[HN Gopher] DB48X: High Performance Scientific Calculator, Reinv...
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DB48X: High Performance Scientific Calculator, Reinvented
Author : qwezxcrty
Score : 189 points
Date : 2024-11-04 17:19 UTC (1 days ago)
(HTM) web link (48calc.org)
(TXT) w3m dump (48calc.org)
| roflmaostc wrote:
| somehow doesn't work on my Ubuntu Firefox 131.0.3 but works on my
| Arch 132.0.
| Aardwolf wrote:
| Same, shows JavaScript error:
|
| "Uncaught ReferenceError: SharedArrayBuffer is not defined at
| db48x.js:615:40"
|
| Both in Chrome and Firefox (both are up to date to versions way
| beyond where SharedArrayBuffer should have been introduced)
|
| I think they should either use ArrayBuffer, or use https
| instead of http, apparently SharedArrayBuffer has security
| restrictions
| grantmnz wrote:
| Apparently, for security reasons, your server needs to add
| certain headers if you want to use SharedArrayBuffers.
|
| https://hacks.mozilla.org/2020/07/safely-reviving-shared-mem...
| thought_alarm wrote:
| It needs https.
|
| Use https://48calc.org/db48x/index.html
| bell-cot wrote:
| IANAL, but the logo they're using looks infringingly similar to
| HP's.
| SomeHacker44 wrote:
| Spectacular project by one gentleman. Been using it for a while
| now on my Swissmicros.
| anyfoo wrote:
| Seems great. How does this compare to Free42?
| https://thomasokken.com/free42/
| chowells wrote:
| Well, it's based on the hp48 instead of the hp42, for one.
| Though that button layout is not that close to the 48, either.
| sbdhzjd wrote:
| Free42 is more faithful to the original 42 than this is to the
| 48. Free42 also has an infinite stack hack which is a nice
| bridge to those accustomed to the RPL.
|
| This is annoying to installe and not really completed (this is
| a much much larger endeavor than the 42). Its also very
| disorienting at first until you figure out the UC
|
| That said, its good enough that I use it on my swisimicro
| rather than my 48s because the screen is much better
| westurner wrote:
| Could this run on a TI or a NumWorks calculator?
|
| RPN: Reverse Polish Notation:
| https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reverse_Polish_notation
|
| RPL: Reverse Polish LISP:
| https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RPL_(programming_language)
| whartung wrote:
| Seems like a really nice effort.
|
| Nice they crammed it into the DM42 machines.
|
| But for me, the learning curve is steeper than the utility. I
| have no real need for an actual calculator, I rely on my phone.
| On there I have iHP48, and I've already gone through much of that
| learning curve to make it useful (back in the day with an
| original one).
|
| If you already have the DM42, I guess its a mostly compatible
| upgrade from that, to make stepping into it easier.
| bayofpigs wrote:
| Same. Love calculators and used to flirt with the idea of
| buying an old HP graphing but the app scratches that itch. Once
| you learn RPN it just feels so natural.
| stonogo wrote:
| This is also an iphone app.
| topspin wrote:
| > Seems like a really nice effort.
|
| Does it? Another powerful calculating engine trapped behind a
| skeuomorph interface?
|
| Here[1] is a really nice effort that, sadly, hasn't been
| updated in 14 years and only runs on Windows. It's a wonderful
| 606kB math REPL that can probably do everything DB48X can do,
| except it foregoes all the 1970's portable calculator nonsense,
| making it about a thousand times more useful.
|
| I have a nascent clone of this written in Rust using egui and
| rug, that is currently stalled because -- on bleeping Windows
| -- the former has problems with MinGW the latter has problems
| with MSVC... which makes me want to tear my hair out. I wait,
| patiently, for egui to get their MinGW ducks in a row because I
| have no hope that the GMP/MPFR/MPC stack is ever going to work
| on MSVC in my lifetime.
|
| [1] https://speqmath.com/
| epse wrote:
| Is there a significant difference between that package and
| SageMath / XCas / Octave and friends? While a bit arcane,
| I've always been a great fan of xcas
| topspin wrote:
| Yes. SpeQ math, is extremely small, starts _instantly_ and
| stands alone with no complex runtime.
