 30b is better than on the 20b,
if you ignore the awful silver color of the 30b;-)

From an ergonomic point of view, the HP 32S is much better than the 30b.
But the 30b has a much better display contrast,

I ignored the Prime since my "lifetime" project was the HP 48 GX.
But in late 2022, I aquired a really cheap Prime G1 through eBay.
The Prime hardware and features are what many of us wanted
all those decades ago.

The Prime built-in RPN stack is awful, not worth the effort.
But the PPL allows (with some damn restrictions) to customize the user interface.
And so I did, using the RPN calc from Jacob Wall as base,
my own RPN stack environment, with switchable font sizes.

[AMiguelTrindade]

My top 3:
HP48G
HP15C
HP12C
Runner ups:
HP41CX (emulated in Android)
HP16C (also emulated)
HP Prime (emulated)

[case2001]

I am surprised no one ever mentions the Hp28 series. I enjoy the separate keyboard. There is a nice iOS app rpn28x Calc.

[lrdheat]

I very much enjoyed, and now miss my HP 28, also miss my HP 67. I simulated the 1970 American League baseball season on that calculator…a simple simulation that was a good approximation to what really happened that year! I don’t even remember what became of those wonders!

[Uwe-001]

I love my HP15C, followed by my HP16C. Third place is the HP42S. Each is a good device.

[carey]

1. HP48G+/GX: Showcases RPL at its best.
2. HP49G+ (3rd gen)/HP50G: I find the 49G+ greenish display background brighter (more reflective) than the grayish 50g display background. 49G+/50g will move to 1st place after I learn those dreaded 50g keyboard shortcuts for commands located on 48GX keys and menus.
3. HP15C CE: Perfect for what it does, and fast.

Two HP calculators I try to like but...
1. HP42S: Easy to program, and while every programming step is easy to follow, there are too many of them so any program beyond a few lines doesn't give a hint at a glance as to what the program does.
2. HP27S: A powerful solver, but I miss matrices.

[dm319]

Gonna go for:
1. DM-42L

Doesn't exist apart from as a prototype, but I imagine it is the ultimate lovechild of a DM-42 and HP voyager.

[Steve Simpkin]

My top 3 calculators:
1. HP-48SX - I used my HP-48SX as my only engineering calculator for over 27 years.
2. HP-25 - My first HP. I saved up for over 1.5 years and bought it on my 16th birthday. I used it for almost 10 years through High School, College and my first job.
3. HP-28C/HP-28S - I used my HP-28C then my 28S for 3 years as my only engineering calculators before buying my HP-48SX.


Back in the 1970's through the early 1990's, scientific calculators were used by engineers, technicians, scientists and others in technical fields as professional tools. They were also eventually adopted by students, slowly at first, because of the relatively high cost. They replaced slide rules, adding machines and trig/log books that had been in use for well over 100 years. And they did this task much faster and with higher accuracy. Programmable calculators made even a bigger impact in productivity. They automated tasks at a time when computers were not common and were very portable and personal. They made us better at our jobs. Scientific and programmable calculators, as professional tools, were eventually replaced by computers and software applications but those of us who worked in fields during that time that required portable computational devices to do our jobs remember what a difference calculators made. I have very strong memories of using my HP calculators through High School, college and my 40+ years as an engineer.

[rprosperi]

(05-06-2024 06:14 PM)carey Wrote:  2. HP49G+ (3rd gen)/HP50G:
[snip]

There are 2 clear generations of the 49g+, with 3 or 4 batteries (plus other details) but can you list the differences among the 3 generations you noted? Mixed feelings to learn there may be a new target to add to the collection... <sigh>

[carey]

(05-07-2024 12:12 PM)rprosperi Wrote:  

(05-06-2024 06:14 PM)carey Wrote:  2. HP49G+ (3rd gen)/HP50G:
[snip]

There are 2 clear generations of the 49g+, with 3 or 4 batteries (plus other details) but can you list the differences among the 3 generations you noted? Mixed feelings to learn there may be a new target to add to the collection... <sigh>

Thanks Bob for asking about this!

