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DB48X: High Performance Scientific Calculator, Reinvented

48calc.org

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Re: DB48X: High Performance Scientific Calculator, Reinvented

#71

Post by bthallplz »

jwr wrote: post #26

The 48G was a really good calculator, but only after loading additional software. The HP50g that came much later is better in every respect, except possibly for the smaller "ENTER" key (and people used to 48G will have to change some habits and possibly redefine some keys…). Incidentally, many young people (yes, I know how that sounds) do not know how useful a good engineering calculator can be and do not want to lea…

> It's kind of like with gyms: what you get is what the market wants, and since the market doesn't know much, you get gyms full of useless exercise machines, because that's what people think a good gym should have.

I'm curious: what should a good gym have?

Re: DB48X: High Performance Scientific Calculator, Reinvented

#72

Post by jwr »

bthallplz wrote: post #71
jwr wrote: post #26

The 48G was a really good calculator, but only after loading additional software. The HP50g that came much later is better in every respect, except possibly for the smaller "ENTER" key (and people used to 48G will have to change some habits and possibly redefine some keys…). Incidentally, many young people (yes, I know how that sounds) do not know how useful a good engineering calculator can be and do not want to lea…

> It's kind of like with gyms: what you get is what the market wants, and since the market doesn't know much, you get gyms full of useless exercise machines, because that's what people think a good gym should have. I'm curious: what should a good gym have?

Squat rack, barbell+weights and bench as a minimum, bonus points for a pull-up bar and bars for triceps dips.

Most machines in gyms are either mostly useless, or actually detrimental to your health and fitness.

Re: DB48X: High Performance Scientific Calculator, Reinvented

#73

Post by jwr »

exe34 wrote: post #63
jwr wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This thread is making my point for me rather well.

yes a lot of people love them, but nobody's actually coming up with anything I can't do in python...

You can do everything in Python. But perhaps it is not the best tool for every job.

This is similar to programming language discussions: any programming language can be discredited by saying "but I can do all that in assembly/C/whatever". Yes, you can, but perhaps there are better ways to do it.

Re: DB48X: High Performance Scientific Calculator, Reinvented

#74

Post by bsder »

jwr wrote: post #26

The 48G was a really good calculator, but only after loading additional software. The HP50g that came much later is better in every respect, except possibly for the smaller "ENTER" key (and people used to 48G will have to change some habits and possibly redefine some keys…). Incidentally, many young people (yes, I know how that sounds) do not know how useful a good engineering calculator can be and do not want to lea…

> The HP50g that came much later is better in every respect

Absolutely not. The big fail on everything after the 48SX was the keyboard.

I could sit in an exam and punch buttons without even looking at the calculator. I could feel the positive "click" from every single keypress, and I don't remember my 48SX ever dropping a keypress for any basic operation.

By contrast, the 49/50 series had mushy keyboards that bounced or failed to register presses. I still have 3 48SX calculators that I can use--I sold all my 49/50 series.

The excellent keyboard is bar none the big feature that I can't duplicate with any modern calculator.

I really wish some mechanical engineer would do a teardown on the old HP calulators and analyze why the keyboards were so damn good.

Re: DB48X: High Performance Scientific Calculator, Reinvented

#75

Post by makapuf »

analog31 wrote: post #46
jwr wrote: post #26

The 48G was a really good calculator, but only after loading additional software. The HP50g that came much later is better in every respect, except possibly for the smaller "ENTER" key (and people used to 48G will have to change some habits and possibly redefine some keys…). Incidentally, many young people (yes, I know how that sounds) do not know how useful a good engineering calculator can be and do not want to lea…

I'm one of the last people at my workplace to use a calculator. I'm a scientist, not an engineer, so I use a scientific calculator. ;-) The schools ruined calculators. I still find a calculator handy, even when I've already got Python going on my PC. It's easier to use the calculator with one hand, especially in the workshop. You can get a Casio solar at Target for 10 bucks. My wife really prefers RPN, so I gave her…

I guess the lack of workshops made also calculators disappear.

