Is HP getting serious about calculators?
in [HP48]
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From: Joel Kolstad on 10 Oct 2006 12:29 "Volker Neurath" <neanderix(a)gmx.de> wrote in message news:fmhqv3-djd3.ln1(a)ID-29596.user.individual.de... > I think that today it is possible to replace a high-end CAS-grahics-calc > by a PDA with software. Not very well. I've looked -- really I have -- for a Windows CE/Mobile/etc. calculator, and even ignoring the obvious problem that you can't operate one as quickly with a stylus and soft keyboard, none feel as "well integrated" as an HP-48/49/50. After playing with a bunch of them, it made me sader that Qonos died -- they really had the right idea, I think, using a PDA platform with a high-quality fold-out keyboard and custom software. It would have been great...
From: Volker Neurath on 10 Oct 2006 05:46 Steen Schmidt wrote: > Volker Neurath wrote: > >> I think that today it is possible to replace a high-end >> CAS-grahics-calc by a PDA with software. >> So, what arguments are there for using a high-end-calc instead of a >> PDA? > > Price and flexibility mainly. Flexibility? I think a PDA is much more flexible than a calc. And price? Modern PDAs are not so expensive that one could say "i can afford a modern high-end calc but not a PDA" - the soft, even CAS-soft, is available as freeware and/or open source: GNUPlot WinCE Yacas mit XCas XCas SpaceTime 2.0 MathTablet 2.02 IFD Bundle Bundle of some useful mathematic tools - even e gemetry-tool. Formulae 1.0 UnitConverter 2000 Periodic Table 2.1 these tools plus an installed spreadsheet should cover most cases. > It's very easy to do calculations with > one hand on a calc for instance, not so easy on a PDA. Ok, that's a point. Volker, who likes his high-end-calcs anyway -- Im ?brigen bin ich der Meinung, das TCPA verhindert werden muss
From: Volker Neurath on 10 Oct 2006 14:17 JB wrote: > When was the last time that you solved a differential equation with > your PDA? I didn't do this anytime up to now because I don't own a PDA. It's just a kind of "mind game". Volker -- Im ?brigen bin ich der Meinung, das TCPA verhindert werden muss
From: Steen Schmidt on 10 Oct 2006 17:37 Volker Neurath wrote: > And price? Modern PDAs are not so expensive that one could say "i can > afford a modern high-end calc but not a PDA" I know many engineering students who whine about the 10 % or so difference in price between a TI89ti and a HP49G+/50G - how wouldn't they sound if they were forced to pay 3 times the price for a good PDA? > - the soft, even CAS-soft, is available as freeware and/or open source: I know that much free software exist. The problem with this is the same as with all other open source software; It's difficult to use, badly documented and poorly integrated. Very few engineering students are software geeks who build Linux kernels all day long (to make a daft exageration). Some are of course, but most of them expect a system to be usable from first ON, not from first year of searching the Internet for free software and newsgroup help on how to use it. I have tried for 20 minutes now to find out how I get Yacas to display floating point numbers in a format I like - the STD format of my HP calcs. So far I have failed. I have also yet to find an easy way to integrate my calculations in Yacas with the UnitConverter without a lot of copying and pasting. It simply does not cut it in terms of ease of use and integration (what I misslabeled as 'flexibility' in my former post). Free software will be for those who have much more time than the average bloke in many years to come. Or I might just be too rigid to grasp the advantages of what you've shown to me :-) Regards Steen
From: Frank Pittel on 10 Oct 2006 19:32
Veli-Pekka Nousiainen <DROP_vpn(a)dlc.fi> wrote: : Volker Neurath wrote: : X : > I think that today it is possible to replace a high-end : > CAS-grahics-calc by a PDA with software. : > So, what arguments are there for using a high-end-calc instead of a : > PDA? : Dedicated calculator keyboard : ??? The keyboard is nice. The problem I have is that I normally carry my Palm with me for a number of reasons. With the calc applications available for my Palm there's no reason for me to have to carry a large bulky calculator along with me. -- ------------------- Keep working millions on welfare depend on you |