Hewlett Packard HP50g Grafik-Taschenrechner

HP50g is marketed by Hewlett-Packerd as a handheld calculator, which is in fact a fully programmable computer.
It reminds me of the old-time computer machines with black screen and white text; the small cursor line was waiting your input and commands to unleash the computer's power. The relationship with computers was more personal. One had to input and execute code-lines and the user could project its personality onto the machine. Anyways, now we have all these super LCD touch screens in smart phones, loaded with tons of ready-made application; our relation with the electronic device is depersonalized. Furthermore, one could ask itself what is the point of buying a handheld HP50g computer with an old fashioned LCD screen, when it is simpler to load a calculator/graphing plotting application directly into the iphone.

Well, the answer is: a big difference! The HP50g is a fully integrated machine for mid and advanced scientific, engineering and programming applications. It is there for you, to help you solve the problem at hand without compromise and distractions (sorry no facebook alerts here). It is lightweight, portable, it boots up fast and ready to be taken anywhere: to school, construction site, vacation, lab, etc. It comes pre-loaded with a few libraries containing hundreds of science and engineering equations. Further free libraries can be downloaded from internet, hpcalc.org, or one hast to write their own.

The built quality is great! The soft "clicky" precise feel of the buttons will convince you right from the start that you are dealing with something special. It comes with a HP personalized quality bag. It needs 4 AAA batteries or accumulators. The intensive use will drain out the batteries within 2 weeks. Don't be disappointed here, it is a real computer with a powerful processor, so it is normal that it takes up that much battery. Your mobile phone also needs charging within 2 weeks. I recommend using NiMH rechargeable batteries. It comes with USB connection cable. It has 2 connection ports, USB and RSR232 for interfacing with the HP Mobile Calculating Lab for data collection from Fourier sensors, see http://fourieredu.com/store/products/hp-streamsmart-410/. This makes it attractive for educational, or mobile measurement purposes as well. It comes with a quick instruction manual as well, which is not sufficient. Further manuals will be found on the CD included and internet tutorials. It takes the user a steep learning curve but for those persistent will discover that is a marvelous piece of engineering without competition in the calculator market. Your partner is the fan website hpcalc.org. On youtube you will also find super tutorials on how to use it, see the posts of rolinychupetin for programming and electrical engineering applications.

In conclusion it is a must have for the scientist, engineers, students, financiers and all those that need something more than a cheap throw away handheld calculators. For kids going to school it may be too much, but it depends, some might simply love it and care for it more than their smartphone. A handheld computer for less than 100 Euros is a real bargain.