Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!clyde.concordia.ca!uunet!microsoft!alonzo
From: alonzo@microsoft.UUCP (Alonzo GARIEPY)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.handhelds
Subject: HP 48SX (a first look)
Keywords: HP48
Message-ID: <52058@microsoft.UUCP>
Date: 6 Mar 90 20:47:00 GMT
Reply-To: alonzo@microsoft.UUCP (Alonzo GARIEPY)
Organization: Microsoft Corp., Redmond WA
Lines: 53

By now, most of you have already heard that Hewlett-Packard
has introduced a new calculator called the HP 48SX.  I hear
that several people are going to post reviews of the HP 48SX
functions and features, and comparisons with the HP 28S, so
I will aim for a little more depth and give my understanding
and impressions of more fundamental technical issues.

But, a picture is worth a thousand words, so here are some of each...
____________________________ 
| ________________________ |\ 
| | {HOME PROGS}   13:42 | | \       Note the display of the current directory.
| | -------------------- | | |        (There is a new UPDIR function.)  Time!
| | 4:  Graphic 131 x 64 | | |       Graphic objects make graphics much easier.
| | 3: e : 2.71828182846 | | |       You can label stack objects with names.
| | 2:              # 0h | | |       All HP 28 objects types are supported plus
| | 1:     3.14159265359 | | |        plenty more (including machine code!).
| | ### ## ### ## ## ### | | |       Directory objects in menus look like file
| |/____________________\| | |        folders.  Variables are simple rectangles.
|- __  __  __  __  __  __ -| |
| |__||__||__||__||__||__| | |       There are 49 keys on the keyboard.  Each
|- __  __  __  __  __  __ -| |        key may have as many as fifteen functions
| |__||__||__||__||__||__| | |        (including USER definitions!), but they
|  __  __  __  __  __  __  | |        are sensible and easy to use.
| |__||__||__||__||__||__| | |
|  __  __  __  __  __  __  | |       Six editors: command line, stack, matrix,
| |__||__||__||__||__||__| | |        equation, graphics, alarm.
|  ______  __  __  __  __  | |
| |______||__||__||__||__| | |       You can execute SWAP, DROP, and DUP without
|  __  ___  ___  ___  ___  | |        using shift keys, and they are available
| |__||___||___||___||___| | |        for programming without the use of menus.
|  __  ___  ___  ___  ___  | |
| |__||___||___||___||___| | |       The menus have been consolidated and
|  __  ___  ___  ___  ___  | |        expanded.  For a complete function list
| |__||___||___||___||___| | |        see my posting on internals.
|  __  ___  ___  ___  ___  | |
| |__||___||___||___||___| | |       OFF and CONT are now programmable.
|__________________________|/
 approximately actual size

This is a great machine.  It has twice the clock rate of an HP 28 and
seems about 50% faster for manual calculations.  Programs execute almost
twice as fast.  The reason for this difference is that so much more work
is being done to keep the display updated between keypresses.

The 48 is much more programmable than the 28.  Functions are easier to get to, 
and they're all on one keyboard.  Alphabetic keys and most of the special
characters are easily accessible too.  The prices I hear are anywhere from
$280 from EduCalc to $350 with no discount.

My next posting has a variety of interesting technical details.

Alonzo Gariepy
alonzo@microsoft