GUMBY.MIT-OZ@BRL@sri-unix (10/25/82)
From: David Vinayak Wallace <GUMBY@Mit-Mc>
From: PLATTS at Wharton-10 (Steve Platt)
Subject: HP vs TI; the HP lisp machine?
First of all, this is mostly a bunch of silliness comparing
"algebraic" to "rpn"; I tend to use TI (cheaper), although I
haven't bought one in years (the '59, when it was <$50, was my
last). I have no problems going between notations, and very few
people I know do.
I know of one VERY good reason for students to buy an HP: durability.
I keep my 41C in by backpack, and it gets a lot abuse from beng
dropped and being ground under the weight of my books. I have a friend
who went through 3 TI-35s (? some thin LCD scientific) in 8 weeks
before he went out and bought an HP.
I've heard a story that in the early seventies the HP and TI salesmen
would come to the MIT coop and sell their calcuators. The TI salesman
would sing the praises of all his calculator's features, while the HP
saleman would calculate and then slam the calculator against the wall.
I don't know if it is true, but I can believe it. Those things are
TOUGH.
So as far is cost is concerned, I think you get tremendous value for
your money from HP. All their equipment is extremely durable.
-------CSvax:cak (10/26/82)
The story about HP salesman throwing calculators around is TRUE! In the early days (HP-35 and -45) the sales talks would be given to large crowds in auditorium-sized rooms, the the salesman would take an HP-35 and throw it against the wall from across the stage. My HP-55 has suffered through numerous situations that would have destroyed a lesser machine; but it still works fine. See any of the HP Digests (does this rag still exist?) for testimonials about people running over their calcs with their car, dropping it from their motorcycle at 60 MPH, etc, etc.... just like the old John Cameron Swasey Timex ads. Cheers, chris