Best hp prime graphing calculator 2020.
1 – HP 50g Graphing Calculator
Top Reviews Why I Like the 50g* The ControversyIf you google TI v. HP you can find dozens of discussions by partisans of both brands ofcalculators arguing for the relative merits of the their favorite model. These days, the two modelsunder discussion are the TI-89 from Texas Instruments and the HP-50g from Hewlett-Packard. Almostinevitably, the discussion goes straight into whether the Algebraic or RPN entry method is better.I can summarize the argument pretty quickly: RPN saves one or two keystrokes. Maybe, butAlgebraic is easier to learn—it’s just like the way you would write it. From there, someone mightmention the number of built in functions for each, 850 versus 820, or the speed of solving anintegral, 1.2 versus 1.1 seconds.I find these arguments almost completely irrelevant to the things that draw me to a calculator, andI tire at their repetition. I will put my cards on the table right now. I far prefer the HP50g forreasons I will discuss in a second. I own a TI-89 and the really cooler TI-92 plus with the fullalphabetic keyboard, and they are both fantastic calculators. But the HP-50g is fun in a waythat’s hard to explain in a post. It is *not* RPN, or at least not RPN in isolation from the wholeecosystem of the HP-50g, that makes it fun.* The StackI don’t know why but the HP’s stack hardly ever figures into these discussions, yet to me, it is theindispensable facility of the HP-50g that gives it its elegance. You probably have some idea of whata stack is, but if you don’t the concept is easy, but powerful. The stack is a pile of numbers thatsit on the calculator that can be removed only from the top of the stack, which in the HP isactually displayed at the bottom. Here, for example, is what the stack might look at somewhere inthe middle of a calculation:7:6:5:4:3: 52: 3.51: 9The number 9 is on the top of the stack, position 1, labeled at the left. Further up the stackare 3.5 and 5, while the rest of the stack is empty. If I enter another number, say, 6.7, it getspushed onto the top of the stack and all the other numbers get bumped up into the next higherposition. Like this:7:6:5:4: 53: 3.52: 91: 6.7The stack serves as a kind of universal input-output facility for the calculator. All of thefunctions, and I mean *all* the functions, take arguments from the stack and—here’s the importantpart—they push their results back onto the stack, starting at position 1, the top.The ‘-‘ key, for example performs subtraction, a function that takes two arguments. Where does itget its arguments from? The top two numbers on the stack, of course. And it applies thesubtraction to them in the same order that you see them, in this case it will compute ‘9 – 6.7’.Where will it put the result, 2.3? On the top of the stack, of course. After pushing the ‘-‘ key,the stack becomes:7:6:5:4:3: 52: 3.51: 2.3This regular, predictable behavior gives the HP50g an interactive feel that allows you to playwith the numbers more that CALCULATE. You’re not Spock, after all, you probably want to fiddle witha problem a bit. You can stop, contemplate, perform a side calculation, and when you’re done, thestack will return to where it was when you left off the main problem. Say you have 45 on the stack,and are thinking of taking its sine. As you ponder the problem, you realize that you really wantthat 45, which you’ve been regarding as degrees, converted to radians before you take its sine.These sorts of mid-course corrections are just what the stack is made for. You remember that to getthis done, you have to divide by 180, then multiply by pi. Simple, just enter 180 / pi *, and you’vegot your radians. Now you can get back to the problem of taking the sine (just press the [SIN] key,and there it is on the stack for you to think about and operate on further.The stack on the HP-50g (and the 49g and the 48g and the 28s, etc) has an unlimited depth, so youcan push numbers onto it to whatever depth the problem at hand requires up to the limit of availablememory, and I for one, have never found the end of memory on the 50g. This contrasts with earlierHP’s that had a stack that was limited to 4 numbers, usually with only two of them visible. On the50g, up to seven elements are visible, and you can look at the rest by hitting the cursor key to goup as far as your curiosity takes you. The TI calculators don’t have a stack. They have a history,which is nice, it allows you to go up and re-enter an expression, but it lacks that spontaneouspush-pop play of the stack.