The 3 generations of HP49G+ I was referring to were:
1) 1st gen - initial release (keyboard issues).
2) 2nd gen - improved keyboard hardware but still keyboard issues.
3) 3rd gen - keyboard improved again, now same keyboard as 50g. Still uses 3 batteries. Identifiable by a thumb indent in the SD slot.

Perhaps I should refer to these as "revisions" rather than "generations."

Btw, all 49g+ calculators that I'm aware of use 3 batteries. The HP48gii had 2 generations that differed in the number of batteries, and as you mentioned, other details: (3 batteries, 128k RAM, serial only, released in 2003) vs (4 batteries, serial & USB, 256k RAM, released in 2006).

Thanks again!

[rprosperi]

First, you're right, I confused the 3/4 battery versions of 48GII with the 49g+; sorry for the bad info!!

Thanks for your notes on the 3 revisions/generations!

I was aware of early machines in what you call the first two generations and how they differ from the last category, but wasn't sure that this was indeed due to a running design change; I've always thought this was a matter of luck with which machine you happened to get.

Is there clear evidence that there was a design change, and/or do units fall into these 'categories' based on serial number range? I'm not suggesting you are wrong, just surprised to hear these are distinct versions from differing designs. Please share details if you have them.

Thanks again!

[carey]

(05-08-2024 01:50 AM)rprosperi Wrote:  I was aware of early machines in what you call the first two generations and how they differ from the last category, but wasn't sure that this was indeed due to a running design change; I've always thought this was a matter of luck with which machine you happened to get.

Is there clear evidence that there was a design change, and/or do units fall into these 'categories' based on serial number range? I'm not suggesting you are wrong, just surprised to hear these are distinct versions from differing designs. Please share details if you have them.

I may have first learned about the three generations of HP49G+ keyboards from Eric Rechlin's very informative and comprehensive April 11, 2006 post to comp.sys.hp48 that details the differences between the three keyboard generations, along with corresponding serial number ranges and ROM versions. There may be other relevant posts, but Eric's post appears to be definitive.

[rprosperi]

Thanks for the pointer!

Despite talking with Eric weekly for years, I missed this and will check it out today...

[Pierre]

TOP 3 ?
Impossible... for me it would rather be a Top 50!
Obviously in (1) my first love from my youth that I have still had near my hand for over 40 years: my TI-58C !
In (2) all the "41": PX41CX (still on my desk) PX41C then DM41X DM41L then HP-41CV HP41C,
In (3) all the "42": HP-42S, DM42, 42LC (and all programmable Piooners)
in (4) all the "15": HP-15C, HP-15C LE, HP-15 CE, DM15L, PX15C (and all programmable Voyagers)
and then the HP "33", "34", "25", 29", "55"...
the TI "82", "83", "84", "nspire"...
without forgetting the TI-57... the HP-97...
I have to go on vacation with a travel trunk ! (Not easy to get through customs...)

[xerxes]

1. CASIO PB-2000C/AI-1000: One of the most interesting pocket computers with many programming languages on ROM cards. C, LISP, PROLOG, BASIC and CASL were available as interpreted languages. The PASCAL card offered an almost Turbo Pascal 5.0 compatible, very fast native code compiler with a very similar IDE, an excellent full screen editor and inline assembly. I first saw this card on the CeBit 1990 in Hannover and I'm still impressed, what's possible with only 64K ROM.

2. CASIO FX-9860G Slim: Very nice and compact for graphing and reminds to the FX-7500G.

3. CASIO FX-603P: The dream calculator for FX-602P fans, to play with keystroke programming.

[avsebastian]

1)hp 48GX
2) hp 50G
3) hp 17bII

*Special Mention: Hp prime*

[tommi60]

(Omitting those I use on my phone)

1. HP-15CE
2. CASIO fx-5800P
3. HP-27S

The fx-5800P is an outlier here, but amazingly versatile and capable.