| qwezxcrty wrote:
| Calculator is for quick and dirty math in the field or in a
| lab, saving me from taking out the laptop from backpack or
| abandoning my optics alignment exercise and getting to the
| workstation on the other end of the table.
|
| In other cases when I have convenient access to a computer,
| I'll use a proper math software like Matlab/Mathematica or
| whatever open source alternative. It's just a different use
| case.
| whartung wrote:
| > Does it? Another powerful calculating engine trapped behind
| a skeuomorph interface?
|
| Yes, it does. This is not a calculator app. It's calculator
| firmware that happens to also be runnable in an app.
|
| They're trying to cram a HP48ish calculator into an HP42
| clone calculator body, while retaining much of the UX of the
| calculator they're replacing.
|
| The HP42 is the direct successor of the HP41 without the
| hardware interfaces and gizmos. Its essentially software
| compatible with the 41.
|
| The HP48 (and -28) are completely different animals, from
| ground up hardware redesign to the notable RPL (Reverse
| Polish Lisp) foundations, and just in raw functionality as
| well. The 28/48 series had symbolic solvers and graphing
| (among a laundry list of other things), both novel at the
| time.
|
| If you wanted an RPL based system in stand alone hardware
| with real buttons, you were stuck with legacy calculators.
| This fits in the modern DM42 system.
| gompertz wrote:
| Thanks this is a great recommendation - runs perfect in Wine.
| There definitely seems to be a habit with developers making
| calculators that still fall into a 70s form factor. This is a
| great departure.
| topspin wrote:
| I really do want to clone that thing, except cross
| platform, and enhanced with 64 bit native math. I want the
| same exact REPL calculator and function library running
| natively and starting instantly from a no-install binary on
| every platform I might ever touch.
| topspin wrote:
| Oh, and make it open source, so that people that know
| more than I about all things math can contribute. If you
| hadn't noticed, SpeQ Math is not open source.
| jiehong wrote:
| Some newer terminal based implementation of something similar
| is Numbat [0], for example.
|
| For a GUI calculator similar to seqmath, but cross platform,
| try speedcrunch [1].
|
| [0]: https://numbat.dev/
|
| [1]: https://heldercorreia.bitbucket.io/speedcrunch/
| linguae wrote:
| I feel the same way about not needing a physical calculator. I
| have an HP-48SX and an HP-15C Collector's Edition. I enjoy
| these devices; they are high-quality and are exemplary
| products. However, as a professor I have regular access to my
| laptop, which can run circles around my handheld calculators.
| For quick calculations I open up the terminal and use the dc
| command, which is a command-line RPN calculator. For more
| involved computations, I have Python and Common Lisp REPLs, and
| I also sometimes use Microsoft Excel.
|
| These days handheld calculators seem to be used the most in
| situations where people are restricted from using laptops and
| smartphones, such as during exams or in distraction-free
| settings. I think the reason Texas Instruments still has a
| viable calculator business is because TI markets heavily in the
| education market.
| db48x wrote:
| That is really weird.
| PaulHoule wrote:
| I am a fan of the HP Prime
|
| https://hpcalcs.com/product/hp-prime-graphing-calculator/
|
| But I use it in algebraic instead of RPN mode. I've got a 49g and
| a 50-something too.
|
| People say it is pricey but I managed to get one discounted that
| was intended for the Latin American market. So is the thing that
| software is supposed to run on.
| nxobject wrote:
| I'd recommend eBay, too, if you're within the continental US.
| This might be sacrilege, but after using a TI-89 I shifted to
| an TI Nspire CAS, since it has one of the highest-resolution
| screens in the market _and_ still uses AAA batteries - I paid
| only $25 on eBay.
| PaulHoule wrote:
| Those are pretty good.
|
| I was thinking the other day about all the electromechanical
| devices such as Walkman cassette tapes and portable minidisc
| players that Sony got to work with just one AA battery as
| opposed to the usual two.
