[BC] Re: The subject of old reliable HP calculators

[Xmitters at aol.com]

In a message dated 10/6/2007 1:45:35 AM Central Daylight Time, 
broadcast-request at radiolists.net writes:


> That being said, HP finally got it right (except for the LCD display) 
> with the new HP 35s, which has the same form factor as the old HP-35 
> and HP-45 but of course has far more power. When I first saw this 
> calculator announced for sale, my inner geek kicked in and I bought 
> one. They're about $60 and I felt that it was money well spent. For 
> me, the main improvement over the 45 was direct entry of complex 
> numbers and full support for complex arithmetic, including 
> transcendental functions on complex arguments. The programmability 
> doesn't interest me much; that's what computers with big displays are for.
> 
> Bob Orban
> 
> 
> 

Bob and others:

I too have my treasured HP calculator prized possessions. Mine are the HP-41 
AND HP-42. I adore the 42, other than when the batteries need replacing, and 
then I get to reprogram the stupid thing from square one. 

Given that these gems will not last forever, what can you recommend that I 
replace them with nowadays? I still want a "calculator" type device, uses RPN, 
and it _MUST_ be programmable like the HP-41. RPN and programmability are my 
only reason for hanging on to these antiques. I'm so hooked that I even have a 
virtual HP-41 program running on my PC!  And yes, it too, is programmable; it 
runs some of my favorite and most used '41 programs I've written over the 
years. 

I had, and disposed of, an HP-48. I could not figure out how to program the 
thing. There were dozens of extra key presses that were required to activate 
advanced features. I would not call  the learning curve steep, but more of a 
vertical line :-) I've written programs in assembler, FORTRAN, C and Visual Basic 
for the PC, but could never get my hands around the 48. Bought all the books, 
but got nowhere with the thing. Had an HP-41 emulator for it too that I used 
a lot. I had a sudden attack of brilliance and realized, why screw around with 
the 48 with the 41 emulator when I could just use the 41? Duh! Maybe I'm just 
too old.

I really would like to hear some good suggestions for a 21st century version 
of the HP-41. I don't want something that does a whole bunch of other 
unrelated junk; just a nice RPN programmable scientific calculator with all the trig 
and other functions that preferably, would allow download and upload to my PC.


Jeff Glass
Northern Illinois University

Dell CPi-D266 Win98SE AOL 5.0


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