RPN Calculator

I have both. The 33 is my favorite because it was the one i had first. I have COGO, curve, and hydro programs for it and they worked great when I was on the exam trail.... have not touched it in years.

The 35 is more advanced and can do more... I just dont know how to make it do it. I do have a varied pipe flow program for the 35 that is the cats meow.

I have a 35, have used a 33 and prefer the 35 because I like a rectangular layout. Either way Minnesota DOT has all kinds of programs for both and both are approved for NCEES exams.

I liked the HP 35 that I used for the LSIT in the 70's. Could do all of the comps. with no problem. Needed to know how to use the stack to save some re-entry of coordinates. What ever you choose, know how to solve expected problems with it. Never found any math problems on exams that took much time or effort to solve, sometimes if multiple choice you could reject half of them because the given choices were unreasonable, then a check of the remaining answers would do the trick. Backing that check in from the given answers is usually very quick but you must know what you are checking.
jud

I used the hp33 in December but never really like it. Learned on a hp48, and now theres an iphone app for that. My advise is to make sure you know your trig functions and use a calculator that you comfortable using.

From older postings I think more people prefer the hp35s of the two. I have one, and there is a lot of things I don't like about it, but overall it sounds like the 33 is worse.

I like my old hp16. They have started to remake that one. A lot of guys who bought one have complained a bit about the "feel" of it and some of the keys not really clicking or working great. Also, I don't know if they have added that one to the list since they started to remake it, but I recommend the hp16 if you can use it.

Regardless I agree with getting one you are comfortable with. Make your pick and use it a lot before the test. Do a lot of practice problems. There is nothing as bad as not knowing your keyboard and having to hunt for the key you want even though you know the math.

Good luck.

> ..and what's allowed to take in to exams such as LSIT...

It's a good idea to check with the state board you are going to take the exam with.

I have a HP33 and a HP35. I prefer the 35. I purchased a program manual and programmed each of them myself. Here is the NCEES Calculator Policy. Good luck.

I have both and like the 35s. Iearned on 41's and like the feel of the 35. It also has held up to use better than the 33 did (some of the keys don't work anymore). Both are allowed in the exams here in WA.

I have have both and prefer the 35, mostly because the feel and layout were more similar to the 48. You shouldn't need programs to solve the questions on the test.
I don't get the recent trend to have a programmable calculator for the test. The math involved in the problems should be stuff you're already familiar with and know how to do. Seems the time spent programming would be better spent focusing on the math.

As for approved calculators, you should be good with a TDS Ranger. jk:-P

Whichever one you choose, get it now and use ONLY that calculator until test time.

Good Luck!

I'm not sure how you do your computations but the HP 35s does not have an R=>P, P=>R key. I haven't touched it in a while but I recall there was some goofy work around.

Ralph

I bought a Hp-35s just to take the FS exam. I now use it for everything, as others have said there are some great programs out there for it.

Get both. You need a spare for the test anyway. Might as well diversify.

Each one has a few things the other doesn't & vice versa. I couldn't tell you without looking it up. None of them should matter in the slightest on the exams if you know the basic math and are practiced at setting up the problems. Don't let the gadget be a distraction to the math. All you need is trig, exponents, and the basic 4. Use your scratch paper. Use the stack when you can.

I passed the LSIT with a 35s bought the day before, and no programs. I studied for the test for couple of months with the 33s, but it turned out to be the spare. The morning of the test, I started off with the 35s because I could see the display and the button labels easier, and overall the "enter" button is in a slightly better place for me. (Saves time if you run the calculator with one hand and write with the other.)

If weight is critical, the 33s at 5.7 oz is lighter than the 35s at 6.4 oz.

Took my test with a TI-51 in the very late 70's.

In the mid 80's I bought an HP41 with the Survey Pac and Printer IR plug in. Loved it, still love it today and it's still the calculator I use daily at my workplace.

A couple of years ago I bought a 35S which sits here by my side at home. Very well refined version of the older models. No plug in modules, but plenty of memory for keyed in programs if you want them.

Once you go RPN, you never go back........

Once an RPN'er, always an RPN'er.

The HP35s keyboard approaches the "feel" of old time HP's that devotees love. It also comes with a really nice case, which is a plus. I have a 35s and really like it.

But I like my HP48gx even more. One can hope.

> Took my test with a TI-51 in the very late 70's.

Damn you're old.

> > Took my test with a TI-51 in the very late 70's.

I had a TI-59 in college. Everytime I plugged it in the streetlights would go dim.

Here's an "original" HP35

Doesn't do much...but in 1972 it was the shiznit. Pricey, too. This was $395 if I remember right.

Here's an "original" HP35

Actually it does quite a lot! As the first calculator to compute many of the transcental functions (SIN,COS,LOG etc), it was a revolution. Replacing books of tables.

HP calc division actually published a number of "key stroke" routines for a lot of surveying applications for the original 35, with only one storage register and the stack it is amazing what it can/could do.

It was followed a few years later by the great HP-45 which was even better for survey computations. Neither were programmable, that was a year or so away, but the calculators were still very significant and useable.

It may seem sort of dumb now, but in those days it was fantastic to be able to do a lot of the basic survey comps with just a few keystrokes on a little thing you could hold in your hand.

- jlw

Here's an "original" HP35

I actually had a routine I used on this one to "intersect" two grades. Used it to slope stake the rail spur (and lots of other ditches and embankments) at the General Motors plant built here in '72.

Worked like a charm. We could knock a station out in a matter of minutes. I remember thinking "welcome to the jet-age." Those were the days.

Here's the calculator that this HP replaced: