Rating:  -
Pros: This calculator (and presumably other HP 48/49 calculators) has an operating system that far surpasses TI's in usability. The angled keys are really nice to use, when they work.
Cons: Too bad it is hard to use a calculator with a broken keyboard. The bottom row's hinge have almost all broken, so the keys are really loose and wobbly. Apparently, the plastic hinge mechanism is really weak and this is a common problem.
Rating:  -
at the time of writing the HP49g+ is available on
amazon at $77.99. Since the 48GII is a 49g+ with
features removed - why not get a 49g+ ?
Rating:  -
I had high hopes of this calculator being a "real" 48G, maybe with a faster processor running an EMU, but the original case/key design and ROM.
My trusty HP48GX no longer functions properly, the 3, 6, and 9 keys fail to register when pressed.
Bill Hewlett and Dave Packard would join me in my sadness and disappointment at the lack of innovation at HP, and the pathetic replacements offered to the fine 48GX, the lowly, rubber keyed, algebraic entry, plastic faced, 49G and 48GII (both of which I have tried and rejected).
Upon inquiry to HP customer support about the possibility of getting a 48GX repaired, it became apparent that the cheap printers they make, Carly's merger with Compaq, and Hewlett Jr.'s denouncement of the company's current direction are indicative of the level of service and quality of customer support technicians hired by HP, [...]
While searching for a replacement for my 48GX, I encountered a strange phenomenon, used HP48GXs are selling for twice what the new flagship HP calculator costs, and as much as $400-$900 for the few unused 48GXs still around. This is a testament to the failure of HP to continue to provide innovative products, and to the brilliance of the engineers and programmers of the original 48GX at the now defunct Corvallis research facility.
How can a nearly 15 year old technology product still remain the most desirable and sought after in it's class? Only through initial brilliance coupled with the failure of executive management to develop and support the innovation required to improve such a product rather than trying to replace it with a lesser machine. What right-minded consumer would purchase a 49 to replace a 48?
Alas, we have witnessed the demise of the only truly innovative producer of engineering calculators. What does the slogan "HP Invent" mean today?
The talent behind the last several 48G ROMs, Jean-Yves Avenard and Gerald Squelart have given me renewed faith in the future of calculators. After being fired by the new HP, they have taken it upon their selves to create the finest calculator in the world, the Qonos, and I eagerly await it's release. [...]
In the meantime, I am about to embark upon an all-or-nothing attempt to service my own HP, a process which involves a drill press, razor blades, and surgical precision in hopes of extending it's life once again.
Good luck, and protect your HP from cheap batteries and wrong-doers at all costs.
Rating:  -
I must admit that I am loyal to HP calculators! I bought the HP35 in the early 70's when I was a graduate student at Washington University. I currently collect HP calculators.
When I bought the HP 48gII about a month ago I encounted the much talked about keyboard problem. I did what comes naturally. I called customer service. A very friendly representative took my name, address, and the model and serial number of the problem calculator. In about 30 seconds I was informed that a problem free calculator would be on the the way in 3 to 5 business days! I was also given a case number so that I could keep tabs on the progress of the shipment of the replacement. Note that I did not ask for a replacement! The company apparently is on top of the problem and know exactly which calculators need replacement. I asked about instructions for returning the problem calculator and was told to wait for further instruction from HP. If I do not hear from HP in 30 days, I may dispose of the problem calculator as I see fit. What else could one hope for?
In four business days I received my new HP48gII with three 3AAA cells and two memory cells. The calculator only reguires one memory cell. I immediately checked out the calculator. My problem calculator would ocassionally not respond to the pressing of the up/down and left/right keys. At times others would not respond. With the new calculator I have not experienced any problems.
Go on. Stop listening to the foolishness. Get the best calculator out there. Get the HP48gII!
Rating: -
Hughey-Pack is baaack! (Okay, tone it down a bit.) No, I really like the new 48gII, although I can't figure why they chose to ID it in the 48 series, since it clearly is a derated 49g+, itself a nice update of the original 49g. I guess 49g- didn't sound too upbeat. And why the serial port when the 49g+ has USB? My laptop doesn't have serial, so I'll have to front thirty for a USB serial converter anyhow. So, in retro, I should have sprung the extra forty dollars for a 49g+, and I've answered my own question. But this clearly brings HP back in line with the TI89. I bought an 89 last spring at Wallyworld for sixty dollars unopened (I guess they were clearing them out for the Titaniums: even so, my fellow engineers called me "traitor", but, hey, sixty!) I was impressed by the Derive CAS and the overall physical quality. Compared with my 49g, it symbolically integrated ordinary expressions quite fast. The 48gII puts HP back in this league, with the (I'm guessing) Erable CAS and 48 MHz CPU. TI quality has improved markedly in the last few years (it had a long way to go) and HP's has slipped some, but the HP48gII seems solid, although it just doesn't have the heft and feel of my fourteen year old 48SX (which still works perfectly with Sparcom Calculus card and all.) No keyboard problems so far, but then no display problems with my TI89 so far either , just waiting for the shoe to drop.
Products like this are what keep HP a quasi-religion for most engineers: my original HP35 , thirty two years old, still works sans battery pack, although watching it canoodle for a full second to extract the sine of PI/6 is amusing, we've come a long way. I always thought HP should have marketed a version of the HP95 palmtop with MathCad or TK Solver in ROM for scientific/engineering folks. And Carly should take a look at the Qonos on hpcalc.org, and maybe goose the ACO: tech types would line up like Matrix first-nighters, four hundred in hand, for something like this with the HP sticker.
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