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grsbanks · 12-12-2018, 01:13 PM

As far as I know, the Prime G2 is only available in Europe at the moment. I've seen it on sale here in the UK, in Spain and in the Netherlands (where I got mine).

I've no idea what the deal is with the US. It could well be a case of retailers wanting to offload their stock of Rev. C hardware first of all, which isn't going to happen overnight in a global market where you can buy from a country other than where you live...

Ninetrees · 12-12-2018, 01:32 PM

I tried a few UK sellers, and none would ship to the US...there may be others...I also tried one in Europe, and they would not ship here either. Too funny, isn't it? I have another email in to US HP, asking about it...the last time I spoke with someone, he was puzzled that it is not available, and said that he'd get back in touch...has not yet. If it is a question of stock, I'd expect someone out there in the US to be out of older versions, and be the first to offer the new one. That might trigger the sales elsewhere. I'm frankly puzzled...I suppose that I could contact someone in the UK and ask them if they'd ship it here...then I'd buy it and send it to them. Well, time will tell...I am just in the mood to upgrade, but I have time before classes begin.

~R~

grsbanks · 12-12-2018, 01:34 PM

As far as I'm aware, http://www.derekenwinkel.nl do ship to the US. Try them.

Ninetrees · 12-12-2018, 02:09 PM

I got as far as placing the order there, and in the drop list for destinations, I did not see the US. I chose Canada to see what happened, and got the expected result. I now sent email to them...

~R~

**rprosperi** · 12-12-2018, 02:30 PM

(12-12-2018 01:32 PM)Ninetrees Wrote: If it is a question of stock, I'd expect someone out there in the US to be out of older versions, and be the first to offer the new one.

HP does not sell to individual dealers or stores, only to a relatively small number of large distributors or national chains; until these are mostly sold-through, HP will likely not make the new model available, else they'd have to take back the old stock, etc.

IMHO, this roll-out was poorly handled inside HP. Today, it's a world marketplace and everyone can know about product availability across the globe about an hour after it's available. So while HP does some things to protect market segments (e.g. if an American buys a G2 from Europe via mail order, the Warranty is not valid here, you would have to contact HP service in the country where it was sold), the reality that a new model is available, even if not locally, will have a negative impact on sales of the current model, making the channel inventory issue even worse, etc. From a global sales perspective, is selling a few hundred units in small markets worth the channel glut in larger markets, and negative publicity?

But some good news for HP is most consumers aren't aware of these issues, and are simply happy to buy the prior model Prime at a local Staples at the now lower price, reduced to help clear the backlog... Sigh...

grsbanks · (This post was last modified: 12-12-2018 02:55 PM by grsbanks.)

(12-12-2018 02:09 PM)Ninetrees Wrote: I got as far as placing the order there, and in the drop list for destinations, I did not see the US. I chose Canada to see what happened, and got the expected result. I now sent email to them...

Klaas is usually on the ball. Expect to hear back soon.

Edit: US might be "Verenigde Staten" in the drop-down list...

Ninetrees · 12-12-2018, 02:58 PM

and this may be why I have tried 3 vendors, and none will ship to the US...an agreement with HP. Funny, in a disturbing sort of way...that suppliers might be willing to withhold a calculator from such a large market. I have progressed through several HP calculators, and kept them all. Curiously, as they got more advanced, they didn't weather well...I have a 15C that I was fortunate pick up many years ago, and I bought the anniv version a few years back. I still use them on a regular basis, and have the 15C app on my desktop, my phone, and my tablet. I like many features of the 50g, but I am having difficulty connecting to it with Windows 10. I don't want to become a software engineer just to connect to it...

I like the screen of the Prime, but miss some fundamental features from the 50g. Wonder who thought that is a good idea...I doubt that they will show on the G2, but I'd really appreciate the better keys and faster device. I can turn to trying to build the features I want from the 50g.
~R~

Ninetrees · 12-12-2018, 03:01 PM

Verenigde Staten...Correct! I dated a dutch woman a while back and am passable, with horrible accent, in Dutch, but completely missed that connection...I'll look for it.
Thanks
~R~

grsbanks · 12-12-2018, 03:14 PM

(12-12-2018 02:58 PM)Ninetrees Wrote: I like many features of the 50g, but I am having difficulty connecting to it with Windows 10.

It's not that hard once you know the trick.

Reboot W10 with "driver signing enforcement" switched off(*). You can then install the driver. Once it's installed, reboot and driver signing will be enforced once again.

Driver signing enforcement does not have to be disabled to use the connection, only to install the driver. Once it's installed you can use your 50g without having to go through with this deactivation procedure.

(*) - https://in.answers.acer.com/app/answers/...nforcement

cdmackay · (This post was last modified: 12-12-2018 03:42 PM by cdmackay.)

As I've said a few times, I bought my G2 from Oxford Educational.

I just tried, and they do list US in their address drop-down. Why not try it. Alternatively, email James [info@oxford-educational.co.uk] and ask?

