Hp49g - To buy or not to buy?

[Marco Polo]

I found a 49g I good shape for about 50 eur.
I currently use a 50g, for which I have a spare in my drawer.
I am thinking about buying the 49g for using as a workhorse, saving my currently used 50g.
Does this worth the money?
I appreciate a lot the 50g color scheme. Is the 49g's much worse?
Is the 49g keyboard so ugly?
Is the 48g serial cable compatible with 49g?

Thanks everybody.

[ijabbott]

I bought one from eBay for £9.25 earlier this year, so you may get one cheaper than 50 Euro if you are patient enough.

I like the colour scheme, personally.

The keyboard isn't that bad, just a bit rubbery!

It's a lot slower than the 50g, but probably not slower than the 48GX, and it runs a Meta Kernel based OS, llke the 50g.

The 48G serial cable is NOT compatible with the 49G. You can buy a serial cable for it from eBay, but I made my own.

[JurgenRo]

The HP-49G+ is a step forward in comparison to the HP-49G, better keyboard at least. But it's clearly harder to find.

Best Regards,
Juergen

[Massimo Gnerucci]

(10-05-2019 08:38 PM)JurgenRo Wrote:  The HP-49G+ is a step forward in comparison to the HP-49G, better keyboard at least. But it's clearly harder to find.

Only if you have one of the latest 49G+ otherwise, even if uglier, the 49g keyboard is more reliable.

[JurgenRo]

(10-05-2019 08:51 PM)Massimo Gnerucci Wrote:  

(10-05-2019 08:38 PM)JurgenRo Wrote:  The HP-49G+ is a step forward in comparison to the HP-49G, better keyboard at least. But it's clearly harder to find.

Only if you have one of the latest 49G+ otherwise, even if uglier, the 49g keyboard is more reliable.

Ok, thanks. Haven't been aware of that!

[Siegfried]

(10-05-2019 08:51 PM)Massimo Gnerucci Wrote:  

(10-05-2019 08:38 PM)JurgenRo Wrote:  The HP-49G+ is a step forward in comparison to the HP-49G, better keyboard at least. But it's clearly harder to find.

Only if you have one of the latest 49G+ otherwise, even if uglier, the 49g keyboard is more reliable.

How do you spot the right vintage?

[rprosperi]

(10-05-2019 10:39 PM)Siegfried Wrote:  

(10-05-2019 08:51 PM)Massimo Gnerucci Wrote:  Only if you have one of the latest 49G+ otherwise, even if uglier, the 49g keyboard is more reliable.

How do you spot the right vintage?

There is no documented date for when production changed to the better plastic (less brittle, keys stopped breaking) but production was from Aug-03 until about mid-06 when the 50g came out, so any very late 05 or 06 is probably the new type. That said, I have 2 x 49g+ from 04 which I've never had a problem or failure with. They are not daily drivers, but are used several times a year.

And of course, it is also a function of how you treat your machines; the original keys are brittle and prone to break after dropping or being hit, though most often the actual physicla failure occurred later when pressing keys.

Also, I don't believe there is any way to know about the key type by simple inspection (i.e. they don't look any different).