HP 35s for you RPN engineers 7

[aggman]

Check out HPs new scientific calculator...

http://h10010.

http://www1.hp.com/wwpc/us/en/sm/WF05a/215348-215348-64232-20037-215351-3442983.html

I don't want to get a big discussion about how they don't build them like they used to but I bought one because I smoke through a HP 33s about once a year. I never have had one of the older 32s or any of their bigger graphing calcs. I bought the 33s when I was taking the PE exam and got stuck on the RPN. I just opened the box this morning but it appears that it has a much more "classic" feel to it and the buttons seem much better. It seems to follow the same designs as the little RPN financial calculator they sell. I didn't know if others who use RPN had seen this latest offering so I thought I would post it on here.

 

[271828]

Cool. I bought a 50g a couple of months ago and am thinking of buying a 35s. The 50g is unbelievably powerful, but the keys are too hard for my tastes.

I have a 33s and really don't like it. Keys are very hard and there's the weird layout.

How do the 35s keys compare to other models? The 48g keys are perfect IMO.

 

[aggman]

I can't really comment on the other models first hand. I have only used the 33s for any real number crunching. One guy hear has used HP's since the early days and he looked at my new 35s and said it looked like they went back to the older designs that everyone loved so much. Like I said though I can't really comment as I have been using the 33s for several years. My biggest reason for changing is that I break keys every year on the 33s and this calculator appears to be much better built with the resemblence to the financial calculator. I used it most of this afternoon and I like it. The buttons seemed much more solid.

 

[haynewp]

I bought an HP 49g about 2 years ago that was having problems with it turning on and they sent a refurbished replacement. After using the replacement for a few hours, the zero key smashed in. They sent another refurbished replacement that worked for a few months then I began having problems with it and eventually a key smashed in on it also. Now I use a calculator that you might find at your grocery store.

I won't buy another HP, I will try TI next time I decide to buy a graphing calculator.

 

[apsix]

Similar story.
I had used HPs for over 20 years but in the late 90s got sick of the keys playing up.
I've bought two cheap ones since 2000 and they are both still going strong. Still miss the RPN though.

 

[271828]

I'm pretty sure the 33s (maybe) and 49g (certainly) are the only HPs with substandard quality.

TI for better keys?! Now there's a funny one!!

 

[JAE]

aggman - that looks very much like the older (1980's) style HP - how thick is it?

haynewp - I'm shocked at you. Man you are like one of the engineering mainstays here and you suggest that you'd use a TI? (just ribbing you a little!)

 

[haynewp]

I really wanted another HP but I had such bad luck with those 49g+'s... Isn't the 50g supposed to be a replacement for the 49g+?

For anybody that has the 50g; besides tough keys, any other problems?

 

[271828]

I am extremely happy with my 50g other than the key hardness. I prefer softer (but still with that famous HP tactile click) keys than most, so this might be a non-issue for you.

It seems reasonably tough. It took a severe drop on concrete with minimal damage. A small piece of plastic came off, but popped back on.

Some don't like the Enter key location, but I think it might even be a little faster for me.

They've included tremendous functionality and the processor seems very fast.

In the end, I still do mainly punching of equations, not programming, etc., so the hard keys just about cancel out everything else.

 

[fel3]

I bought a 35s the day after they were announced, mostly as a new toy to add to my modest collection. It's actually a pretty nice calculator, though it's not perfect. The 35s is based on the 33s (and the 32sii and 32s before that) with some enhancements, both internal and external. HP added functionality (including the ability to access more storage registers) and a few bugs (or are they features). Much of the recent traffic on

http://www.hpmuseum.org

has been about the 35s, both the good and the bad.

Construction is very good, and getting closer to the old workhorses. The keys feel very good, and have the sloped front face like the 41. Screen contrast is excellent, but the theta symbol in complex numbers looks a lot like an 8. Fortunately, I don't use complex numbers in my work. Overall, I consider the 35s to be a big step in the right direction.