* Now RPNDon’t get me wrong, RPN—Reverse Polish Notation—is a great way to think about numbers andoperating on them. But all by itself, it’s just a bit more efficient in keystroke count (who cares,already!) and strikes many people (as it did me) as a kind of backwards way of looking at aproblem. But, when combined with the stack, you really get to understand the power andexpressiveness of the RPN way of operating on numbers.To get into the spirit of RPN, it helps to first understand PN, Polish Notation. Consider thefollowing nested expression:SIN(3 * 8 – COS(4 / 7)) – 17This is in normal, algebraic form, pretty much just like you would enter it into a TI calculator.But the expression can be rewritten so that every operation is regarded as a function that is placedin front of its operators in parentheses, just like we do already with functions like sin(x), wherethe function name goes in front of its parenthesized argument. But in Polish Notation, even thingslike ‘+’ and ‘-‘ are regarded as functions, so that ‘3+2’ would be written ‘+(3, 2)’. Now, if were-write the above expression this way, we get this:-(SIN( -( *(3, 8), COS( /(4, 7)))), 17)That’s Polish Notation, or prefix notation. Each function is written at the front of theparentheses that surround its arguments. The idea of Reverse Polish Notation is that the functioncould go *after* the parentheses that surround its arguments just as well. So, ‘3+2’ could bewritten ‘(3,2)+’. Now, our complicated expression looks like this: ((((3, 8)*, ((4, 7)/)COS)-)SIN, 17)-Now here, finally, is the punch line. Using this Reverse Polish, or postfix, notation, we can eraseall the commas and all the parentheses:3 8 * 4 7 / COS – SIN 17 -As long as we (and the calculator) know how many arguments each function takes, this expression iscompletely unambiguous. With algebraic notation, we needed parentheses to specify the order ofoperations. As it turns out, *any* expression can be written in RPN without parentheses to specifythe order of operations and without any ambiguity. Furthermore, we can enter the expression strictlyleft-to-right.But the real pay-off is that this notation is perfectly suited to working with the stack. See, wepush 3 and 8 onto the stack then press ‘*’, which pops 3 and 8 from the stack and pushes 24 onto thestack. Then we push 4 and 7 onto the stack, hit the divide key, and the 4 and 7 get popped from thestack while 0.571428571429 gets pushed onto the stack. Hit COS, and 0.999950266956 goes onto thestack (replacing the 0.57 ), and our 24 gets pushed up. Then, ‘-‘ gives 23.000049733, SIN gives0.390731927492, we push 17, then ‘-‘ and -16.6092680725 is sitting on the stack ready for anyfurther calculation.Yes, yes, the RPN notation is only 11 keystrokes, while the algebraic is 15, saving a whopping 4keystrokes, all parentheses and commas, but that’s not the beauty of RPN. RPN shines because itworks with the stack, and the stack gives you a visible, interactive, and universal mechanism forreading inputs and writing outputs. Only the HP calculators sport this combination of a stack andRPN.* Elegant ProgrammingHaving a stack and a notation that takes advantage of it were enough to sell me on the HP-50g all bythemselves. But, since both the HP-50g and the TI-89 are *programmable* calculators, it is reallyimportant to know what kind of programming environment each provides. Here is where the HP reallyrockets ahead. I have owned both calculators for many years, and I’ve spent many hours programmingthe HP, but almost none with the TI’s. Why? Well, the HP provides a language and facilities thatmak
e programming the thing a pleasure. It’s language is called User RPL, and the RPL stands forReverse Polish Lisp, but it is really more reminiscent of FORTH than Lisp.An RPL program, in its simplest form, consists of a series of commands enclosed in guillemots, thosefunny foreign quote characters that look like this ‘<< >>’. With a single keystroke, I getthese delimiters placed in the command-line with the cursor conveniently placed between them, readyto enter the program. The best thing about the HP-50g’s programming language is that every programby default works with the stack exactly as you do when doing regular arithmetic. Let’s say forexample, that you want to work out the hypotenuse of a right triangle given the lengths of the twoshort sides using the Pythagorean Theorem. If ‘a’ and ‘b’ are the lengths of the two given sides,the hypotenuse has a length equal to ‘SQRT(a^2 + b^2)’. What’s nice about programming the HP is thatI write my program assuming that the two input numbers, a and b, are sitting on the stack. Then, Ijust enter the program like this:<< [x^2] [SWAP] [x^2] + [SQRT] >>The [brackets] denotes a single keystroke on the calculator, thus [x^2] is the squaring key, [SQRT],the square root key. [SWAP] swaps the order of the two numbers on the stack. Having entered thislittle program, I hit [ENTER] and it goes onto the stack, just like numbers do. Then I can enter aname on the stack, say ‘HYP’, and hit the [STO] key, and my little program now has the name HYP. IfI put 3 4 on the stack and hit HYP, I get 5 on the stack, just as Pythagoras said I would.There’s a whole lot more to programming than this, but this little thing exemplifies the how easy itis to do quick and dirty programs and put them to work right away. The input-output facility ofthe stack keeps me from having to worry about where the arguments come from and where they go to.No blabby prompts to worry about to get the two arguments. And because it uses the stack, thislittle program becomes an extension to the built-in facilities of the calculator that I can use inthe middle of a longer calculation. In fact, it can become a small part of a much larger program.User RPL also has if-then constructions, while- and for-loops, error traps, dialog boxes, and allthe other paraphernalia you expect from a decent programming language. But for me, the ability toquickly crank out little stack-based programs is where the HP-50g really shines.The TI-89 also provides an editor and an environment for writing programs, but the language is morelike BASIC. It requires keywords, like Function and Program, declaration of local variables, and soforth. The language feels ponderous and more computer like than the nimbleness of the HP.Oh, and I almost forgot. The HP has a debugger that allows you to single-step through your programswhen they don’t do what you think they should. You can actually watch the stack do its thing duringthe execution of a program. This is really handy. And oddly fun.* Single-key operationI skirted over an issue, and a really important one, in that last section. I said I could put 3 4on the stack and hit HYP to get a 5. But there is no HYP key on the HP-50g. Or is there? Well,there is. There is a [VAR] key that causes a menu of soft keys to appear on the bottom of thescreen below the stack with the names of all the variables I’ve created with the [STO] key. If Ihave stored a program in the variable, I can run the program by hitting the key underneath the HYPsoft key label. If I’ve stored a number in a variable, I can put that number on the stack bypushing its soft key.This means I can run the program with a single keystroke. You can see up to six variables in thesoft key menus and page through the rest, six at a time, by hitting the [NXT] key. So I have singlekeystroke access to every variable. There is never a need to use the [RCL] command. No need toretype HYP every time I want to use it. By contrast, on the TI, I can write a program called HYP,but when I want to invoke it, I have to type H-Y-P-(-3-,-4-). That’s eight keystrokes to three (3 4HYP) on the HP. As little as I think of the keystroke efficiency argument in discussing RPN versusalgebraic, this *is* a BIG DEAL. What if the name were ‘HYPOTENUSE’? Still one key on the HP; youcan count ’em for yourself on the TI.In addition, the HP lets you assign programs to *any* key on the keyboard using any combination ofunshifted, left-shifted, right-shifted, and more. This makes any program accessible whether thesoft-key menus are showing or not.* Directory StructureHere’s another well-thought-out feature of the HP-50g: it’s clever implementation of directories.The calculator’s memory is organized into a tree-structured set of directories, with a directorycalled HOME at the top. You can create directories under HOME, and directories under those, and soon as deep as you like. These directories are like the directories on a computer, but the filesare variables. This provides a nice, easy way to organize your work. When you start out on a longproblem, the first thing you should do is create a directory for your work. This keeps all yourvariables from conflicting with variables of the same name you might have used for other problems.Furthermore, when you are working in a directory, all the variables in that directory are availablefor use as well as all the variables in every directory between your current directory and HOME atthe root of the tree. So the variables in the HOME directory are global, while each subdirectoryunder it creates a kind of nested name-space below it. This setup is easy to understand and allowsyou to create whole branches of memory that share common programs for a given problem area.But that’s not all. In each directory you can create a variable called ‘CST’ that allows you tocreate a customized soft key menu for just that directory. This is in addition to the ‘VAR’ menuyou get in every directory for free.