The 50g is an excellent machine, but the learning can be very,
very steep. It's not hard to guess that many well-intentioned users
will not get as far with it as they would like, for a variety of reasons,
including the time necessary to become fluent with even relatively simple
calculations and lack of a printed version of the detailed User's
Guide. The 41cx, 42s and 15c were much better in this respect, though
somewhat less capable. It's sad that these legacy machines have
not been manufactured in many years and can be difficult to
acquire.
The 35s is currently on the market, is reasonably quick to learn and
more than adequate for casual and many advanced
applications. The 35s sells for a reasonable price and, if you
read all the way to the back of the Quick Start Guide, you will find
a notation from HP, where they mention how to order a free
printed copy of the essential and very detailed User's
Guide. This Guide is on an included CD, but some users prefer a
printed copy, which they can curl up with in front of a warm fire on a cold
winter day.
Mike
=====
In a message dated 12/19/2008 6:49:30 A.M. Mountain Standard Time,
alanthegringo@... writes:
The learning curve on the 50G is a little steep in my opinion,
my favorite calc of all time is the 15C, which I still have.
--- On Fri, 12/19/08, jskilgore <jeffkilgore@...> wrote:
From: jskilgore <jeffkilgore@...>
Subject: [50g] New member
To: 50g@yahoogroups.com
Date: Friday, December 19, 2008, 12:17 AM
I've been researching the HP50G and will probably buy one tomorrow. My
current calculator is an HP49G. It's okay, but not great. Actually
haven't used it much for awhile. I used an HP41CX for years, really
loved it.
I will be using it strictly as a hobbyist, some programming, math, and
just playing around with it. Actually, my math is very rusty, so I
want to brush up some, and I figure it will be a lot more enjoyable if
I have a nice HP calculator.
Jeff