| Mister_Snuggles wrote:
| I have a Prime G2 and the RPN mode is just bad. It feels like
| it was an afterthought, and some things just don't seem to work
| properly in that mode.
|
| My 48G+ is a much, much better RPN calculator.
|
| The Prime G2 is also missing the equation library from the
| 48G+, which I found weird. Maybe they expect you to download
| what you need instead of using space in Flash for it.
| PaulHoule wrote:
| That's my take on the RPN mode but I like the algebraic mode
| and agree the 48 series is way better for RPN.
|
| (My favorite HP calc was the 28, which I bought when the 48
| was available. I discovered soon afterwards that a powerful
| spring will eventually break the battery door and it seemed
| to be a problem that no engineering student managed to
| solve.)
| downut wrote:
| I use my 32S (lives on my monitor pedestal next to my 8087
| chip) weekly. When I was doing floating point/integer bit
| twiddling the 'base' key was my deeply appreciated friend.
| But that was 36 years ago. RPN (if trained into the brain)
| really is faster and I love how the register transfers
| work.
|
| Nowadays when I'm not feeling especially tactile I tend to
| reach for the Free42 Android app, which lives in a stack
| with the 32S. If I ever get _bored_ , I'm going to relearn
| how to program them both. Next time around on the wheel,
| likely, if I have hands.
|
| I've replaced the battery on the 32S twice. Suck on that,
| modernity.
| wslh wrote:
| I have an HP Prime (and older ones such as the 48gx). I don't
| know why they remove the "undo" button from the Prime since it
| is necessary when perform mistakes.
| hajile wrote:
| As a DM42 owner who loves RPL, this is an exciting project.
| sbdhzjd wrote:
| Its annoying to instal, I eventually got it to work on my
| calculator (DM42) from the binaries.
|
| The biggest thing is making sure all the firmware of the DM is
| upgraded
| opentokix wrote:
| This made me exactly the same amount as frustrated like the
| originals. So, good job I guess :D
| Ringz wrote:
| I still have a HP48GX in perfect condition and love it. One of my
| first programs was to calculate how much ,,slower" my time is
| running when I drive a car or fly in a plane compared to someone
| standing still on the sidewalk.
|
| I still find it much more comfortable having a real calculator...
| call me old fashioned.
| jwr wrote:
| The 48G was a really good calculator, but only after loading
| additional software. The HP50g that came much later is better in
| every respect, except possibly for the smaller "ENTER" key (and
| people used to 48G will have to change some habits and possibly
| redefine some keys...).
|
| Incidentally, many young people (yes, I know how that sounds) do
| not know how useful a good engineering calculator can be and do
| not want to learn how to use one. They are missing out. Yes,
| there is a steep learning curve, but the rewards are significant
| if you do any amount of calculation in your hobby or work. No,
| this is not replaced by typing "python" (or "bc", or anything
| else, really) at your command prompt.
|
| Also incidentally, the development of good engineering
| calculators pretty much died. HP Prime is largely a school-
| pleasing toy, HP would down their calculator division a long time
| ago, and nobody else produces anything good. It's kind of like
| with gyms: what you get is what the market wants, and since the
| market doesn't know much, you get gyms full of useless exercise
| machines, because that's what people think a good gym should
| have. Similarly with calculators: you get stupid "modern"
| graphing calculators which are useless for actual work (it takes
| forever to use them to calculate useful things, and graphing is
| much better done on a computer), but they look great and sell
| well.
|
| I admire the project, although I would probably have taken a
| different path (emulation) to get the biggest effect with the
| smallest possible effort :-)
|
| I wish there was a good HP50G emulator for iOS -- there used to
| be one, but it was abandoned (contact me if you want to develop
| it and would like to get the source code, it was under the GPL
| and I got it from the author).
| ninalanyon wrote:
| > No, this is not replaced by typing "python" (or "bc", or
| anything else, really) at your command prompt.
|
| Why not? At least I can easily copy the results and the code to
| a document which avoids transcription errors. Or do you mean
| that there simply isn't a program that has the functions you
| use?
