HP 48gII and 50g quality

[Marco Polo]

I had a 49g+ (bought in 2005) whose keyboard failed in 2006, replaced under warranty, failed again in 2007, replaced with 50g in warranty (after strong complaining with HP)
I have bee using the 50g since mid 2007 for my job with no hardware issues at all.
I thought it was an improvement over the 49g+, but kept in mind that my calculatore never moved outside the office. I short, i always had concerns about durability

Yesterday i had in my hands a 48gII very heavily used, even in harsh enviromnents.
It uses only three batteries, so i suppose it is from one of the first production batches.
The body and screen protector do not show any sign of wear
The keyboard is very dirty and the black keys are not matt anylonger.
The label on keys and body are in perfect condition, in spite of the heavy usage and not being molded.
Keys register perfectly and are still "hard" to press. No trace of "loosiness".
Rubber feet do not show evident signs of wear.

In conclusion, i was very pleasantly surprised by the durability of this calculator. I may dare to say that, even if the old good time is gone, the current quality of some models is not that bad.

Regards
Marco Polo

[John Colvin]

I've read some complaints about the 49G+ keyboard on the HP forums, yet my 40G+ is still working fine-keyboard and all-after 13 years. The only issue I had was the metal trim coming loose and a little super glue fixed that nicely. Maybe I am one of the lucky ones.

[Brad Barton]

I went through a couple of 49G+'s before HP finally agreed to replace the last one with a 50G. It has been quite durable and the keys continue to work well. "Well" is a relative term though. The keys are much better than the earlier 49G+ iteration, but nowhere near as good as keys on the earlier models.

[pgyore]

I bought a 48gii because I like the color scheme of the HP 49g+. (I understand I am in the minority). I use my 50g and 48gii more often because the keyboards are right. However, I keep hunting for 49g+s on eBay with the highest serial number possible because I love that calculator.

If anyone can confirm a serial number range for 49g+ with 'best quality' keyboards I would appreciate it. The highest serial I have is CNA 527XXXXX and it's pretty good, but not 50g or 48gii good.

Rumor has it HP made some number of 49g+s with '50g keyboards' and a (4)AA battery compartment, but I have never seen one. I would pay the price of a Prime if I could find one for sale.



Best regards.