Path: utzoo!attcan!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!iuvax!ux1.cso.uiuc.edu!midway!mimsy!tove.cs.umd.edu!folta From: folta@tove.cs.umd.edu (Wayne Folta) Newsgroups: comp.sys.handhelds Subject: HP keys (was TI-81 Review) Summary: Downhill since the 41 Message-ID: <26439@mimsy.umd.edu> Date: 8 Sep 90 21:45:35 GMT References: <33623@cup.portal.com> Sender: news@mimsy.umd.edu Reply-To: folta@tove.cs.umd.edu (Wayne Folta) Distribution: usa Organization: U of Maryland, Dept. of Computer Science, Coll. Pk., MD 20742 Lines: 28 >>7. Tactile feedback from the keys. They have better spring-back than >> some earlier TI calculators, but not as good as HP [where it has >> seriously degraded in all machines after the HP-41, especially the >> left-shift key on my 48!] > >Agreed!!! I think the 48SX is better than my old 28C. The 28C was so >bad that I had to watch what I did and could not just trust my >fingers. Thats really bad I think. I have used my 28S only a few times because the keys are so mushy. If I type at full speed, I lose digits, and if I type very slowly (as when looking back and forth at a book), I get repeats. The difference between my 41C and my 28S is like the difference between a Porsche and a Yugo. (My 12C also has a very good feel.) It's strange to being saying this about an HP calculator... My freshman year in college I switched from TI to HP, and I swear that I didn't make a single mistake on the calculator the entire year! The RPN and the great keyboard gave me extreme confidence. But the 28S is so bad, I end up doing everything twice to double-check it. I tried one 48SX and it felt 28S-like. I will try another, but if it is as bad as the 28, I will stick with computers and forget calculators for anything fancier than my 12C can do. -- Wayne Folta (folta@cs.umd.edu 128.8.128.8)