| tivert wrote:
| >> Incidentally, many young people (yes, I know how that
| sounds) do not know how useful a good engineering calculator
| can be and do not want to learn how to use one. They are
| missing out. Yes, there is a steep learning curve, but the
| rewards are significant if you do any amount of calculation
| in your hobby or work. No, this is not replaced by typing
| "python" (or "bc", or anything else, really) at your command
| prompt.
|
| > Why not? At least I can easily copy the results and the
| code to a document which avoids transcription errors. Or do
| you mean that there simply isn't a program that has the
| functions you use?
|
| My guess it's the ergonomics between a specialized tool and a
| non-specialized one. Technically, python may be able to
| replace "a good engineering calculator," _but so can ASM._ No
| one would even ask "Why non ASM?," because its ergonomics
| are near-universally understood to be so poor, but the same
| issues can apply to more popular tools like python, just less
| obviously.
| 7thaccount wrote:
| I'm a calculator nut who has had many fancy TI (like the
| Voyage 200) and HP calculators (yes RPN) including the
| SwissMicro reproductions.
|
| The ONLY benefit to these tools that I can surmise is
| basically that they are a physical device for scientists or
| others in the lab or field and not in front of a computer.
|
| For any kind of data work I've seen, Excel, R, Python,
| Mathematica, or Matlab are all vastly superior. They allow
| faster entry, can show large amounts of data on screen, can
| allow for saving large amounts of data ...etc.
| exe34 wrote:
| yeah after a decade in my job, I have a ton of utility
| functions in python that I reach for when given a new
| request to think through something. I doubt a smaller
| screen where I have to type in stuff and then copy out
| results would make it any easier.
| jwr wrote:
| This thread is making my point for me rather well.
| exe34 wrote:
| yes a lot of people love them, but nobody's actually
| coming up with anything I can't do in python...
| jwr wrote:
| You can do everything in Python. But perhaps it is not
| the best tool for every job.
|
| This is similar to programming language discussions: any
| programming language can be discredited by saying "but I
| can do all that in assembly/C/whatever". Yes, you can,
| but perhaps there are better ways to do it.
| exe34 wrote:
| usually with programming languages, we mention certain
| things - like how python is easier to read, it's almost
| like English. it comes with dozens of well designed
| built-in libraries to do a lot of useful things, and
| thousands of external libraries to do the rest - even
| gluing together c/Fortran code for the speedup. it's well
| supported on many platforms so you can design on one
| comfortable os environment and deploy in a scalable one.
|
| for the engineering calculators, it seems the advantage
| is that some people learnt to use them in school and
| really love using them? that's great, I'm tempted to look
| into them myself, because it does sound cool to have a
| small device that does that sort of thing while I'm
| reading a book. but the truth is that for me, both at
| work and at home, my laptop is never more than 5 seconds
| away from showing me a repl, so maybe I'm not the target
| audience.
| dylan604 wrote:
| When all you have is a hammer arguments are so much fun
| exe34 wrote:
| every now and again, I download the user manual for a
| graphing calculator and every time I've been underwhelmed
| by what they have to offer.
|
| What impresses me in this discussion is how coy everybody
| has been about the actual benefits of these devices.
| dylan604 wrote:
| What impresses me is how you dismiss the usefulness to
| other people because you can't imagine it possibly being
| useful to someone because it's not useful to you
| exe34 wrote:
| I don't believe I've done that? I've said it doesn't
| appear that it would be useful to me - and I keep asking,
| probably for the 5th time now, in what way is it useful?
| The most cogent reply I've had so far is "0.85f'c". I
| don't know what that means. Please, could you explain? At
| this point I feel that even Apple fanboys put more effort
| in justifying their choices.
| dylan604 wrote:
| Do you like pen or pencil? Do you like college rule or
| wide rule paper? Do you like spiral or perf notebooks?
|
| I don't need to justify my reasoning to you in a way that
| convinces you your way is wrong and mine is right. People
| like different things. I learned to use a scientific
| calculator as an extracurricular competition that allowed
| me to become very proficient at 10-key. Because of that,
| doing calculations on a computer goes against muscle
| memory. Laptops don't even have a 10-key. If I have a
| bunch of notes/papers with numbers that need to be added,
| I can pull out a calculator and just do the data entry
| and get a result. I don't have to go to my computer, or
| lug the laptop around in the shop. I just need numbers
| quickly crunched so I can then turn around and make a
| cut, drill a hole, or whatever. I don't need a large
| clunky compute device for that. Dropping a calculator on
| the shop floor is much less expensive than doing the same
| with a laptop. Lots of time, I just don't feel like
| needing to write a damn script just to get the
| tangent/cosine of a value to determine the lengths of the
| whatever.
|
| Again, just because you have a hammer doesn't mean that
| you _should_ use it drive that screw. Sometimes that tool
| that specifically made for purpose is better for the task
| at hand.
|
| Now, pick any of the aforementioned options as to why I
| might prefer a calculator over a programming env just to
| crunch some numbers.
| exe34 wrote:
| Thank you for explaining! So it's down to personal
| preference and invested training time, I wish you would
| just have said that to begin with. It's your hammer and
| you see everything as a nail. Got it.
| rustcleaner wrote:
| I declare thee argument winner! Well done chap!
| hggigg wrote:
| Some of us (mathematics side) still actually work on
| paper with calculators. Most of the job is thinking which
| tooling doesn't necessarily improve.
| zokier wrote:
| > Most of the job is thinking which tooling doesn't
| necessarily improve
|
| yet you use paper and calculator.
| hggigg wrote:
| near the end of the thinking yes.
| dylan604 wrote:
| That's like a carpenter saying it only took 10 seconds to
| make that cut while ignoring the 3 hours it took to
| create the jig so the cut would take 10 seconds.
|
| You don't need the calculator to do the final sums until
| you've done all of the work gathering all of the data
| that needs to be calculated. It doesn't mean the
| calculator wasn't needed, just that it's only needed for
| one thing not every step along the way.
|
| This wasn't the gotcha you think it was
| SirHumphrey wrote:
| I don't use the physical HP50G i have that often, but i
| love it emulated on the phone. It's for semi complicated
| quick calculations where scientific calculator interface
| really shines compared to anything else available.
| 0x1ceb00da wrote:
| We need a concrete example.
| wiredfool wrote:
| 0.85f'c
| exe34 wrote:
| What does it mean?
| hggigg wrote:
| You just write the stuff down or translate it to LaTeX.
|
| Incidentally the 50G (and Prime) has a decent CAS built in
| which seems to get stuck less than some other commercial
| ones.
| agateau wrote:
| I loved my HP 48G when I was in school (even if it was much
| slower than the Ti 81 it replaced when it came to graphing). I
| regret throwing it away because of the nostalgia, but I don't
| feel a need for using it these days.
|
| As such I am genuinely curious about what rewards you get from
| using an engineering calculator in your work. That's an honest
| question: I would really like to have an excuse to get my hands
| on a 48G again!
| zoky wrote:
| I broke the screen of my HP48GX when it fell in the crack of
| the passenger seat of my truck about 20 years ago and I am
| _still_ pissed about it.
| ceving wrote:
| Try Droid48 on your phone. It works for me after I cracked
| a number key of my HP48GX.
| zoky wrote:
| Oh, I've tried using emulators, but without the actual
| physical keyboard it's just not the same.
| hggigg wrote:
| I never liked the 48 series or the 50G (I own both) that much.
| I can never remember how to use them half of the time. I always
| end up back with my 38 year old HP 15c. That has done me
| through separate engineering and mathematics degrees and about
| 30 years worth of jobs.
|
| They just issued new ones as well! (HP 15CE)
| perth wrote:
| TBH TI-89 titanium is a better engineering calculator since the
| UI is way better. I have both a HP50G and a TI-89 titanium and
| I've done way more useful engineering work on the TI-89
| titanium just because it's so much easier and accessible. Also
| of course, BASIC is a lot easier than reverse polish lisp for
| making some quick scripts.
