BoulderHead said:
You know, I have to admit complete ignorance that such a function was possible so a big Thank You for tipping me off.
Modern calculators have so many functions I only scratch the surface of what they're capable of.
No problem :). Over the years of using my 48GX, I've picked up a few tips.
Entropy said:
Sorry but HPs are the worst computers on Earth. I bought one and it broke the day I got it. We sent it back for another and that one had a broken CD-rom, sent it back for another. The third one had yet another major problem and broke after three days. I had enough, so we got are money back and bought a gateway that lasted for four years until it got struck by lightning.
As previously stated by another user, HP computer systems have nothing to do with HP calculators. They are two strictly different departments. Over the years (last two years to be exact), the quality of HP calculators has declined slightly (because of Carly). Some might argue, as I will that the new 49G+ and 33S are not as high quality as the discontinued gems such as the 48GX and 32SII. Although, the quality of the current line of HP calculators might be slightly down from the past lines of HP calculators, this current line still surpasses any other line from TI, Casio, Sharp, etc.
It seems over the last two to three years, HP has been ignoring the professional market and attempting to conquer the student market. This has resulted in various changes from this line of calculators to the previous line. The classic "Enter or Input" buttons are now located in the lower right-hand corner of the calculators. I personally do not like this. I'm used to operating my 48GX and 32SII with both hands. I'll enter data with one hand, and then input with another. Another quality (some might find it appealing), is the added Algebraic mode in addition to RPN. The newer 49G+ (49g, and 49GII) and 33S now offer the option of Algebraic mode in case you do not fancy the RPN data entry mode.
HP calculators (the higher-end models such as the 49g and 49g+) typically offer more advanced mathematical features than those of a TI-89 or TI-92. The 49g and 49g+ offer various integration algorithms such as Risch, Monte Carlo (?). Each time the HP integrates, it actually "does" the integration. To my knowledge, the TI-89 and 92 actually look it up in a table stored in the ROM. Some might find this trivial, but it says something about the quality of the 89 and 92. When it comes to advanced or elementary matrix operations, the HP 49G+ will clearly surpass the 89. I've seen a few generate random 50x50 or random 200x200 matrices in a fraction of a fraction of time compared to the 89 or 92. The 49g and 49g+ also offer an equation writer. This equation writer gives the user of selecting (or highlighting) an equatino with the arrow keys and manipulating the selected part of the equation. Along with the integration algorithms the 49g (discontinued) and 49g+ have Laplace Transform functions, FFT, inverse FFT, Fourier series, Taylor series (standard with any CAS), etc.
http://alpage.ath.cx/hptute/compare.htm
This is a site that contains a comparison between the 49G+ and TI-89. I think you might it interesting. When looking over it pay close attention to the hardware present in both calculators. The 49G+ offers a 75mhz ARM processor, while the TI-89 offers a 10-14mhz (depending on the hardware version) M68K processor. The new TI-89 Titanium edition contains the same amount of RAM as the TI Voyager. You might notice, however, that the 49G+ only contains 800k. After reading the comparision you will also notice the 49G+ contains a Smartmedia expansion memory slot, allowing the user to add 64mb or 128mb very cheaply. To note, the TI-89 (Titanium, also) and the Voyager do not contain the expandibility feature.
. I'm not an employee of HP, and I use one.
