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From: ahdinw01@ULKYVX.BITNET
Newsgroups: comp.sys.handhelds
Subject: Equation Writer
Message-ID: <4ahdinw01@ULKYVX.bitnet>
Date: 30 May 90 19:54:00 GMT
Sender: daemon@ucbvax.BERKELEY.EDU
Organization: University of Louisville
Lines: 39

HP land:

        I will probably be flamed for this BUT:

Do any of you hp48sx owners actually use the equation writer?  I think the 48sx
is GREAT but the equation writer seems too slow and cumbersome for practical
use.  Am I missing something here?  I can key in equations directly faster and
I can simplify equations much faster.  Mistakes are painstaking to correct and
the rules can't be executed from within a program.

Case in point: (from example on page 412 of owners manual)

I can solve for n MUCH faster than by following the steps given.  Also this
problem seems to be highly suited for use with the rules.  As an example in
frustration, try to solve the example without looking at the optimal path
given.  If you go about it with slightly different approaches, the equation
becomes larger and things tend to grind to a halt.

So, what your opinion?  Is the equation writer still in it's infancy destined
for a future hp with much higher throughput, or just a saling feature.  Don't
get me wrong, I'll take any features you can put in, but with "rom being so
full and time so short", might other features be deemed of equal or greater
importance?

I for one would trade the equation writer application for a several times speed
improvement in cursor speed while doing a conventional edit.

                                        Enough Ramble,

                                        Aaron Dinwiddie
                                         ==> Agima <==

P.S.  Flames and comments welcome, if I am missing something major in the
      equation writer I DO want to know.

===============================================================================
Disclaimer:
             One man's opinion, but my Amiga agrees with me as well!
===============================================================================