|
| Also I will add, there are known symbolic math issues on the
| HP50G due to the CAS system it uses. I will see if I can find a
| link.
| hggigg wrote:
| I've used both extensively. I disagree with this. I dislike
| the HP48 series but I dislike the TI89 more. It's probably
| because most people don't understand how to use the 50G
| properly. You really need to go through the HP training video
| ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OTPruRVV-e8 ). Incidentally
| if you haven't watched that it's worth watching on its own -
| great production! In an engineering context, the 48-series
| was designed to produce small composable reusable programs
| and tools in the file tree which can be executed quickly.
|
| Try a quick EE example for parallel resistor calculation that
| takes 2 and puts 1 value back on stack
|
| << 1/X SWAP 1/X + 1/X >>
|
| Store that in RPAR in whatever directory you want or HOME.
| Then you whack in 2 resistors and hit the RPAR F-key. There
| is nothing faster or more efficient than that.
|
| I still use a 15C all the time though. Even easier! 99% of
| what I do is on paper though and ends up getting chucked in
| the numeric solver.
| Aardwolf wrote:
| For something that requires writing BASIC (or RPL for that
| matter), I think I'd rather use a programming language on a
| PC
|
| However, keystroke programming a calculator, where you can
| still somewhat do simple loops with goto-like constructs when
| needed, strikes the right balance for the limited UI of a
| calculator
|
| So something like the HP 15C is nice.
| snvzz wrote:
| Got both as well (TI-89v2 and hp50g).
|
| TI-89 preferred by far. hp50g UX is bad, particularly the
| latency makes me sick.
| analog31 wrote:
| I'm one of the last people at my workplace to use a calculator.
| I'm a scientist, not an engineer, so I use a scientific
| calculator. ;-)
|
| The schools ruined calculators.
|
| I still find a calculator handy, even when I've already got
| Python going on my PC. It's easier to use the calculator with
| one hand, especially in the workshop. You can get a Casio solar
| at Target for 10 bucks.
|
| My wife really prefers RPN, so I gave her my last HP when hers
| died.
| makapuf wrote:
| I guess the lack of workshops made also calculators
| disappear.
| rhelz wrote:
| // many young people (yes, I know how that sounds) do not know
| how useful a good engineering calculator //
|
| It's ok, I sound like that too. The problem is that in order to
| be acceptable for school use, calculators have to be so
| lobotomized that they are useless for real engineering work.
| The keyboard cannot be qwerty, it has to have lockdown modes
| which shut off functionality, etc etc.
|
| Frankly, as a math teacher, I'd be just as happy if my students
| could program their calculators to help them on assignments and
| tests.
|
| // I wish there was a good HP50G emulator for iOS//
|
| A calculator has to have buttons man :-)
| nxobject wrote:
| The "no QWERTY rule" that standardized testing boards have is
| _absurd_. TI has a calculator with a dedicated alphabet
| keyboard cluster and a return key (the Nspire Touchpad)...
| except the keys have to be arranged in alphabetical order,
| because otherwise the College Board says no.
| wwweston wrote:
| > but only after loading additional software
|
| which additional software?
|
| Also, these two statements:
|
| > it takes forever to use them to calculate useful things, and
| graphing is much better done on a computer
|
| > the rewards are significant if you do any amount of
| calculation in your hobby or work. No, this is not replaced by
| typing "python" (or "bc", or anything else, really) at your
| command prompt
|
| seem like they're at odds. If a computer has a considerable
| processing speed advantage and better display plotting
| capabilities, what's the value prop of the HP/RPL environment
| over python/bc/anythingElseReally?
|
| (I have a 48G, clearly I may not have gotten high enough on the
| learning curve, your answer could be relevant to my decision to
| keep it or send it on into the world)
| 0x1ceb00da wrote:
| > No, this is not replaced by typing "python" (or "bc", or
| anything else, really) at your command prompt.
|
| Why?
| akira2501 wrote:
| Built in algebra system. Mathematica is nice. Also very
| expensive.
