Hewlett Packard 49G+ Graphing Calculator
by Hewlett Packard
List Price:
Our Price: $68.00
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Category: CE
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Digital product summary information
Manufacturer: Hewlett PackardModel: F2228A
Product features:
- 131-by-80-pixel display, up to 9 lines by 33 characters
- RPN, algebraic, and textbook entry system logic
- 1.13 MB memory; over 2300 built-in functions
- Advanced statistical, mathematical, scientific, graphing, and programming features
- Carrying pouch, batteries, and USB cable included
- Duracell Batteries / 4 AA - size batteries
- How to use a pocket calculator: A guide for students and teachers
- The calculator afloat: Mariner's guide to the electronic calculator
- Graphing Calculator Instruction Guide to Accompany Calculus Concepts: An Informal Approach to the Mathematics of Change
- Collector's Guide to Pocket Calculators
Digital camera reviews of Hewlett Packard 49G+ Graphing Calculator
Digital camera Review: !@#$ this calculator
Summary: 2 Stars
I will start by saying that I prefer doing all of my computaions in RPN. Currently, HP is the only company that I know of that still has calculators with this capability. I also previously owned the HP 49G, which was all but useless since it was too slow and seemed to get hung up on calculations that a TI 89 could whip through. Also, the HP 49 had abysmal documentation on how to actually operate any of the features or actual definitions of all the function calls built into the calculator. When I heard that HP was coming out with an upgraded version though, I was curious. I had even found an advanced release to the full instruction manual to the HP 49G+. At this point I found out what the HP calculators were able to do and found them to be more robust than the TI 89, assuming that you were willing to put the time into learning how to get the most out of this calcultor. I eventually shelled out the money for this calculator when it came out.
Ever since then, this calculator has been a bit frustrating. Being an electrical engineer, complex numbers appear almost in everything that I do. I found the way that this calculator handles complex numbers to be horrible. I think that the TI 89 does a better job at this by allowing the user to format complex numbers in either rectangular or in magnitude/phase format. Instead this calculator has a the format "(real,imaginary)". I guess that this is fine if you are doing everything in rectangular format, but usually it is usually more relevant to have it in magnitude/phase. I mean the obvious solution to put into this format requires an additional 4 keystrokes or just write a program, but the TI 89 allows for displaying complex numbers in either format. There are some other things that bother me about this calculator as far as the interface goes, but let's talk about the things about the hardware that bother me.
First, the whole reason that I am even writing this rant is because I needed to replace the batteries, which itself is a topic that I will get to shortly. Before I removed the AAA batteries, I was checking to see if I needed to move any programs around in memory and then turned it off. When I took the batteries out of the calculator and inserted new, out of the package batteries and then tried to turn it on, the calculator did not turn on. I then tried hitting the reset button on the back of the calculator but this still did not solve the problem. I tried looking for the troubleshooting section in the online manual for the calculator, but it was of no help. I them assumed that maybe the addition CR2032 battery for the memory was kaput, and replaced that, but guess what. You got it, the calculator did not turn on. I have also tried all of the various hard/soft restart keystrokes and it still has not come to life. I figured that I might be able to repair this thing if I were only able to open the calculator up, but the plastic case is held shut by what looks like plastic rivets, meaning that once I pop this thing open, there will be little chance of putting it back together again properly.
Second, I noticed that since I have owned this thing, it consumed batteries like nothing. When I first was using this calculator, I had to replace the batteries in the first 3 months. Tonight, in reading some other reviews, apparently the battery life can be extended by downloading a newer firmware revision, so this can be remedied, but it is still no excuse. It appears to me that HP's first solution to the super slow 49G was to increase the clock speed. This is great, but obviously someone forgot that faster clocks also increase power consumption. Duh!!! They didn't even attempt to imporve any of the internal algorithms at all.
Third, the keyboard is a bit ackward. This comment is noted by many others, and I eventually got used to it, but this is definitly not a calculator you would want to have while taking a test. You may not have a problem with it personnaly, but your neighbors might.
I give the calculator 2 stars beacuse it has RPN. It seems that overall HP did very little to actually improve the performance of this revision. They only seemed to modify the hardware and little in the software, and the job that they did with the hardware was quite poor. I'm really disappointed with HP. It seems that the quality of their products has taken a turn for the worse. If HP does decide to revise their calculators again, I would hope that they would do more than just giving their machines a face lift and do some actual improvements to everything and not take the cheapest way out.
Summary of Hewlett Packard 49G+ Graphing Calculator
49g+ Programmable Graphing CalculatorStudents and financial and science professionals, warm up your fingers. The HP 49G+ Graphing Calculator provides basic RPN, algebraic, and textbook entry through its redefinable alphanumeric keyboard. It boasts more than 2,300 built-in functions, with 1.13 MB of user memory. An easy-to-read display accommodates up to nine lines, 33 characters wide, giving you ample room for graphing.
The HP 49G+ also provides advanced statistical, mathematical, scientific, and programming features, and comes with a convenient carrying pouch, batteries, and even a USB cable.
What's in the Box
HP 49G+ calculator, carrying pouch, batteries, USB cable, User's Manual (basic) and CD with User's Guide (advanced), connectivity software
Electronics Features
Cameras and Photo
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