Finally, they also sell via Amazon UK, which may ship to the US. Amazon US ship here, so you never know.

cdmackay · 12-12-2018, 04:03 PM

I spoke to James at Oxford Edu (see last post), who says:

we only sell the G2 version and ship to the U.S on next-day UPS Express for all major cities. Outside of cities, it is a 2 day service.

U.S Customers will not be charged UK VAT and so the price will be £94.95 + £20 UPS Express. Local import duties or taxes may be charged on arrival in the U.S.

We always have these in plentiful stock and as £GBP gets weaker and weaker, the price becomes more attractive to American buyers!

Orders can be placed at this link for immediate shipment; http://www.studentcalculators.co.uk/acat...ckard.html

Ninetrees · 12-12-2018, 04:27 PM

Thanks cdmckay...ordered...now to see if I can get those drivers installed. Thanks for that ref too!

Aside...15C, 15C anniv, 12C, 35S, 48SX, 49g+, 50g, Prime A

~R~

JDW · 12-13-2018, 12:16 AM

Ninetrees, it's totally nuts. I fear that HP has totally and utterly lost its way. It doesn't even list ANY version of the Prime at all in its HP Japan online store (I know because I live and Japan and checked prior to ultimately purchasing to Primes this past summer for my kids' educational use).

It's really quite sad. They need to reboot management heading their calculator group. Seriously. If HP had better people managing their calculators, I highly doubt TI would have such a monopolistic death grip on the US educational market like it does now.

All said, good luck getting the newest Prime anytime soon. I wouldn't be surprised to see it still sold exclusively in small European countries 1 year hence. Sorry to be so pessimistic, but I see no evidence proving me speculation to be off-base. It's terrible unfortunate.

Ninetrees · 12-13-2018, 02:44 PM

My relationship with HP goes pretty far back. In the 80s, I worked at a nuclear facility, and frequently did criticality calculations. I purchased a new (not sure...maybe 25C?), and it had problems...key bounce, some firmware error...and I contacted HP about it.They assigned to me an engineer to research the problem, and in a short while hand delivered a new device to be tested. It worked flawlessly. Around the time of the 48SX, I was also working w HP on keyboard layout and keystroke optimization, along with many others. It was a volunteer effort by experienced RPN calculator users. HP thanked us at a special meeting, where they gave us all hot-off-the-presses 48SXs. It remains today as a fond reminder of those halcyon days when the culture was more technically competent.
I have recently left a university, after 10 years. Incoming STEM students are not as well prepared as we were in the late 60s, despite having taken 'advanced' classes. One of the serious deficiencies is in the area of math automaticity and math tool skills. In fact, prior to the U, I ran my own engineering company, and it was clear to me as far back as the 80s that US student STEM performance was in decline. In 2012, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), in a survey of nations with highly developed economies, US 16 to 24 year olds had the lowest scores in “numeracy” among the 22 nations tested.
Even the design and firmware of the Prime, IMO, shows a sacrifice of science and engineering emphasis in favor of marketing.
Every student to whom I demonstrated the superiority of RPN, immediately embraced it, and wondered why, as U students, some in their last years, had never been introduced to it.
I recall during my undergrad years that I was accused of cheating on a physics exam, because I had written down the answer to a complex vector forces problem, rather than step tediously through deriving each step from basic geometry and trig. When I asked the faculty (I can't bring myself to use 'professor'), about getting zero credit, he said it was obvious I cheated. When I explained that I simply did the vector math on my calculator, he said to show him. I did. He said that he was unaware that calculators did vector math!!!!!!! This is who teaches our students.
I was not surprised when the reply from HP recommended that I buy the older Prime. No comment about the newer one missing from the lineup. I wrote back that I declined to spend my money on outdated tech. I should have my new Prime tomorrow.

Ninetrees · 12-13-2018, 03:23 PM

(12-12-2018 03:14 PM)grsbanks Wrote:
(12-12-2018 02:58 PM)Ninetrees Wrote: I like many features of the 50g, but I am having difficulty connecting to it with Windows 10.

It's not that hard once you know the trick.

Reboot W10 with "driver signing enforcement" switched off(*). You can then install the driver. Once it's installed, reboot and driver signing will be enforced once again.

Driver signing enforcement does not have to be disabled to use the connection, only to install the driver. Once it's installed you can use your 50g without having to go through with this deactivation procedure.

(*) - https://in.answers.acer.com/app/answers/...nforcement

@grsbanks: I tried this...and it appeared successful, but now I wonder if I am using the correct driver and connx to install. I see that there is an updated version of conn, but seems to work only w the prime. I installed the Prime simulator, and it seemed to find it...I did not follow thru, because I wanted to get the 50g working, if possible. So it seems that I need a different connectivity kit, and it will likely install the correct driver. Then I can repeat the same process you referred to.
~R~

grsbanks · 12-13-2018, 03:31 PM

Go into Windows Settings -> Devices

Connect the 50g and power up.

If you see "HPx9G+ Device" in the list of "Other devices" then the driver is installed successfully.

Note that the driver needed to communicate with the Prime is included with its ConnKit, so if you installed a USB driver separately then it is NOT the one for the Prime.

The ConnKit for the HP 50g (Conn4x) is linked to on this page: http://www.debug4x.com/