| whatshisface wrote:
| Take a look at Sage (for PCs) and khikas (for calculators).
| jfim wrote:
| Do you mean KhiCAS?
| whatshisface wrote:
| Yes.
| jfim wrote:
| For those of us that used those calculators in engineering
| class, the math that is displayed by the calculator also
| looks like what's in the textbook, making it easy to check
| if one has entered the right thing in the calculator.
|
| Here's a simple example from their documentation:
| https://education.ti.com/en/customer-support/knowledge-
| base/...
|
| Using the Python repl doesn't display nice math as far as I
| know (let me know if there's a way to make it so it), as
| you'd have in an environment for doing symbolic math (eg. h
| ttps://www.wolframalpha.com/input?i=integrate+sin+x+dx+from
| ... )
|
| Another thing if I remember correctly one could do is
| something like 3_ft*3_ft>_m^2 to convert 9 square feet in
| square meters, and do things like keep units throughout a
| calculation as a quick check that the calculator input is
| sane.
| bankcust08385 wrote:
| The HP 48GX got me through from high school college prep to
| EE/CS. I also happen to own an HP 48 overhead projector display
| and a thermal printer. Now, I just need an overhead projector
| to even use (the former). Sharing software was the killer app
| of the HP 48 G series, and the app that turned the serial IR
| port into a universal learning remote was a pranksters' dream
| because the IR LED was so overpowered.
| lencastre wrote:
| Don't mean to highjack but I was on the TI-89 camp, and I
| barely scratched the surface of its programming capabilities
| and memory. But it did help a lot with earthquake engineering
| and other mechanical dynamics courses in the university.
| Chugging a 6 kg laptop was impractical and this little TI was a
| beast!
| nxobject wrote:
| EE*PRO to the rescue for me!
| tenkabuto wrote:
| > It's kind of like with gyms: what you get is what the market
| wants, and since the market doesn't know much, you get gyms
| full of useless exercise machines, because that's what people
| think a good gym should have.
|
| I'm curious: what should a good gym have?
| jwr wrote:
| Squat rack, barbell+weights and bench as a minimum, bonus
| points for a pull-up bar and bars for triceps dips.
|
| Most machines in gyms are either mostly useless, or actually
| detrimental to your health and fitness.
| stavros wrote:
| Can't really disagree with that.
| DiskoHexyl wrote:
| That works relatively well until you get injured, which,
| for people who train seriously, is almost inevitable. Then
| you have to train around said injury either temporarly or
| permantently and find great use for various machines.
|
| Or you get to a high enough level (for you genetics), where
| targeting a specific area is more efficient with some kind
| of a machine.
|
| Or you've been training for many years and are now getting
| older- lots of folks can't really bench after about 40, and
| same goes for the dips.
|
| Doing compound lifts is a great way to build both strength
| and muscle mass, but it is a bit myopic to call machines
| useless. Nuance is important.
|
| Must admit that I'm not a competitor in lifting, and it is
| only a secondary hobby, but 1.83x body weight bench isn't
| completely laughable either
| bsder wrote:
| > The HP50g that came much later is better in every respect
|
| Absolutely not. The big fail on everything after the 48SX was
| the _keyboard_.
|
| I could sit in an exam and punch buttons _without even looking
| at the calculator_. I could feel the positive "click" from
| every single keypress, and I don't remember my 48SX ever
| dropping a keypress for any basic operation.
|
| By contrast, the 49/50 series had mushy keyboards that bounced
| or failed to register presses. I still have 3 48SX calculators
| that I can use--I sold all my 49/50 series.
|
| The excellent keyboard is _bar none_ the big feature that I can
| 't duplicate with any modern calculator.
|
| I really wish some mechanical engineer would do a teardown on
| the old HP calulators and analyze why the keyboards were so
| damn good.
| zoky wrote:
| The 48GX you mean, but yes. The keyboard on the 48 series was
| _chef 's kiss_. The keyboard on anything after that was
| complete dogshit.
|
| If it weren't for the crap keyboard I would still be using HP
| calculators to this day. I blame Carly Fiorina, personally.
