Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!sdd.hp.com!hplabs!hpfcso!rrd From: rrd@hpfcso.HP.COM (Ray Depew) Newsgroups: comp.sys.handhelds Subject: Re: Version D to E upgrades... Message-ID: <7360061@hpfcso.HP.COM> Date: 1 Feb 91 19:54:16 GMT References: Organization: Hewlett-Packard, Fort Collins, CO, USA Lines: 123 From zimmer@calvin.stanford.edu (Andrew Zimmerman): >>In article <7360060@hpfcso.HP.COM> rrd@hpfcso.HP.COM (Ray Depew) writes: >>'Scuse me, but how many of you have REALLY gotten bitten by a 48SX bug??? >> >>Use some common sense before you jump on the bandwagon and bombard Corvallis >>with used calculators. Don't upgrade if you don't need to. Do yourself and >>>Corvallis a big favor. >>Regards >>Ray Depew >>Contented user of a Rev. A HP48SX >Well, just to start a huge flame war, I would like to disagree with you on >this one,... Apologies to all for yesterday's outburst. It was the wrong day to be reading or responding to *anything* on notes. (Ever have one of those days? :-S) I should just keep quiet now, since I *really* don't want to get into a flame war. But... (put your extinguishers away, there are no flames here) >2. Most of the bugs are in some of the more complicated functions, that I >will admit are not used that often. But hey, I didn't pay $300 for a >4 function calculator, I bought it so I can use those features. Yabut if you use those functions so seldom (that was my point!), the workarounds shouldn't be such a big deal. You have to open the book to read about using the functions anyway, why not just put an annotation in the book about the related bug? >3. Yes, I do know that huge programs have bugs. But, I have gotten free >upgrades from Borland and Microsoft for early versions that have bugs. I'm not saying that HP won't upgrade your machine for free. I'm suggesting that you skip the upgrade, if the bugs aren't biting you. I've gotten offers for bug fixes from MS and other software houses too, but if the bugs were in application areas that I knew I'd never use, I ignored them. Why, pray tell, should I fix a bug in the legal-brief creation routines if I'm never going to draw up a legal brief? (discussion on illegal briefs to /dev/null) That's what I'm suggesting here. If you don't *need* the bugs fixed, but you do need your calculator, is it really worth 10 days of your time (not my number, I got it from c.s.h) to get the upgrade? Of course not! >5. Even if you don't use the advanced features that have the bugs, get an >upgrade. How easy is it going to be sell a Rev A on the second hand >market? Answer #1: WHAAAT? You *SELL* your HP calculators when they get old? Sacrilege! (and smileys) Answer #2: Ask EduCalc, or all the "HP28S for sale" posters here. >6. Using the argument of the previous poster, upgrade now to make sure that >you WILL be able to run the software developed by other people who write >it for the latest REV. (Of course, if you are happy with a REV A, MS-DOS 1.1, >WordPerfect 3.0, whatever, continue to use it.) Now you're mixing arguments. We're talking about upgrading to fix known bugs. People upgrade from WP3.0 to WP5.1 for the added features, not necessarily for the bug fixes. MS-DOS isn't a good example, since 4.X has bug fixes, added features, and MORE BUGS. >I will be honest, I am not a happy owner of a REV B hp48sx. I disagree >with HP's method of ... (Here's where I cower behind the standard disclaimer: I don't speak for HP. I really am sorry to hear that you've had trouble with your Rev.B.) > ... Ever try to use >EQWriter from your computer? You can't use the Graphics environment from your computer, either. Not even from a Mac (yet). Try to figure out why. (Answer hinted at, below) > Actually, ever tried to do anything from >your computer? Even if you do get around the rem host problem of kermit, >after every operation, the entire stack is sent back to your computer at >9600 baud.) (Anyone ever heard of 19200 or 38400 baud?) I don't see how getting the whole stack sent back to your PC is a problem. I thought HP made it do that on purpose. If it bothers you that it's sent back after every operation, try combining several operations on one line before sending it to the 48. (Equivalent to using the [ENTRY] ([Rshift] [alpha] operation from the 48's keyboard.) >I have heard that HP has made a nice program for the IBMPC to help in the >above problem. Does it come with the programmers manual in hardcopy, >or just online? BTW, what is the price for said program? I can get it >for $30, but is that the price for everyone, or just for those who bought >the software version of the cable? (Cowering behind the disclaimer again) I've seen it. It's called PDL, short for Programmer's Development Laboratory. Basically, you connect your 48 to your PC, put it in Server mode, and do all your program development on the PC. It has a very thorough online "Help" facility, and I think that tossing in the hardcopy Ref Manual would be redundant. I'm sure EduCalc has it -- dunno about price, etc. If you're worried about whether you'll like it or want it, ask for a demo somewhere. (If I say "*I* like it", I'm sure I'll get shot down again. So I won't say that.) >BTW, unlike the previous poster, I am not an employee of HP. (If I am >wrong about the previous posters employment status, I apologize in advance.) No, you're right. However, my division has nothing to do with the calculator gang (they're geniuses; we aren't -- yet). We have to stand in line behind literally everyone else in the world to get a 48, and even then, the boss is likely to ask, "Why a 48? What did you do with the 15C I bought you years ago?" My 48 doesn't even belong to HP. I earned it myself. I still maintain that you shouldn't upgrade if you don't need to. If the only thing pushing you to upgrade is your desire to own "the latest and greatest", or something that you read on c.s.h but haven't encountered in your own travels through the 48, or the feeling that you should stick it to HP before they stick it to you, then *you don't need to upgrade*. That's the point that I was not-so-tactfully trying to make before, and I apologize for the tone of my earlier posting. I just hate to see the guys in Corvallis get the treatment they've gotten of late, for all the good they've done. Regards (still) Ray HP ICBD -- IC's by Bill and Dave rrd@hpfitst1.hp.com