HP Plans The Uber-Calculator

Compenguin writes "Over at TiCalc.Org information has leaked out about the new HP Xpander. Reported specs: 133MHz RISC processor (downclocked to 66 for power consumption), 320x200 screen 256 shades of gray, MP3 playing capabilities, and a "futuristic look." There is also a rumour flying around that it might run Pocket Linux as its OS. " Check out HP's page as well - and see our prior post on the 49G, the parent to this model.

Comments

mmm...tasty.

[heatdeath]

Aw yeah. That'll be one sweet calculator. If I combine this and my fashionable pocket protectors, I'll be the perfect chick repellant.


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Calculators

[troc]

I've often been tempted by a new calculator, one of the Casio or TI graphical ones would be nice, so would a monster from HP. All that processing power.........

Problem is I've found that in the real world outside of things like Physics degrees and whatnot these extra functions seem unnecessary. I've a laptop and access to a huge SGI mainframe if I need to do serious and/or graphical calculations and for the rest I find my Casio fx-991 (circa 1987 I guess) still works perfectly. Solar Powered too.

Maybe I'm a luddite or maybe I don't see the point (equally, there might be people out there who need a pocket-sized calculator that can play MP3s, runs linux etc etc). I guess if it was my only machine but I don;t want to carry around a PDA and a heavy calculator. Might as well carry my laptop and get better functionality, more mp3 storage, decent games and a useful screen for graphical work.

Convergence like this is odd because what's happening is that everything is tending to become the same. Computers, taht can do everything are slowly shrinking and becoming more easily portable (longer battery life, lighter, better screens etc) whilst PDAs and palmtops are gaining faster processors and the ability to do decent maths, play mp3s etc. Now calculators are heading in the same direction but from a different tack. So eventually we end up with the same thing.

I also find it annoying to carry around a multiplicity of items, It's bad enough with a mobile phone and a laptop (which I need to carry for my job). I can't be hassled carrying a pda and a calculator, especially when the start duplicating functions. I'd end up spending every night synch-ing everything to make sure the one mp3 I was desperate to listen to was on everything, just in case I lost or forgot the one gadget it was on. Nightmare!

I want one device that has everything I need on it and is easy and simple to back up in the evenings. Yes, I'd probably use lots of the cool functions on a new HP calculator and I like RPN but I've Mathematica, fortran amd others, not to mention all sorts of modelling and fem packages available on my laptop.

I'll shut up now :)

troc

Calculator to end all calculators?

[AstroJetson]

First of all, this doesn't sound much like a calculator. It sounds more like a PDA. I mean the thing can play mp3s - at some point you can't call it a calculator anymore.

Secondly, PalmPilots, et al. are really the calculators to end all calculators anyway. Why buy a piece of hardware that only does one thing, when you could have one that runs whatever calculator software you like and a bunch of other stuff too. Want a calculator that uses infix notation? Install this application. Prefer RPN? Use this other program. Hell, use them both!

The days of dedicated hardware are gone. Even game consoles can do other things besides play games.

Linux on an HP calculator

[FascDot Killed My Pr]

Can you just imagine having to put your command line args in RPN?

MyCalc%> mv file1 file2
error: argument missing
MyCalc%> file1 file2 mv
MyCalc%> cat /etc/passwd | grep fascdot | cut -d: -f7
cut: error: argument "|" is invalid
(I was going to re-write that in RPN, but I can't even figure out how pipelining would work--so forget it)
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