xxw8409@ritvax.isc.rit.edu (Fractalman) (05/21/91)
I've had the 48sx for the past year and last week I bought a 42s. After playing the 42s for a week I noticed a few things... The 42s is faster than the 48sx in running the bulit-in applications: solver, integrate, matrix, etc. Probably as a result of the 48sx having more commands but the results are the same. 48sx uses algebraics for the equations but the 42s separates programs from variables so it's easier to see which is a program and which is a varible. The 42s has no equation writer but who needs it? It's so slow. It doesn't have dedicated softkeys but the soft-labels don't stay on the screen all the time. The 48sx is no more accurate than the 42s. Try 1/3*3 and the answer is 0.999999999999 on both. There's no way to see if a softkey label has a submenu or not on the 42s, but since there are less menus it doesn't matter that much. The 42s is 1/3 the price of the 48sx and much smaller and easier to carry around. Of couse it can't be expanded but I suppose I won't need the expansion. (I don't need to play Tetris on the 42s). My 48sx takes so long to get ready when I turn it on. The 42s is ready the instant it gets turned on... The 42s has a drawback that it dosen't have a built-in graphing utility and the screen is too small to do it effectively. Obviously it has less functions than the 48sx but I don't really need all the functions the 48sx offers... Well the 48sx is unbeatable in power but is it too powerful? I use it everyday in the past year but now I use the 42s everyday and use the 48sx only occasionally. _Fractalman_ xxw8409@ritvax.isc.rit.edu
krf1061@ritvax.isc.rit.edu (FLANAGAN, KR) (05/21/91)
In article <1991May21.095844.29101@isc.rit.edu>, xxw8409@ritvax.isc.rit.edu (Fractalman) writes... > >I've had the 48sx for the past year and last week I bought a 42s. After >playing the 42s for a week I noticed a few things... > ... Lots deleted in between. > >Well the 48sx is unbeatable in power but is it too powerful? I use it >everyday in the past year but now I use the 42s everyday and use the >48sx only occasionally. > >_Fractalman_ >xxw8409@ritvax.isc.rit.edu > _Fractalman_ I know what you mean, I am a 32s user (Small menory version of 42s) I also find my old 32s easier to use, and faster than the 48sx I just upgraded to, of course my reasons for upgrading where, no where near enough memory, Lack of an easy way to do matrices, need to back up my programs ,and being able to always see the stack. I used the 32s on my final yesterday more than my 48sx, I only used the sx for long complicated calculations where I wanted to be able to see the stack. The 48sx is more awkward to use than the 32s and I am a little disappointed but the matrix ops on it more than make up for it for me....I use them alot. a now third years Electrical Eng. majors oppion; -Kevin Flanagan <-like the oppion really matters p.s. has anyone seen a spice like program for the 48sx Also does anyone have a 48sx terminal program they can mail me? <thanks in advance>
akcs.jwtrav@hpcvbbs.UUCP (John Wettroth) (05/23/91)
I agree with you pretty much. I'm a working engineer and I tote my 42S around in my shirt pocket. I keep my 48 at home for hacking and just it never ceases to amaze me. One thing you didn't mention is how nice the 42S is with different number bases, I hate the 28/48 # prefix business. The 42S is an awful lot for the money and unfortunately I'm still better at programming ithan the 48.
jimomura@lsuc.on.ca (Jim Omura) (05/28/91)
In article <283b6022:3227.1comp.sys.handhelds;1@hpcvbbs.UUCP> akcs.jwtrav@hpcvbbs.UUCP (John Wettroth) writes: >I agree with you pretty much. I'm a working engineer and I tote my 42S >around in my shirt pocket. I keep my 48 at home for hacking and just it That's interesting. Going down the price range, do "working people" actually use the HP32S or the HP27S? I've often looked at these and come to the conclusion that these are "sucker market" products. That is to say that they are bought by people who end up using them for stuff that they could have done with cheaper products (students who could have bought an el cheapo Radio Shack calculator) or end up sitting in desk drawers. I use a Shack EC-4035 and the main reason I bought it was that it was the cheapest calculator I could find with simple trig functions, hex and bin conversions and 2 levels of brackets. For anything more complex than that I use a spreadsheet or a dedicated program. -- Jim Omura, 2A King George's Drive, Toronto, (416) 652-3880 lsuc!jimomura Byte Information eXchange: jimomura