[48G] Second hand recommendation

[Tugdual]

Tonight I may purchase a second hand 48G; I've been interested in this calculator for quite some time and never had an opportunity to actually use a real one. Does anybody here have recommendation on simple things to check in order to assess the quality of the product?
Also what would be a good market price?
Any help appreciated...

[Han]

I recommend looking for one with a Singapore serial number as this generally means that your keyboard is molded as opposed to just painted on. They were sold for around $100 when they were first released. Today, you should be able to get one for $25-30. I wouldn't pay more than $50 unless it came complete with box, etc.

[Bruno]

Hi,

here are some issues I've encountered when buying several HP48:

- Some keys did not respond
- Announciators and/or columns of the display always stay ON or OFF
- Did not power on : ON key problem, or just need a 'hard' reset.

[Han]

(03-03-2015 02:23 PM)Bruno Wrote:  Hi,

here are some issues I've encountered when buying several HP48:

- Some keys did not respond
- Announciators and/or columns of the display always stay ON or OFF
- Did not power on : ON key problem, or just need a 'hard' reset.

These can be repaired; see:
http://www.hpmuseum.org/forum/thread-49.html

The information there will also give you an idea of what some of the most common problems are for these machines.

[Tugdual]

(03-03-2015 02:21 PM)Han Wrote:  I recommend looking for one with a Singapore serial number as this generally means that your keyboard is molded as opposed to just painted on. They were sold for around $100 when they were first released. Today, you should be able to get one for $25-30. I wouldn't pay more than $50 unless it came complete with box, etc.

I won't really have a choice of the model but just out of curiosity, how can you tell it is a Singapore model? Price is exactly $50, so upper bound and I shall then expect superior quality.

More questions:
- What kind of batteries does it require?
- How does one trigger the key test?

@Han tx for the link, good to see that things can be improved. It is indeed my goal to "service" it when I receive it.

[Thomas Radtke]

(03-03-2015 02:48 PM)Tugdual Wrote:  I won't really have a choice of the model but just out of curiosity, how can you tell it is a Singapore model?

They carry a S or a leading SG in their serial number.

[Bruno]

(03-03-2015 02:44 PM)Han Wrote:  These can be repaired; see:
http://www.hpmuseum.org/forum/thread-49.html

Yes, I've successfully repaired my HP48GX thanks to you

[Jlouis]

(03-03-2015 02:14 PM)Tugdual Wrote:  Tonight I may purchase a second hand 48G; I've been interested in this calculator for quite some time and never had an opportunity to actually use a real one. Does anybody here have recommendation on simple things to check in order to assess the quality of the product?
Also what would be a good market price?
Any help appreciated...

I sugest one 48g+ or 48gx with black LCD. The diference is huge, you won't regret it.

If you still want a 48g, I bought a mint one, with box, all papers and manuals that never been used before for 80 us dollars. A little bit pricey, but it was like buyng a brend new one From a shop.

Always ask to see the battery compartment, for corrosion and integrity of contacts.

Serious TAS sellers always have good photos of the entire calculator.

For me, the 48 series was the last one of wlhat we could call HP calculator quality. Sturdy, excelent keyboard, serius and professional design. Although much slower, I prefer it than the 50g

Good luck.

[Tugdual]

Thank you all for your advices, this has been very useful.
I'm now the proud owner of a 48G and I have to confess I already love it.
I found it in a pretty good condition except that battery contacts are slightly corroded, two lower rubber feet are missing and for some reason the beeper sometime has a vanishing sound. I ran the various auto-tests and no error was reported. The keyboard is awesome (yes it is a Singapore model!) but I find the screen slightly blur but I'm not convinced it is a defect - may be I need new glasses - and there is no dead pixel. Looks like annonciators and dot matrix are not at the same height and I really need to read it straight; may be this is by design.
There was no box and no book, just the soft case and weird leaflet that I don't yet understand the purpose.
I find this little thing very attractive and I have to confess I'm quite excited at the moment. I'm in the process of reading a scanned documentation but would really prefer a real original text PDF (with indexing and text search) instead of scanned one, not sure this actually exists.
After my first 15C, 15CLe, a Prime (that I gave to my son) and recently a 35s which was much better than expected, this 48G could become my favorite calculator.

[rprosperi]

(03-03-2015 11:19 PM)Tugdual Wrote:  Thank you all for your advices, this has been very useful.
I'm now the proud owner of a 48G and I have to confess I already love it.
I found it in a pretty good condition except that battery contacts are slightly corroded, two lower rubber feet are missing and for some reason the beeper sometime has a vanishing sound. I ran the various auto-tests and no error was reported. The keyboard is awesome (yes it is a Singapore model!) but I find the screen slightly blur but I'm not convinced it is a defect - may be I need new glasses - and there is no dead pixel. Looks like annonciators and dot matrix are not at the same height and I really need to read it straight; may be this is by design.
There was no box and no book, just the soft case and weird leaflet that I don't yet understand the purpose.
I find this little thing very attractive and I have to confess I'm quite excited at the moment. I'm in the process of reading a scanned documentation but would really prefer a real original text PDF (with indexing and text search) instead of scanned one, not sure this actually exists.
After my first 15C, 15CLe, a Prime (that I gave to my son) and recently a 35s which was much better than expected, this 48G could become my favorite calculator.

Congratulations, the 48G/GX are in many ways the pinnacle of HP machines. I highly recommend you read Bill Wickes HP-48 Insights (G/GX version) which is on the MoHPC USB document set as you explore this new toy.

You can get replacement rubber feet here.

If you prefer real manuals, I have a set of used 48G manuals you can have for the shipping costs to France, but that still may be not too cheap. Just let me know. I can purchase and send a pair of the rubber feet for my cost as well if you like. Everyone should love their HP48!

[Thomas Radtke]

(03-03-2015 11:19 PM)Tugdual Wrote:  [...] I find the screen slightly blur but I'm not convinced it is a defect [...]

The blue LCD actually displays like that. The rough (nonreflecting) glass adds to it.

[Tugdual]

(03-03-2015 11:51 PM)rprosperi Wrote:  Congratulations, the 48G/GX are in many ways the pinnacle of HP machines. I highly recommend you read Bill Wickes HP-48 Insights (G/GX version) which is on the MoHPC USB document set as you explore this new toy.

You can get replacement rubber feet here.

If you prefer real manuals, I have a set of used 48G manuals you can have for the shipping costs to France, but that still may be not too cheap. Just let me know. I can purchase and send a pair of the rubber feet for my cost as well if you like. Everyone should love their HP48!

Thanks for the offer Bob, very much appreciated but unfortunately this doesn't seem very practical on a budget standpoint; it would be cheaper for me to buy another second hand 48G and take its parts - which I would also find criminal cuz I wouldn't be able to decide to sacrify one machine to repair the other one :-).