| sitkack wrote:
| If the source is GPL, why not release it?
| MegaDeKay wrote:
| Thank you for putting in a good word for "real" calculators. My
| HP-15c is always within reach.
|
| Solid list of basic gym equipment as well. I'd add a good
| dumbbell set to your list unless you lumped those under
| "weights". A few different types of bars, a dip belt for adding
| weight to dips and pullups, and a low / mid / high cable set
| with various handles are also nice to have. Bonus points for a
| reverse hyper.
| whartung wrote:
| What do you think distinguishes the HP-50 from the 48, 49? I
| had a 48 and 49.
|
| There were form factor and interface changes, the 50 is an ARM
| running a simulator vs the original Saturn architecture,
| there's the SD card.
|
| What are the key software changes?
|
| Better CAS?
|
| I admittedly don't use it in any great depth (I did in the
| past), but the iHP48 is a very nice HP-48 for iOS. And it
| solves my primary complaint with the originals, a backlight.
| dingnuts wrote:
| >Incidentally, many young people (yes, I know how that sounds)
| do not know how useful a good engineering calculator can be and
| do not want to learn how to use one. They are missing out. Yes,
| there is a steep learning curve, but the rewards are
| significant if you do any amount of calculation in your hobby
| or work. No, this is not replaced by typing "python" (or "bc",
| or anything else, really) at your command prompt.
|
| I feel like this is highly role-dependent. I learned on an HP
| and I have my TI-89 from high school sitting on my desk,
| because I thought it might be useful. I never touch it. I never
| do math that's more difficult than arithmetic, and if I needed
| to do calculus or algebra for some reason I'd reach for
| Mathematica -- it's not like I remember calculus class anyway.
|
| Hell I tried to help someone younger with algebra and forgot
| FOIL. I'm a successful distributed systems engineer. Why do I
| need an engineering calculator?
| mongol wrote:
| The form factor of an HP48 or similar calculator is very
| attractive. Good tactile buttons in a format slightly laeger than
| a modern smartphone. I imagine it could work as a very good
| companion to a smartphone ifbit had modern comoute capacity and
| memory plus some modern I/O interfaces like USB or Bluetooth.
| tooltechgeek wrote:
| The Casio fx-9750GIII though very poorly named is a gem full of
| functionality from python, to spreadsheet and even a text editor
| and very low priced for what it does. If HP made a similar
| product with RPN it would be a game changer.
| codefeenix wrote:
| If some sufficiently intense compute calculations were ran, will
| the display that shows the battery voltage drop?
| sbdhzjd wrote:
| I have it installed on my DM42. Its nice, but I dont like two
| things:
|
| - Where's the apostrophe (equiv. to quote in lisp)? That should
| be an easily accessible key not buried in a menu.
|
| - Why did he swap the log keys?
|
| I also wish the HP48's steq interface to plot existed, but
| whatever.
| bankcust08385 wrote:
| I think it should be a tribute to Claude-Nicolas Fiechter, Mika
| Heiskanen, and Bernard Parisse who came up with Erable. There is
| Giac/Xcas now that it is its spiritual successor.
| ta8645 wrote:
| https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erable
| ashton314 wrote:
| I've got an HP50g that I love. I wish I could get my kids a
| SwissMicros calculator when they go to school but $300 is a
| little steep for a kid's calculator.
|
| (Heck, considering what TI charges for their crapulators, maybe
| it's _not_ such an outrageous price...)
| mabster wrote:
| It's not clear from that page nor the GitHub repo whether they
| are using decimal floating point underneath? It's one of the
| nicer things when using a calculator over something like Python.
| recri wrote:
| https://hp15c.elf.org wraps https://hp15c.com/, calculators make
| lovely web apps on smart phones, collect them all!
| jiehong wrote:
| That's cool!
| rustcleaner wrote:
| I love SwissMicros. I own a DM42 and DM15L. I strongly reccomend
| them for everyone young-to-old!
|
| Buttons feel crisp and responsive, the postfix input is a dream I
| can't remember living without; it's also easy to disassemble too!
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