Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 6-10 of 154
 5 star calculator with 0 star documentation July 22, 2007
lew (Connecticut, USA)
17 out of 27 found this review helpful
This is very powerfull, complex calculator, much according to old HP spirit and quality. Unfortunately, manuals are below of ANY acceptable quality standards. There is short (150 pages) User Manual, very poorly written, not even explaining the concept of RPN and stack manipulations. There are some keys that perform stack manipulation (DUP, DROP) but they are not described; I discovered these keys just by accident. It is not clear for me how person new to RPN can start using this calculator if basic concepts are not explained.
Manual is extremely poorly printed. Reading keystrokes sequences needs strong magnifying glass.
More complete User's Guide is abaliable only in electronic form (on attached CD), but Advanced Guide (needed to program) is available only from HP site under HP-49 information. These manual are equally poor as the first one. Printing these manuals is expensive; actually more expensive than the calculator itself. There are 1600 pages to print; Kinko takes 16 cents per page. This would make $256. This means that computer is necessary attachment to the calculator. It this situation, I don't need the calculator: If I have to take calculator AND laptop to a trip, then I can do all calculations I need using laptop.
I have been using HP calculators since HP-41; HP manuals that time were publishing marvels. This what happens with manuals for HP-50 (and actually all manulas for modern HP calculators) is the evidence of fall of this once great company.
 Best High-End Calculator August 20, 2006
Chuck (Arlington, TX USA)
16 out of 16 found this review helpful
The HP50G eliminates the keyboard problems that plagued the 49G+. With this change, this unit runs head-to-head with the TI89. But if you like RPN as I do, the 50G is the only one to choose. The 50G has powerful programming capabilities. The infrared transmitter and SD card capability is compatible with the 49G+. The manual included is brief, but you can download pdf manuals from HP for the 49G+ that serve well for the 50G. These include the 175-page user's manual, the 862-page user's guide, and the 635-page advanced user's reference manual.
HP calculator quality is back! I expect to be using this model as long as I have the HP11C (still running and in use since 1982) and the HP48G (since 1994).
What the HP 49 series should have been from the beginning (fantastic calculator) November 21, 2006
M. Long (Australia)
15 out of 15 found this review helpful
I received my HP 50g as a warranty replacement for an HP 49g+. Whilst I was extremely impressed with the number of functions the HP 49g+ offered, along with the computational speed, I was not impressed with the keyboard. The keys were stiff, the backing hollow sounding, and the impression was that it wouldn't last. Well, it didn't. After a key breakage, it was sent back to Hewlett Packard and replaced with the HP 50g. I should add here that the HP calculator customer support section was wonderful. Once the problem was reported to HP, I was advised that the calculator would be replaced, I sent it to HP and received the replacement a few days later. Great service!
The HP 50g has all the functionality of the HP 49g+, which is a very good thing, as I couldn't fault the HP 49g+ on this score. However, the keyboard is a world apart from the HP 49g+. The keys are not as stiff, the hollow sound is gone, missed key strokes are a thing of the past (provided KEYTIME is set to 500), data entry is now quick and easy (and accurate), and the look and feel of the calculator is now that of quality. Also, even though I liked the gold paint on the HP 49g+, I have to admit that the HP 50g colour scheme is more impressive. As stated by another reviewer, the HP 50g looks like a serious mathematical computing device (which it is).
Yes, like the HP 49g+, it does require a bit of learning to make full use of the functions, but it's worth the effort. Operation of the calculator does become quite intuitive, making the calculator a joy to use, and of course the ability to use RPN is a godsend - so superior to algebraic data entry (which of course you can still use if you want, as the calculator has the choice of RPN or algebraic data entry).
Provided the HP 50g has the build quality that it appears to have (and I don't have any doubts at this stage), then I can see myself having this calculator for many years, just like the HP calculators of old. As another reviewer said - HP is back! And it's a welcome return!!
 Great Calculator October 27, 2006
Elvis Dieguez (Arlington, VA USA)
13 out of 14 found this review helpful
I've been an HP user for 10 years when I purchased my HP48G for high school calculus. I still have the 48G but gave it to my wife for her MBA statistics class. I decided this was a perfect excuse to spring for a new HP. I've had the HP50G for 2 weeks and I am nearly as satisfied as with my old 48G. I am not a fan of the new color scheme, which looks similar to something TI would use, and I am especially irked by the choice of colors for the keys. I was much happier with the color scheme used for the 48G.
NOTE TO HP: Yellow and white look very nearly the same in most light, this makes it easy to get confused when looking at keys like [1/X Y] where Y is an ALPHA character in yellow and 1/X is the function in white.
The plastic feels somewhat cheap compared to the 48G series. Functionally, however, the calculator is far superior in terms of speed, the ability to expand memory cheaply using standard SD cards, and the ability to connect the calculator to a PC using a USB cable. However, I have all sorts of problems using HP's software and hope to find a superior replacement soon.
Overall I am glad I upgraded. If you think about it, 10 years ago the HP48GX was about $250 whereas today's HP50G is ~$135. If you consider 10 years of inflation, $250 in 1996 would be $300 today making the new HP50G a huge bargin.
By the way, I am wondering how long till BW calculators use BW high resolution screens similar to those used by PDA a few years ago. Its seems strange to have a ~160x130 resolution display in the age of 640x480 color screens. I don't want a color screen but 320x240 resolution would be nice.
Best CAS Calculator. Period. April 18, 2007
William B. Zimmerly (St. Louis, Missouri, USA)
13 out of 15 found this review helpful
I've had my HP-50G since 2/24/2007 after purchasing it from Amazon. I also own a TI-89 Titanium. The TI-89 Titanium is in my humble opinion an easier machine to use, but less powerful than the HP-50G. More functionality and power tends to mean a steeper learning curve, so if you want the most powerful, choose the HP-50G, if you want one that is initially easier to use, choose the TI-89 Titanium. Either way, you can't go wrong as they are both fine machines.
Having said that, here is why I prefer the HP-50G:
1. First off, it offers both Algebraic and RPN modes natively.
2. The CAS is powerful and can be set up for step-by-step simplification (collection or expansion of terms).
3. RPL is a *LOT* more powerful and (again, in my humble opinion) simpler -- you can do a lot more with far fewer keystrokes than with TI's BASIC.
4. The SD Card slot is perfect for transferring programs and HP Objects between the calculator and the PC.
5. It has a built-in Equation Library, SysRPL, as well as an ARM Assembler/Disassembler and Saturn processor emulator. (Translation: it is a Geek's "Dream Machine". :)
There are many other reasons that I prefer the HP over the TI, but those are the highlights.
There are some neat "Easter Eggs" hidden in the HP as well, including a great Tetris game. (Run the Equation Writer application, click ALPHA-ALPHA to lock it, enter MINEISBETTER, click ALPHA to turn off the alpha lock, then click the up arrow and press SIMP (F6). All of the flags must be in their factory-release setting too.) Viola - Tetris!
Finally, although it is *initially* a more difficult machine to learn to use than the TI, it can be customized with incredible ease, and features all sorts of "event handling" stubs to use for this purpose. What this translates to is the machine allows you to *MAKE IT* easier to use for yourself with custom menus, user programmable keys, etc.
It's more rugged and the keyboard is better than the HP-49s too. You can't go wrong with the HP-50G.
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