After many years of service, my trusty HP42s has decided that it wants to retire to the back of my desk drawer. I need a calculator (RPN) that can handle the basics.
Any thoughts/ideas/comments would be appreciated.
I'm using a 33S in the field, for a 40 dollar 'disposable', not that I mistreat any equipment, just I can replace it easier than I can one of the 48's.
I would love to see HP reissue a 15-C Platinum, present day computing power with the same architecture they are using for the 12-C Platinum.
CPA's rose up and made their voices heard every time HP considered dropping the 12C, where were we when the 15C went away?
Boy that is hard to replace. The HP42 was the best calculator HP produced a super HP41 but they never gave it any I/O capability, I guess they didn't want to mess up the HP48 market.
Anyway don't mess with the HP33 go right for the HP35s. The 35s is a better calculator but has a few oddities. The STO is on a shift key which I don't like , R>P & P>R are hard to get to and really need to be programmed to be useful. Programming is one long program with jumping to labels necessary for different routines.
The calculator is keystroke programmable though, making it very useful. It is easy to program and similar to the HP42.
If want more power go for the HP50 but for quick and cheap the 35s is a really nice machine. After the HP33 came out I had just about given up on HP calculators but the 35s restored my faith in their ability to produce a professional devise.
Tom Wilson
I just purchased a HP35S to replace my dodgy 48 (unresponsive keystrokes).
I'm liking for day in, day out usage.
The days are past that I need the power of the 41/48's. Most of the heavy lifting is done on the PC with the handheld calculator doing the quick and easy stuff.
The 35S has a great tactile keyboard with easily accessible DMS -> DD conversion.
And it's RPN. Actually its either/or. But who would every switch?
Rick
After many years of an HP48, I had to replace it. Decided on a HP 50. Don't like it. You have to be very careful pushing keys because sometimes it doesn't "register". Navigating (swap, purge, etc) is also much more cumbersome.
Dang. I have been wanting one of the 50's. My son took my 33 that got me two licenses to school and lost it so he has to buy me a new one. Maybe I will tell him the 35 instead of the 50. I liked the 50 because it can become a DC using 3rd party software.
Well, maybe mine made shouldn't have made it through QC and is flawed. The key issue is my biggest beef. It's not only annoying, it's potentially dangerous when digits are missed!
Maybe someone else with a 50 can chime in if they have the same problem.
eBay...
Target - I think I read "elsewhere" a year or so ago that there was an adjustment (command) for key lag on the HP50, which could be your problem. I have that problem on the 48 which makes me worry about blasting through the numbers when entering data.
Tom Wilson
Hmm..I'll have to GOOGLE IT.
Never know where they will show up- one of the guys on the crew found a 42S at the Salvation army thrift store for $3.50. put in new batteries and it works like a champ-
I did find the command, here it is:
500->KEYTIME (in case the first right arrow didn't come through on your web
browser) where the right arrow is the one entered by pressing Right Shift +
zero. Be sure to delete the space the calculator puts in to the right and left
of that arrow. Viola! You can now type as fast as humanly possible, while
still being protected from key 'jitter' entering doubled keystrokes.
See, you pose a question here and it gets answered.
Now for my next problem: My wife says I don't listen enough........
Tell her that is simply not true!!! You heard her say you do not listen enough, didn't you?! She just has a difference of opinion as to what "enough" is. 😀 😀 😀
(can't tell the wife has been out of town for several days can you. I am currently to the stage of boredom that I am rearranging the kids rooms/ cleaning them up. She will not recognize the house when she gets back at the end of the month)
That is fantastic! TW TL Wendell & BeerLeg.com ROCK!
I have a 33s, 35 and a 50. They all have their quirks, but they all get the job done. I will really be sad when my 15c and 48's expire. Mr. GeorgiaSurveyor has pointed out, you can make a data collector out of the 50 with some third party software. If I knew then what I know now, the 50 would be my only choice, and I would have saved myself some money.:-)
So true. Keep your eyes open. I happened to find said HP50 in a Best Buy. It was the only one on the back of the shelf. It was marked down to $75 (1/2). I guess they didn't have a steady flow of surveyors looking for RPN calculators at my local Best Buy.
I would love to find an under appreciated HP42s and put it to good use! The replacement I will purchase does not need to be a data collector, just an office calculator. I have the Cogo software on the PC for the main calculations, so I all need is the basic DD-MM-SS functions and it must use RPN.
A shout out to Wendell........... this site is amazing.
Also, thanks to my fellow surveyors for all the advice.
The cheapest new HP on the market that would meet your requirements would be the 33S. Price on the HP site is $39.99 with free shipping.
