Slashdot Mirror
HP Releases New RPN Scientific Calculator
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."
Try using a stupid stylus during a calculus final, or during an engineering project...
No, for 'real' usage, you cant replace a real calculator with a flat emulation of one.
That said i do have a RPN emulator for my Toshiba 330, but still, when i have to do more then just a quick calculation, its back to my HP48. ( or 41, that got me thru college.. )
---- Booth was a patriot ----
The US Internet Price is $49.99
... sit down ... $112.61
... no - wait ...
The campus bookstore at my college (DTU Denmark) charges
Granted, Denmark has a 25% sales tax. Let's add that and compare: $49.99 * 1.25 = $62.49
I believe the words I'm looking for are "HOLY FUCKING SHIT!"
Good thing I'm not a poor pennyless student
We do not live in the 21st century. We live in the 20 second century.
HP makes the best calculators by far. I love RPN. The stack is a wonderful computation tool (in fact I'm making an RPN calculator for PalmOS if anyone is interested in helping). Unfortunately, with every new calculator from HP, they continue making the same mistake. They need to improve the hardware. I don't know if anyone has tried symbolic integration on an HP. It's like those coffee commercials. Walk the dog, check the calculator, learn Dutch, check the calculator. The HP49g+ still runs on a 4 bit bus. What's the deal with that. This new calculator is an improvement, using the 6502 processor, but still. There are a lot better processors that are cheap enough. This is why HP can't beat out TI in the calculator industry. TI's interface isn't nearly as good as that of the HP, but TI can actually perform calculations in a reasonable amount of time. Symbolic computation is actually feasible with a TI. Come on HP, give us some power!
Full out graphing calculators are of no use to me as a student really. For doing calculations, this is dandy. If I need to do graphing or stats work, then I use the $1000 calculator with a 21" screen right in front of me.
This is just what the doctor ordered for me really. I've been looking for a sub $100 RPN without graphing, and now I've found it.
-Reid
Looks like the golden oldies are still top of the line. It's amazing that over 10 years old calculator still beats the living daylights out of these new toys. HP calculator division should take more note about their roots... if you can't design a worthy successor, heck, at least put out a slightly modernified (more memory, higher clockspeed) version of 48GX.
Not that this is even meant to be a competitor for 40>, it's supposed to be few steps below, and the reason for "easy learning curve" is obvious, it just does so much less, but still... it's hard to know if those keys are as bad as they look, but apparently they are if fellow posters are correct, and the display sucks as well (in addition to being way too small for lots of things).
Looks like you still need to pry my 48GX from my cold, dead hands.
Reminds me of a physics professor who used to give us difficult quantum mechanics problems. When we'd start crunching it out by hand he'd say, `if only the school had $2,000 dollar calculators we could use.' That was our clue that MathCAD or Mathematica was needed to get the job done.
-Colin
Wait a freaking minute: this thing runs on a 6502? Does this mean, the 6502 lives on in an actual product designed and implemented in the 21st century?
As a Commodore 64 fan, I can only rejoyce at this.
Where can I find any further info on the hardware architecture of this calculator?
Sigged!