* The SD CardFinally, the HP-50g supports the insertion of an SD card. My calculator has a 1GB card, which Iwill never fill. It also has a USB cable, like the TI, for transferring files to and from yourcomputer, but I find having an SD card reader attached to my computer makes transfers really easy.It won’t run programs directly from the SD, but it makes for an excellent backup for your wholedirectory structure, and from there you can backup to your computer. . I am having trouble deciding what rating to give this beast. As a calculator, it is magnificent. I started with the HP-35 40+ years ago, and find for engineering problems RPN is really the best system to use. I remember getting 4 correct optical calculations done while my lab partner was getting one incorrect answer on his TI. I found the learning curve for RPN to be completely painless, and even with the old 4-entry stack you could start the problem most anywhere and still get to the end. This beast has an indefinite stack, making concerns of using up the stack a thing of the past.If you like algebraic entry, then that is also available, and for entering formulas from textbooks it is easy to shift between the two. The textbook display feature makes things look just like they were typeset with with the math symbol font. The CAS system on this calculator is awesome. My son starting a second year of algebra wants to know why he needs to work all of the factoring and polynomial problems, since the calculator does all of that without stupid arithmetic errors. Sometimes you will get a strange looking result, as the system pulls up an obscure identity for exponentials, but it has always been correct.Many other features, plus a reasonable implementation of a programming language means that there is little that cannot be done efficiently on this machine. So why only four stars? The display can be hard to read, as the angle sitting on the desk requires you to get above it to see it very well. No back light option makes the display invisible in low light. I miss the 35’s angled led display, but I don’t miss the limited battery life from the led displays. The fonts for symbol
s are often difficult to recognize, especially the infinity symbol.And then we get to the “feature” that almost caused me to give this a 3-star rating. That would be the documentation. For a powerful machine with so much to learn, comprehensive and _accurate_ documentation is needed. Unfortunately, this calculator has neither from HP, and actually not much help from third parties that I’ve been able to find. The short <200 page user manual is a place to start, but there are numerous errors that had me puzzled in places until I worked out the operation for myself. The user guide is long, but lacking in accuracy and completeness. The advanced user reference seems more complete when it comes to the the library functions, but the individual function documentation is very sparse in most cases. The tutorials help sometimes, if you can find what you are looking for. And then it appears the documentation has generally be written by someone not terribly familiar with RPN. Or the English language for that matter.So I compromised - 5-stars for the function, 4-stars for the display and 3-stars at best for the docs. Because of the poor documentation, this beast will take a good bit of time to learn unless you are already familiar with the CAS/Equation writer from an earlier model. . Hi All,I have owned a TI89T for a couple of years now and I have found it to be very good, generally it's easy to use and has a very good build quality. Recently though, I was surfing Amazon and I noticed the TI89T competitor, the hp50g going for half price so I bought one, I found it be the most complicated graphing calculator that I have ever used. Just to learn to navigate around takes in access of two weeks solid study, and if you leave it for any length of time and decide to come back to it again you will find you have forgotten how to use it.However, I have persavered with it on many occasions and all you've got as reference are 3 hp manuals to work through, there are no 3rd party guide books, in English, available to buy which might have helped.hp boast that their calculator can work in algerbriac mode or RPN mode, however all the examples in the guide manuals are in RPN mode with very little in algerbriac mode, having two modes just serves to confuse you further. On the programming side the hp50g uses RPL programming language(note, this isn't simplistic basic language), I spent 4 days solid just to learn how to do very basic programs, lots of fustration.The build quality isn't as high standard as the TI89T but it is adiquate for the job, one nice feature (and there are many) the hp50g has, it allows you to write rpl programs on your pc, using Windows notepad, and then download the finished program to your hp50g using hp connect software via the calculators usb.Assuming you know your way around the hp50g it's actually got more to offer than the TI89T particularly with a price tag of around £75.00 all in but be for warned you need to spend at least 2 weeks solid on it before it starts