Re: DB48X: High Performance Scientific Calculator, Reinvented

#76

Post by zoky »

agateau wrote: post #32
jwr wrote: post #26

The 48G was a really good calculator, but only after loading additional software. The HP50g that came much later is better in every respect, except possibly for the smaller "ENTER" key (and people used to 48G will have to change some habits and possibly redefine some keys…). Incidentally, many young people (yes, I know how that sounds) do not know how useful a good engineering calculator can be and do not want to lea…

I loved my HP 48G when I was in school (even if it was much slower than the Ti 81 it replaced when it came to graphing). I regret throwing it away because of the nostalgia, but I don't feel a need for using it these days. As such I am genuinely curious about what rewards you get from using an engineering calculator in your work. That's an honest question: I would really like to have an excuse to get my hands on a 48G…

I broke the screen of my HP48GX when it fell in the crack of the passenger seat of my truck about 20 years ago and I am still pissed about it.

Re: DB48X: High Performance Scientific Calculator, Reinvented

#77

Post by zoky »

bsder wrote: post #74
jwr wrote: post #26

The 48G was a really good calculator, but only after loading additional software. The HP50g that came much later is better in every respect, except possibly for the smaller "ENTER" key (and people used to 48G will have to change some habits and possibly redefine some keys…). Incidentally, many young people (yes, I know how that sounds) do not know how useful a good engineering calculator can be and do not want to lea…

> The HP50g that came much later is better in every respect Absolutely not. The big fail on everything after the 48SX was the keyboard . I could sit in an exam and punch buttons without even looking at the calculator . I could feel the positive "click" from every single keypress, and I don't remember my 48SX ever dropping a keypress for any basic operation. By contrast, the 49/50 series had mushy keyboards that bounc…

The 48GX you mean, but yes. The keyboard on the 48 series was chef's kiss. The keyboard on anything after that was complete dogshit.

If it weren't for the crap keyboard I would still be using HP calculators to this day. I blame Carly Fiorina, personally.

Re: DB48X: High Performance Scientific Calculator, Reinvented

#78

Post by ceving »

zoky wrote: post #76
agateau wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I loved my HP 48G when I was in school (even if it was much slower than the Ti 81 it replaced when it came to graphing). I regret throwing it away because of the nostalgia, but I don't feel a need for using it these days. As such I am genuinely curious about what rewards you get from using an engineering calculator in your work. That's an honest question: I would really like to have an excuse to get my hands on a 48G…

I broke the screen of my HP48GX when it fell in the crack of the passenger seat of my truck about 20 years ago and I am still pissed about it.

Try Droid48 on your phone. It works for me after I cracked a number key of my HP48GX.

Re: DB48X: High Performance Scientific Calculator, Reinvented

#79

Post by zokier »

hggigg wrote: post #39
7thaccount wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm a calculator nut who has had many fancy TI (like the Voyage 200) and HP calculators (yes RPN) including the SwissMicro reproductions. The ONLY benefit to these tools that I can surmise is basically that they are a physical device for scientists or others in the lab or field and not in front of a computer. For any kind of data work I've seen, Excel, R, Python, Mathematica, or Matlab are all vastly superior. They a…

Some of us (mathematics side) still actually work on paper with calculators. Most of the job is thinking which tooling doesn’t necessarily improve.

> Most of the job is thinking which tooling doesn’t necessarily improve

yet you use paper and calculator.

Re: DB48X: High Performance Scientific Calculator, Reinvented

#80

Post by zoky »

ceving wrote: post #78
zoky wrote: post #76

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I broke the screen of my HP48GX when it fell in the crack of the passenger seat of my truck about 20 years ago and I am still pissed about it.

Try Droid48 on your phone. It works for me after I cracked a number key of my HP48GX.

Oh, I’ve tried using emulators, but without the actual physical keyboard it’s just not the same.
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