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New High-End HP Calculator?

Posted by Hemos on from the graph-the-heck-out-of-it dept.

mschaef writes "There's a pretty convincing looking story over on hpcalc.org describing a new high-end HP calculator. The bottom line: 75MHz ARM9, USB Port, IrDA compatibility, 128x80 display, and a slot for SD cards. It also looks like the same basic software is running, either ported or via emulation of the venerable Saturn (HP-propriatary) CPU. The full story is over at HPcalc.org. It's good to see HP back in the game (hopefully) like this."

7 of 345 comments (clear)

  1. Reliability? by dave_f1m · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Great, but can I treat it like a hammer, and still have it work? You know, grab it, punch out a few calculations, and toss it aside without much care where it lands.

    1. Re:Reliability? by Dan+Ost · · Score: 4, Insightful

      I've had my 48GX for almost 10 years. It has fallen off desks and out of trees,
      been crushed at the bottom of a backpack countless times as the backpack was
      tossed into a corner (pretty close to your hammer behavior), been rained on, and
      still shows no sign of wear except for the rubber feet which are somewhat worn
      from use on concrete.

      The 48GX meets my needs and until it stops working, I'm not going to replace
      it with anything. However, if this new calculator is built with the same solid
      construction and has the same wonderful user experience, then I would have no
      any problem recommending it to people.

      --

      *sigh* back to work...
  2. Is there a market still? by SecMF · · Score: 4, Insightful

    With PDAs becoming faster and more capable, is there still a market for plane calculators? Palm (and others) must have tons of (free) software to do the same with your PDA.

  3. Time to upgrade? by dbowden · · Score: 5, Insightful
    When I was younger, the rule I followed was to always upgrade to the next generation of calculator after I'd understood all of the functions of the previous one.

    Is it time to go to this one yet?

    No... I'm still doing fine with my old 28S

    --
    Help find a cure for Gidget.
  4. Building a better calculator... by xaoslaad · · Score: 4, Insightful

    ...only builds better idiots. I almost fell out of my chair three weeks ago when my professor said we are not allowed to use calculators in his Calculus II class.

    And while I would not exactly say I am doing good in his class at this point, I am learning and just plain realizing things that I should have learned eons ago. The problem was that it was always more convenient to mash the keys on a calculator than to just think.

  5. Why a PDA won't replace the calc... by dillkvast · · Score: 4, Insightful

    ... at least until some vendor provides mathematical sofware for the PDA.

    The software in todays calculators are capable of pretty advanced mathematical opererations, including advanced calculus, matix operations, statisics and complex math. Until sombody creates an equally good mathematics software suit for PDA's these things will still be around.

    Another thing is QA. How are we to be sure that some program we downloaded to our PDA does the calculations correctly. When you buy an advanced calculator you can be pretty confident that the different mathematical functions has been thoroughly tested. Since the key sellingpoint of a calculator is the ability to, well, calculate, the vendor has probably gone to some effort to ensure that it is infact capable of doing that correctly.

    --
    Scitne aliquis remedium potimum crapulae?
  6. BUTTONS!!! by fmaxwell · · Score: 4, Insightful

    The number one reason that a PDA won't replace a calculator is that a touchscreen is a piss-poor substitute for real buttons with travel and tactile feedback ("click", but that doesn't sound as high-tech). I have a Handspring Visor and have downloaded and used multiple calculator apps on it. Some of them are damned good, but I always turn to my trusty HP 32SII for anything more than a handful of calculations.