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Re: HP-48 Calculators Discontinued
From: Glendon
Date: 2003 Jun 11, 10:59 +1000
From: Glendon
Date: 2003 Jun 11, 10:59 +1000
----- Original Message ----- From: "Jared Sherman"To: Sent: Wednesday, June 11, 2003 8:21 AM Subject: Re: HP-48 Calculators Discontinued > Dan- > discontinued recently:> I know it isn't the same, but there are various HP emulators that run on the Palms. Have you looked into this option? Should be a lot more computer for the dollar, even if it doesn't have all the physical buttons on it. Note that you need a modern, high powered Palm OS device to run the emulator....something with around about a 40megahertz processor I think, from memory. It will not run on my not so old Vx, which has a 20 megahertz processor. The 48GX has a 4 megahertz processor. Why the emulator needs such power to run, I don't know. It might be the superiority of RPN combined with the architecture of the 48GX for scientific calculation purposes, or it might be sloppy coding of the emulator. Rumour, myth, and misinformation about the future of HP calculators abounds....see, for example the various threads in comp.sys.hp48 . Given the management struggles at HP, dropping models from a website does not necessarily mean that their production has actually ceased, or will not be taken up again. There is rumour of a pending 58G....but with the disbanding of the international team that designed the 49G, 2 years ago, that one seems hard to swallow. HP don't seem inclined (or maybe even able) to clarify any of these things.Time will tell....meanwhile it appears there are still stocks of the 48GX and 49G available around the world. But, with the turmoil of the merger and subsequent change in direction of HP, it would seem that the future of RPN calculators is not good. Lee Martin