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DB48X: High Performance Scientific Calculator, Reinvented

48calc.org

11–20 of 140 posts

Re: DB48X: High Performance Scientific Calculator, Reinvented

#11
I am a fan of the HP Prime

https://hpcalcs.com/product/hp-prime-graphing-calculator/

But I use it in algebraic instead of RPN mode. I’ve got a 49g and a 50-something too.

People say it is pricey but I managed to get one discounted that was intended for the Latin American market. So is the thing that software is supposed to run on.

Re: DB48X: High Performance Scientific Calculator, Reinvented

#13
post #8

Seems like a really nice effort. Nice they crammed it into the DM42 machines. But for me, the learning curve is steeper than the utility. I have no real need for an actual calculator, I rely on my phone. On there I have iHP48, and I've already gone through much of that learning curve to make it useful (back in the day with an original one). If you already have the DM42, I guess its a mostly compatible upgrade from th…

This is also an iphone app.

Re: DB48X: High Performance Scientific Calculator, Reinvented

#14
post #8

Seems like a really nice effort. Nice they crammed it into the DM42 machines. But for me, the learning curve is steeper than the utility. I have no real need for an actual calculator, I rely on my phone. On there I have iHP48, and I've already gone through much of that learning curve to make it useful (back in the day with an original one). If you already have the DM42, I guess its a mostly compatible upgrade from th…

> Seems like a really nice effort.

Does it? Another powerful calculating engine trapped behind a skeuomorph interface?

Here[1] is a really nice effort that, sadly, hasn't been updated in 14 years and only runs on Windows. It's a wonderful 606kB math REPL that can probably do everything DB48X can do, except it foregoes all the 1970's portable calculator nonsense, making it about a thousand times more useful.

I have a nascent clone of this written in Rust using egui and rug, that is currently stalled because -- on bleeping Windows -- the former has problems with MinGW the latter has problems with MSVC... which makes me want to tear my hair out. I wait, patiently, for egui to get their MinGW ducks in a row because I have no hope that the GMP/MPFR/MPC stack is ever going to work on MSVC in my lifetime.

[1] https://speqmath.com/

Re: DB48X: High Performance Scientific Calculator, Reinvented

#15

somehow doesn't work on my Ubuntu Firefox 131.0.3 but works on my Arch 132.0.

Same, shows JavaScript error:

"Uncaught ReferenceError: SharedArrayBuffer is not defined at db48x.js:615:40"

Both in Chrome and Firefox (both are up to date to versions way beyond where SharedArrayBuffer should have been introduced)

I think they should either use ArrayBuffer, or use https instead of http, apparently SharedArrayBuffer has security restrictions

Re: DB48X: High Performance Scientific Calculator, Reinvented

#16
post #14
post #8

Seems like a really nice effort. Nice they crammed it into the DM42 machines. But for me, the learning curve is steeper than the utility. I have no real need for an actual calculator, I rely on my phone. On there I have iHP48, and I've already gone through much of that learning curve to make it useful (back in the day with an original one). If you already have the DM42, I guess its a mostly compatible upgrade from th…

> Seems like a really nice effort. Does it? Another powerful calculating engine trapped behind a skeuomorph interface? Here[1] is a really nice effort that, sadly, hasn't been updated in 14 years and only runs on Windows. It's a wonderful 606kB math REPL that can probably do everything DB48X can do, except it foregoes all the 1970's portable calculator nonsense, making it about a thousand times more useful. I have a…

Is there a significant difference between that package and SageMath / XCas / Octave and friends? While a bit arcane, I've always been a great fan of xcas

Re: DB48X: High Performance Scientific Calculator, Reinvented

#17
post #14
post #8

Seems like a really nice effort. Nice they crammed it into the DM42 machines. But for me, the learning curve is steeper than the utility. I have no real need for an actual calculator, I rely on my phone. On there I have iHP48, and I've already gone through much of that learning curve to make it useful (back in the day with an original one). If you already have the DM42, I guess its a mostly compatible upgrade from th…

> Seems like a really nice effort. Does it? Another powerful calculating engine trapped behind a skeuomorph interface? Here[1] is a really nice effort that, sadly, hasn't been updated in 14 years and only runs on Windows. It's a wonderful 606kB math REPL that can probably do everything DB48X can do, except it foregoes all the 1970's portable calculator nonsense, making it about a thousand times more useful. I have a…

Calculator is for quick and dirty math in the field or in a lab, saving me from taking out the laptop from backpack or abandoning my optics alignment exercise and getting to the workstation on the other end of the table.

In other cases when I have convenient access to a computer, I'll use a proper math software like Matlab/Mathematica or whatever open source alternative. It's just a different use case.

Re: DB48X: High Performance Scientific Calculator, Reinvented

#18
post #14
post #8

Seems like a really nice effort. Nice they crammed it into the DM42 machines. But for me, the learning curve is steeper than the utility. I have no real need for an actual calculator, I rely on my phone. On there I have iHP48, and I've already gone through much of that learning curve to make it useful (back in the day with an original one). If you already have the DM42, I guess its a mostly compatible upgrade from th…

> Seems like a really nice effort. Does it? Another powerful calculating engine trapped behind a skeuomorph interface? Here[1] is a really nice effort that, sadly, hasn't been updated in 14 years and only runs on Windows. It's a wonderful 606kB math REPL that can probably do everything DB48X can do, except it foregoes all the 1970's portable calculator nonsense, making it about a thousand times more useful. I have a…

> Does it? Another powerful calculating engine trapped behind a skeuomorph interface?

Yes, it does. This is not a calculator app. It's calculator firmware that happens to also be runnable in an app.

They're trying to cram a HP48ish calculator into an HP42 clone calculator body, while retaining much of the UX of the calculator they're replacing.

The HP42 is the direct successor of the HP41 without the hardware interfaces and gizmos. Its essentially software compatible with the 41.

The HP48 (and -28) are completely different animals, from ground up hardware redesign to the notable RPL (Reverse Polish Lisp) foundations, and just in raw functionality as well. The 28/48 series had symbolic solvers and graphing (among a laundry list of other things), both novel at the time.

If you wanted an RPL based system in stand alone hardware with real buttons, you were stuck with legacy calculators. This fits in the modern DM42 system.

Re: DB48X: High Performance Scientific Calculator, Reinvented

#19
post #14
post #8

Seems like a really nice effort. Nice they crammed it into the DM42 machines. But for me, the learning curve is steeper than the utility. I have no real need for an actual calculator, I rely on my phone. On there I have iHP48, and I've already gone through much of that learning curve to make it useful (back in the day with an original one). If you already have the DM42, I guess its a mostly compatible upgrade from th…

> Seems like a really nice effort. Does it? Another powerful calculating engine trapped behind a skeuomorph interface? Here[1] is a really nice effort that, sadly, hasn't been updated in 14 years and only runs on Windows. It's a wonderful 606kB math REPL that can probably do everything DB48X can do, except it foregoes all the 1970's portable calculator nonsense, making it about a thousand times more useful. I have a…

Thanks this is a great recommendation - runs perfect in Wine. There definitely seems to be a habit with developers making calculators that still fall into a 70s form factor. This is a great departure.
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