mann@watserv1.uwaterloo.ca (Shannon Mann) (06/12/91)
I own a 28S and have been quite satisfied, except for the following: 1. Having to be careful the menu/cursor pad is in the correct mode. I know it's just a toggle key, but it remains a real pain to always have to hit that key when I want to move the cursor. 2. The functions INV, SQ, (root), ^, LN, EXP, SIN, ASIN, COS, ACOS, TAN, ATAN are just not accessible enough for manual number-crunching (eg. you should not have to shift for INV). Thus I put them in the custom menu, so once it's selected, any of these functions is either immediately available on the menu keys or after pressing NEXT once. But it's still awkward since you're usually in a directory accessing variables, and have to always call back the custom menu. 3. The folding book format is good for protection when transporting, but not for using. It takes up too much room on my desk, and is incredibly awkward to hold and use while standing up. A lot of the time I like to snatch it up, hammer out a calculation and toss it down. This is awkward if you needed a menu function on the LHS of the keyboard. Apparently, a 48S would take care of these gripes (dedicated cursor pad, dedicated number-crunching row of keys, conventional format). Does anyone have any warnings of awkward stuff on the 48? I am concerned about losing the easy accessibility of alpha characters, and notice the object delimiter characters (<< >>, [], etc) are paired. Does this imply some awkward context-sensitive editing? What of keyboard quality? Additionally: Given the hardware skills and documentation, could a plain 48S be expanded like the 48SX ie. hardwire in one of those cards? Is the RS232 cable from HP just a dumb cable ie. can it be built? Has anyone used the IR port for PC communication ie. a optical/electronic conversion box on the PC to reduce wear and tear on the 48? Post or mail, whatever's appropriate. Thanks very much.
mann@watserv1.uwaterloo.ca (Shannon Mann) (06/12/91)
I own a 28S and have been quite satisfied, except for the following: 1. Having to be careful the menu/cursor pad is in the correct mode. I know it's just a toggle key, but it remains a real pain to always have to hit that key when I want to move the cursor. 2. The functions INV, SQ, (root), ^, LN, EXP, SIN, ASIN, COS, ACOS, TAN, ATAN are just not accessible enough for manual number-crunching (eg. you should not have to shift for INV). Thus I put them in the custom menu, so once it's selected, any of these functions is either immediately available on the menu keys or after pressing NEXT once. But it's still awkward since you're usually in a directory accessing variables, and have to always call back the custom menu. 3. The folding book format is good for protection when transporting, but not for using. It takes up too much room on my desk, and is incredibly awkward to hold and use while standing up. A lot of the time I like to snatch it up, hammer out a calculation and toss it down. This is awkward if you needed a menu function on the LHS of the keyboard. Apparently, a 48S would take care of these gripes (dedicated cursor pad, dedicated number-crunching row of keys, conventional format). Does anyone have any warnings of awkward stuff on the 48? I am concerned about losing the easy accessibility of alpha characters, and notice the object delimiter characters (<< >>, [], etc) are paired. Does this imply some awkward context-sensitive editing? What of keyboard quality? What is the latest version and what was improved? What else? Additionally: Given the hardware skills and documentation, could a plain 48S be expanded like the 48SX ie. hardwire in one of those cards (I am just interested in more "on-line" RAM)? Is the RS232 cable from HP just a dumb cable ie. can it be built? ie. is the HP connector available? Post or mail, whatever's appropriate. Thanks very much.
edp@jareth.enet.dec.com (Eric Postpischil (Always mount a scratch monkey.)) (06/12/91)
In article <1991Jun12.054120.18599@watserv1.waterloo.edu>, mann@watserv1.uwaterloo.ca (Shannon Mann) writes: >Apparently, a 48S would take care of these gripes (dedicated cursor pad, >dedicated number-crunching row of keys, conventional format). The cursor pad is not dedicated; it is used for characters in Alpha mode. This has caused some typos for me. Still, once you've got a 48, you won't go back. >I am concerned about losing >the easy accessibility of alpha characters, and notice the object delimiter >characters (<< >>, [], etc) are paired. Does this imply some awkward >context-sensitive editing? When a delimiter key is pressed, both delimiters are entered. The cursor is positioned between them, so all you have to do is type whatever you want inside them and the press the right-arrow to move past the closing delimiter. Typing only one delimiter is achieved by entering both and using either backward or forward delete to remove the undesired one. > Is the RS232 cable from HP just a dumb cable ie. can it be built? Yes, and yes, but I don't have details. -- edp (Eric Postpischil) "Always mount a scratch monkey." edp@jareth.enet.dec.com
jhawk@panix.uucp (John Hawkinson) (06/14/91)
In <23398@shlump.lkg.dec.com> edp@jareth.enet.dec.com (Eric Postpischil (Always mount a scratch monkey.)) writes: >In article <1991Jun12.054120.18599@watserv1.waterloo.edu>, >mann@watserv1.uwaterloo.ca (Shannon Mann) writes: >>I am concerned about losing >>the easy accessibility of alpha characters, and notice the object delimiter >>characters (<< >>, [], etc) are paired. Does this imply some awkward >>context-sensitive editing? >When a delimiter key is pressed, both delimiters are entered. The >cursor is positioned between them, so all you have to do is type >whatever you want inside them and the press the right-arrow to move past >the closing delimiter. Typing only one delimiter is achieved by >entering both and using either backward or forward delete to remove the >undesired one. Actually, prefixing the delimiter key with the alpha key will produce (usually, with some exceptions) a single delimiter. > -- edp (Eric Postpischil) > "Always mount a scratch monkey." > edp@jareth.enet.dec.com -- -- John Hawkinson jhawk@panix.com