to bear fruit.I've just found out today that the hp50g can convert between Laplace transform and inverse Laplace transform, its one heck of powerful graphing calculator and is noticably faster than the T89T.T89T currently sells at around £150, whilst the greater function support hp50g=£75.00If you do decide on a hp50g be prepared for a very high steep learning curve and some dedication.As of 8/3/13, I've just completed a RPL program which converts Butterworth filter polynomial coefficients into resistor/capacitor values for active bandpass filter design, where, using a scientific calculator would take about 15 minutes to compute and alot of faffing, with my 50g, it takes less than 1 second to compute. The hp50g calculator is now my calculator of choice.CheersCommie . Let me start this review by mentioning that I am not a calculator aficionado. Until now, the most complex calculator I've used is a Casio scientific model for college. So I won't be comparing this to the 49G or any of TI's implementations.I've been humming and hawing over getting one of these for a while now, and with them no longer being produced I decided that I may as well take that last chance. Having completed an EE degree in which the use of a graphing calculator was not permitted in exams, I was unsure of how useful it would be - especially considering the required learning curve. But alas, the technophile in me was intrigued to see how it worked regardless.I must admit - I'm a convert. Once you settle in to RPN mode, which the calculator is built for, day to day calculations are an absolute breeze. It's very satisfying watching your calculations build up step by step on the stack - it makes it far easier to spot mistakes, especially in more complex calculations, as opposed to just throwing in the entire formula and hitting equals. But the best thing about this calculator is that when that's what you want to do, you can still do that. The calculator is extremely versatile and customizable, and no matter what your tastes or field of work/study, given the time you will find a way to have it work exactly how you like it.I haven't delved too deeply into the programming side of things yet, but in the brief experimentation I have done it's very intuitive! The graphing functionality is excellent and very handy for simple functions (I'm still more comfortable with doing complex graphing on computers though). The CAS system, I don't know what to say. If you've used CAS before, then it's probably fine. If you're like me and you've always done math by hand, then it is honestly amazing. I'm amazed at the things this calculator can do, to be honest. It's well able to factorize and expand or numerically/symbolically solve all manner of equations; it works well with complex numbers and matrices, and it even has proper units built in. You can set the output format as you please (for example to use engineering or scientific notation), and it has a huge array of built in formulae and solvers for all kinds of mathematical problems, along with diagrams of these problems. In the calculator. It's incredible.The keys are lovely to type on and have a satisfying click and I feel like it's well built but not at the expense of being heavy.Long story short, if - You are the type of person that regularly uses a calculator (to the point that you may like a £75 one over a £10 one),- You have the time available to dedicate to learn how this one works,- You are happy to give the bit of effort to think in terms of the RPN entry system,then go for it! I've personally found it well worth it, and I find myself satisfied using it every day! Read more
2 – HP 300s+ Scientific Calculator
Top Reviews I purchased this for an exam and used it for a week before the exam to become familiar with the calculator.On the 3rd problem entry I encountered an error and found a missing parenthesis. Thought that I missed it and tried to correct but it missed 2 more key presses right before my eyes.I ran a test of 100 iterations of a problem using 15 key presses each.The result was one missed key press in 26 of the problems and more than one missed key press in 12 of the problems.Not sure if I received a device with more than usual issues but this calculator is useless, particularly in exam duty.The features are great for the price but it must be watched very closely or your results will be incorrect.I can’t believe HP actually put their name on this device.I have HP Voyager calculators purchased in the early 1980s which still work flawlessly as they did when new. No missed key presses with them.Evidently HP no longer builds any level of quality in their non-graphing calculators.If Amazon allowed less than one star, this item deserves it. Returning this thing today. . I bought this product because it has HP on it. I collect