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HP Releases New RPN Scientific Calculator

Posted by timothy on from the how-to-pick-up-chicks-part-58008 dept.

majid writes "HP just announced a new calculator, the HP 33S. It supports RPN and algebraic notation, and sports a funky V-shaped design. I don't think it looks as nice as the 33SII it is supposed to replace, and it seems to have rubber keys instead of the wonderful hard plastic keys on older HP calculators, but it's nice to have a new RPN scientific calculator that does not have the intimidating learning (and remembering) curve of the 48 or 49 series. This one just might join my trusty 15C ... The User's manual PDF is available courtesy of Amazon, where it is apparently already No. 85 on the best-selling list."

5 of 402 comments (clear)

  1. Complaints. by eddy · · Score: 5, Informative

    There's been some complaints on the HP newsgroup about a near invisible decimal dot in the display, IIRC. Something to look out for.

    And people, this isn't a replacement for the graphing calculators, it's meant to be a competent calculator for people who don't need graphing, and it can be used on tests where the HP49G+ and such are often forbidden.

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    Belief is the currency of delusion.
  2. enlarged image by Janek+Kozicki · · Score: 4, Informative

    the enlarged image didn't work for me (don't know why). but at last I managed to get it. In case some of you had similar problems - here it is:

    http://www.hp.com/calculators/images/33s_350x350.j pg

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  3. Re:15C Still rules for programmers by majid · · Score: 4, Informative

    You mean the 16C. The 15C is a scientific programmable calculator that does not have a hex mode.

  4. Re:RPN for Cluebies? by Noksagt · · Score: 4, Informative
    The wikipedia article is pretty good on this. But a short summary of benefits:
    1. Uses less calculator memory, as it doesn't have to parse parenthesis and algebraic BS.
    2. Could be entered more quickly because you don't use parenthesis and the like (shorter expressions because you operate on the stack)
    3. The stack facilitates correct entry--easy to check parts of an expresion & you won't get lost in the ()s
    4. You will never get lost in which set of () you're in.
  5. Re:RPN! by Cryptnotic · · Score: 4, Informative

    It's faster because you never need to type parentheses.

    Example:

    4239 * (12382 + 147324) + 2342

    in RPN, you would type:

    4239 [enter] 12382 [enter] 147324 [+] [*] 2342 [+]

    No parens to balance, plus you can see all of the intermediate values (e.g., the result of 12382 + 147324) as you go.

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