HP Launches New Calculators

lar1 writes "It looks like HP is back in the calculator buisness! In a press release dated 2003 October 20, HP states: 'Within the next several weeks, HP will be launching three additional new calculators: two graphing and one scientific. The two yet-to-be-launched graphing calculators, together with the hp 49g+ and the entry-level hp 9g, will provide a complete range of graphing calculators expected to fulfill the needs and budgets of a broad spectrum of calculator users.' The 49g+ boasts features such as: USB and IrDA connectivity, a 75MHz ARM CPU, 2MB of flash, and an SD card slot. That's a lot of calculator!" We mentioned this calculator-on-growth-hormones earlier.

Comments

Who is it aimed at?

[soluzar22]

Calculators with way too much muscle are cool, and they do tap right into that geeky part of me that drools over lovely gadgets, but on the other hand, seriously, if it can do calculations in hex, that's all I need, and I'd be almost scared to use that one.

I mean, if you break it, it's cost you how much? The last super-beefy calc I owned set me back about UKP 75 and that was a long time ago. Plus, that was a long way away from what we're seeing here. Who are they aiming this at? I personally could never justify the expense of one like this, no matter how useful it may be.

Oh and BTW - First Post ;-)

-- Soluzar

Re:Who is it aimed at?

[Joney]

I think it will be up to the schools to decide. I remember in high school if you had a HP with the IR port, they made you put electrical tape over the front to keep you from 'cheating'
but the designation calculator will allow these things to be used on tests where a 'pocket PC' or such will probably be prohibited, even if they do the exact same things, there is paranoia about that sort of thing.
I also remember when the TI9something came out with the QWERTY keyboard on it, my school also prohibited it's use, as it no longer resembled a calculator but in fact a computer.

News Article or Advertisement?

[goldspider]

You decide!

Re:Broken.

[Anonymous Coward]

> Slashdot'd already.

No, it's not. Karma whore.

HP doesn't get it yet. Word is Convergence.

[zymano]

I saw a $ 99 Pda at Compusa last week. By viewsonice
with rebates.

Now, I know they can't handle all the functions of the top of the line graphing calculator but they might if you have an emulator or other software.

The graphing calculator is dying out and being replaced by SUPERIOR technology. HP is not embracing the future by not coming out with a hybrid
pda/graphing calculator.

Re:my question

[Anonymous Coward]

That's not true. The hp48g was one of the most popular engineering calculators ever to grace the face of this earth. The hp49g was nothing but a fancy memory upgrade and new symbolic features that allowed the calculator to be more student-friendly. This new one, the hp49g+ is an extension of that. This is a big deal because hp had announced that they were no longer in the calculator business. Now they're saying here's some new calcs for you that are running on an ARM processor AND have all the goodies you're used to having. Trust me, none of the stuff on this calculator is just eye candy. The machine is pretty badass because it takes the best of the hp49g but gives it to us with hp48gx goodness.

Add another item to the convergence pool

[DeepDarkSky]

Pretty soon, a little handheld gadget will be all of these:
- PDA
- Cell Phone
- Digital Camera
- Video player
- portable mass storage
- MP3 Player
- advanced graphing calculator ...there're so many, what have I missed?

You can bet something like this will not be allowed during test taking, that's for sure.

Re:Add another item to the convergence pool

[Milo77]

Of course some of these have conflicting goals. For example, i want my phone small so i can take it with me anywhere. For my calculator, i want a good sized keyboard (required for really high-speed input) and if it's graphing i want a big screen also. The size of my calculator matters less to me because i don't need to take it everywhere i go, and when i do take it somethere i usually have a backpack or briefcase or whatever. The input piece is important and i don't think it can be replaced by voice (imagine a test enviroment or a floor of actuaries) or stylus (drawing a "2" takes longer than just pushing the "2" button). On screen keyboards just don't provide the necessary tactile feedback and if your goal is to make them as small as possible then it becomes difficult to use both hands (when doing high-speed calculations with an hp32s2 you most certainly use both hands) and you increase the likelyhood that you'll either miss the key you were trying for or unintentionally hit others. This is what HP has always done right: their push buttons are the best. Convergence is neat, but it shouldn't sacrifice usability.

