Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!rutgers!mit-eddie!uw-beaver!Teknowledge.COM!unix!synoptics!bionet!agate!darkstar!ucscb.UCSC.EDU!dove From: dove@ucscb.UCSC.EDU (Ray Rischpater) Newsgroups: comp.sys.handhelds Subject: Re: calculators vs computers Message-ID: <7087@darkstar.ucsc.edu> Date: 22 Sep 90 07:37:28 GMT References: <1049@helens.Stanford.EDU> Sender: usenet@darkstar.ucsc.edu Organization: University of California, Santa Cruz; Open Access Computing Lines: 92 In article <1049@helens.Stanford.EDU> zimmer@calvin.stanford.edu (Andrew Zimmerman) writes: > >DISCLAIMER: Currently I am a little upset with HP, so some of my comments >might be biased. > >I purchased an HP48sx a couple of months ago to play around with. I was >quite impressed with all of the features of the calculator, and just had >to have a calculator that actually supported the kermit protocol. > >Anyway, my question is, "How do people actually use this type of calculator/ >computer?" So far, a lot ot the messages on the net have been for such >things as appointment books, phone numbers, games (tetris, brix, music) >and for hacking (sass, sad, and the processor notes). Granted I use my 48sx as a phone book, calendar, and as a portable geek pacifier (sorry, folks. No offense intended... :) ), I also find its plotting and programmability very nice for school and "what if?" questions. One of the things I loved about my 28S was the ability to pull it out talking with other people and actually numerically explore a problem. I can keep my 28s or 48sx in my backpack to do that, and the programming language is designed for it. I'd have to be a lot stronger to haul a Toshiba laptop around, and coding the sort of thing off-the-cuff that I do (fractal generation, testing a weird series for convergence, etc.) would take either a lot more time or a lot better library. > [ List of possible laptops & comments deleted.] > >Each of these would allow you to have games, databases, calculator >functions, programability, and the opportunity to play with machine >language. With the addition of a program like MathCad, you add >graphing and unit management to you laptop. Laptops also have the >advantage of more memory, and usually a disk device. Weight. I don't want to haul around a laptop. Cost. I could (barely) afford an HP48sx. I can't offord a laptop. Replacability/desirability of theft. A laptop grabs attention at a univerity, while at least my calculator looks like a normal calculator from across the lab. And I can put it in my pocket or bag surriptuously, if I want, and not call attention to the fact that I've got something worth big bucks here. And if it >does< get stolen, I'm closer to being able to cough up three or four hundred dollars as opposed to a thousand. User interface consistency. This one's shaky, at best. I >know< the HP interface pretty well. I can write a program without really being concious of it. I'd have to learn MathCad or it's clone, buckle down and learn other applications. > >A calculator on the other hand has certain advantages also. It is usually >easier to enter numbers on a calculator keyboard, and the smaller size >is usually an advantage. On the other hand, the calculator keyboard can >also be a disadvantage. I would much prefer a typewriter keyboard for >entering units or for entering formulas. The screens on calculators also >tend to be smaller then laptops. > All of this is true -- although I don't really have a problem with the SX screen size for anything except for programming large applications, and that's why I have a serial cable. (Ditto for the non-querty keyboard.) A lot of laptops have what seem to be to me cramped keyboards, too. >Don't get me wrong, I still like calculators for balancing my checkbook, >and for doing base conversions, but I don't need the power of a 41 or >48sx to do either of those functions. (I very rarely do polar to >rectangular conversions when balancing my check book, and I bought a >Casio to do base conversions because it takes less keystrokes.) As for >programming, when I prefer to use a language that I can understand rather >the RPL, so it is easier to do on a laptop.) During my collage years, we >didn't have cheap computers so calculators like the HP-41 was a God-sent, >but in todays market, wouldn't almost be better to have a laptop? >As for taking tests, if you allow an HP48sx, you almost have to allow the >use of a laptop. Both tend to have similar capabilities. > A laptop doesn't have the capabilities a SX does, >without< software. I don't think that an SX belongs on the average undergrad test. The solver, yes -- with NO equations. Hopefully, all of us at the college level can do basic arithemetic and algebra, so the solver just cuts down painful errors and time. But I think a solver card, integration, etc. is unnecessary in the classroom. As a "what-if?" tool in lab? Definitely. >So, what do people really use these things for? > >zimmer@calvin.stanford.edu Almost anything from balancing my checkbook to a small notebook to solving bizarre chemistry questions. I like how easy it makes the math behind real-world problems. And I like the convenience of the solver card for what-if questions I find in the world around me. I think that an SX, solver card, and printer would be an ideal gift for any realistic sci-fi writer. -- -- dove@ucscg.ucsc.edu Ray Rischpater -- dove@ucscb.ucsc.edu (408) 426-0716 --As usual, all of the opinions contained herein are my own...