However, the 35s won't replace my day-to-day calculator, which is a 19-year-old HP-42S. The 42s has vastly more power in terms of functions (about 600 vs about 100) and programming. The 35s has more memory (32k vs 8k), but for me the difference is not important. I have a bunch of programs for the 42S that I use all the time--some originating with the 41--that can't be easily ported to the 35s (or even my 48G+ for that matter), so the 42S will remain my calculator of choice. To guard against the day when the 42S finally gives up the ghost, I have Thomas Okken's excellent Free42 emulator on both my PC and my Palm TX (

http://home.planet.nl/~demun000/thomas_projects/free42/).

Fred
(HP-35/HP-55/HP-34C/HP-41C/HP-41CX/HP-42S/HP48G/HP48G+/HP32Sii/HP10B/HP35s)

 

[271828]

fel3, how would you rate the 35s' key stiffness and travel distance compared to your 48G's?

 

[fel3]

271828…

The keys on the 35s are less stiff than the 48G+ and seem to have slightly less travel. The key action on the 35s most resembles the 41 series, which many acknowledge as HP's best. However, there have been a few reports of missed keystrokes on the 35s, though I have not experienced any. I'm guessing the text messaging folks are trying to key too fast .

Fred

 

[archeng59]

I used an HP 48g for years until the "enter" key decided to malfunction. I bought a 50g a few months ago. It's a little different than the 48g and I'm still finding my way around it's functions, but a good handheld calculator.

 

[Dinosaur]

This looks a lot like my HP 41, which I still use after 20+ years.

 

[lkjh345]

Aggman:

Thank You for posting!!

We had not seen this come out, and a few guys in this office are definately interested.

There is something about the 'old' HP calculators that you just can't find anywhere else.

Have a 25 year old HP-15c that I still use as my 'all day, every day' calculator. Will have to consider this new one and save the 15c for 'special' occasions.

 

[dbuzz]

I like the look of this 35s. I had a 32sII (

http://h10025.

http://www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/product?product=58450&lc=en&cc=us&dlc=en&lang=en&cc=us)

for many, many years and it was fantastic!

After it died (sniff, sniff) I bought a 33s (

http://h10010.

http://www1.hp.com/wwpc/us/en/sm/WF05a/215348-215348-64232-20037-215351-370805.html).

It's OK, but not as good as the 32sII. It has a shocking decimal point that is very difficult to see.

Is there any better calculator than a HP?

 

[271828]

"Is there any better calculator than a HP?"

In what context? For a bloated toy, one could look at the TI Nspire.

The 33s and 49g are the two poor models. The 48g, 50g, and 35s seem to be liked by most who buy them.

The other day, I had to use one of my pal's TI-86 and I really hated the keystrokes. About like mush, with no tactile feel at all.

I have a funny story. I taught Steel I last fall and gave the students an equation that took a whole line to write (AISC Lr equation). I think 3 of 37 made it through that one without a calculator error. Every single person used a TI-whatever. I knew I'd catch grief over this, so I timed myself with my HP48g. It took me an average of 27 sec. with zero errors using RPN! Some ribbing ensued during the next class!

That's the bottom line for me--RPN vs algebraic sea of parentheses nonsense. FWIW, it takes me 30 sec. with my HP50g because the keys are harder. Also takes 30 sec. with my 33s also because the keys are harder.

 

[JAE]

You ought to share the equation with us to see how we all would do.

 

[IRstuff]

My two 15C's date from the early 80's and still work flawlessly.

If only HP could come up with a calculator that has a PDA built-in, I'd buy in a nanosecond. I've got a PDA with an RPN-clone, but it's not even remotely comparable to my beloved 15C

TTFN

FAQ731-376

 

[271828]

JAE, LOL, it's simple. AISC 2005 Eq. F2-6. Just pick some section and go at it!

I'd guess that I'm fairly average punching these things through my calculator. If somebody here can beat 20 sec., then they should get some kind of prize!