Re:Clac vs PDA

[jonniesmokes]

You're right that the processor muscle is better on a PDA - but what a good calculator does is provide you with a great interface to do math. Having all the buttons right in front of you really does matter. Once you learn where the buttons are you can fly through calculations. Hunting through menus on a PDA or pecking a fake keyboard with a mouse on a screen isn't nearly as nice.

HP's 15C, 42S, and 48G are great. The neat thing about this new one is that you could probably power a sophisticated robot. You could even do the inverse kinematics on the fly.

Re:Clac vs PDA

[Foochar]

The interface is what makes the difference. I have an HP48GX as well as a Palm Tungsten E. Someone has written a 48SX/48GX/49G emulator that will on the palm. I have it, and it works great. There's nothing like being able to carry the functionality of my calculator with me wherever I go.

That being said, it is not a part and parcel replacement for my calculator. For intense operations the keypad on the real calculator is worlds better than clicking on the screen. The other thing is that the screen size of my calculator is just a little bit smaller than the screen of my palm, and on the palm screen you have to fit both the keypad and the calculator display.

Re:And the thought on everyone's mind is....

[bmac526]

A different way of entering calculations. For example, to calculate 3+2, type:
3(enter)
2
+ (no equals sign)

or for (9+7)*3, type:
9(enter)
7
+
3
*

Takes a little getting use to, but after using it for a while, it becomes natural. I can barely figure out how to use a "regular" calculator now.
BTW, I'm the proud owner of an HP 32SII that hasn't needed a new battery in about 15 years.

Re:Clac vs PDA

[FrankDrebin]

wouldn't HP be better off writing PDA software to do all of these functions?

One problem with convergence of the general-purpose PDA and the calculator is that colleges ban the former from final exams because they can be used to store volumes of notes, even entire textbooks. There really is a market for college students, especially in engineering and sciences, for a good calculator without too much memory and fancy graphics, simply to help perform accurate calculations and nothing more.

Re:This is getting ridiculous...

[Cochonou]

I'd tend to disagree with you, even in the field of complex math teaching.

There is no denying that the CAS of these calculators is very powerful, and often can't be challenged for solving equations or calculating triple integrals. But at best, these kinds of tools can help you working faster and more efficiently, but not do the work for you.
In physics, the calculator (or Maple, Mathematica, Matlab..) can solve your equations saving your time - and some of your nights - but cannot put into equations your problem which is the real deal.
In mathematics, the calculator might be capable of determining the kernels and images of linear applications as an example, but comes short for solving anything that requires to find a proper demonstration. So it won't get you very far.

At last, it could be argued that because of the huge amount of memory modern calculators feature, student are becoming lazy and shove all the formulas into their calcs instead of learning them. Yes, it might be a shame. However, it is sometimes said that the important is not to know all the information by heart, but to know where you will be able to find it.

Re:HP doesn't get it yet. Word is Convergence.

[Slack3r78]

My computer has this nice little calculator program on it. Ocassionly, I'll run into something while I'm working on the computer that requires me to do some quick math. What do I do? Pick up my TI calculator that I leave sitting by it and punch it in.

I'm sorry, PDA's are a nice technology, but they in no way are superior to a good calculator. With my calculator, everything I need is either right there, or at most 2-3 menu levels down. Whereas with a PDA, I'd be lucky if I could do anything much more complex than basic math without wasting time digging through menus, no matter how well organized.

That said, HP DOES have a hybrid - the iPaq line. But they're also smart enough to realize that those who need to solve problems that are of more than marginal complexity will appreciate a tool made to do just that in the most efficient manner possible.

How Robust are they and what about the buttons?

[mykepredko]

I have two (2, 0b010) HP-16C calculators that are both going on 20 years old and they are one of the best investments I've ever made. Along with them, I've had a variety of gonculators over the years, but these are the only ones I regularly lock up.

Along with the Hex and Binary functions, the cases of the calculators are rock solid (they've been dropped probably a total of 100 times) and the buttons have a nice solid "click" to them to give you feedback saying that the button was pressed. The button legends are molded into the plastic, so you will never wear them off.

The ARM processor, flash memory are nice, but the only thing that would make me consider giving up my everyday TI-83 (and the '16Cs) would be if the case was as rugged as the original HPs, and the buttons where of the same high quality.

myke

Re:Clac vs PDA

[nonameisgood]

#1 reason: because the instructor or proctor won't let you in to the test with a PDA, but will with a really smart calculator.