HP scientific and scientific graphing calculators. Comparing this with other HP models, it is basic and uncomplicated. The display needs younger eyes or magnifying glasses to read the status symbols. It has the look of a Casio calculator, even down to OFF as a shifted [AC] (All Clear), rather than a shifted or toggled [ON]. That is a hallmark peculiarity of Casio scientific calculators going back to the late ’80s. Aside from those points, and for $15, I find it acceptable and easy to use, and a good fit for middle and high school math where calculators are permitted. It is also acceptable for professionals as a basic tool, though I recommend the HP 35S for professionals if graphing features are not needed. . I really wanted to like this calculator. Even waited to post this review until I had given myself time to get used to it. It is HP which I’m a fan of for calculators. It looks really nice. It has lots of functions for the money. Problem is the buttons don’t work right. I read the reviews that mentioned this but disregarded it and based on one review that said it has the nice distinct HP click (if you own an old one you know that this is) I bought it. It does not. I have to constantly double check the numbers because even though I push on the buttons the numbers don’t engage. This makes calculations really slow. The other thing I don’t like about it is the screen. It has a LCD screen that is too deep under the plastic protective front, which makes it hard to read unless you are looking directly over it. I like to have my calculator above my notebook and can’t do it with this. This I would overlook but the buttons not working unless pushed at a precise angle is not. So I would not recommend buying this calculator. If you are looking for something cheap go with something else that works better. If you want the HP upgrade to a better HP Scientific Calculator that is built with old school HP quality. . Just received it.I turned it on and who designed this screen?Try to use it flat on a desk and you cannot see the digits! Either too dark or If a desk lamp is on then the digit shadow makes it like if you have double vision. Even the HP35s has a better screen (an it is pretty bad for modern screens already).I played with the contrast levels, but none are really helping The display on my old 34c is so much more readable!The only way I could read the screen comfortably is to have a lamp between me and the calculator. And have the calculator facing me at 90degrees.Seriously, how did HP let that happen? Read more
3 – HP 48G Graphing Calculator
Top Reviews I am an original 1991 owner of an HP 48SX. This 48G is just as good. I love the look and feel of these calculators. Nothing will ever come close to these calculators. Buy them now before they are all gone. These are limited edition. I can see them going for $thousands in the future. Nothing will ever have the look and feel of these calculators again. The new calculators these days are horrible. Once you go RPN, you never go back. . Unit arrived quickly and in excellent condition. I recommend this vendor highly. HP doesn’t make anything like this anymore, and I’ve had HP45 and HP48 calculators since the 80’s. I love the quick conversion functions and the way the buttons feel. I’m glad they had this to replace my last one that I accidentally destroyed. . I love this calculator, if your familiar with hp and the rpn style of calculations then you can use it as a everyday school calculator, However it is a piece of very old technology and your better off using something more modern and algebraic. It’s better for people looking to collect old technology and calculators. . This product was inexpensive, looked good, but had a defective keypad. None of the keys on the right side of the pad worked. I give it three stars because it was very easy to return and get me money returned. Read more
4 – HP 39gs Graphing Calculator
Top Reviews I like the color scheme, the overall look, and the slid-on hard cover. I love how fast it is compared to the older HP 39G. The IR port is handy if working with an HP printer or exchanging programs and data with another 39gs calculator. I like the algebraic graphing calculator implementation from HP much better than TI’s attempts. The reason for that preference is HP’s UI model, which is not only modal, but laid out so it is intuitive and easy to learn. If you can find one, and don’t require a CAS, the 39gs is a great value. . Best for its price. It has all you need for less, without sacrificing quality. Great for engineering students from all fields. . No RPN, Why? Its HP. Why? . Son love it very easy to use. Great for This price. Read more
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Best hp prime graphing calculator 2020.
Best hp prime graphing calculator 2020.