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HP 50g Graphing Calculator

HP 50g Graphing Calculator

(361 customer reviews)

List Price:	$175.99
Our Price:	$86.11 & this item ships for FREE with Super Saver Shipping.
You Save:	$89.88 (51%)

SKU:

882780502291-F2229AA#ABA

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Description:

The new HP 50g Graphing Calculator provides the best in power, flexibility and connectivity for math, science and engineering professionals and college students. It now features a more capable SD card slot, 2.5 MB total memory, new RS232 and USB connectivity and a built-in intelligent editor that gives you more capability than ever before.

Features:

•

New display upgrade--the new HP 50g display features a 30% increase in usable space over the HP 49g+

•

New powerful SD card slot allows you to format your card right in the calculator and expand memory

•

Massive 2.5 MB total memory--512 KB RAM plus 2 MB flash ROM for performing future upgrades**

•

New larger equation library and 2300+ built-in functions--ideal for both professionals and students

•

The choice of efficient RPN, Textbook or Algebraic data entry

Product Details:

Product Length:	7.2 inches
Product Width:	1.0 inches
Product Height:	3.5 inches
Product Weight:	0.6 pounds
Package Length:	11.18 inches
Package Width:	8.43 inches
Package Height:	2.05 inches
Package Weight:	1.32 pounds
Average Customer Rating:	based on 361 reviews

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Customer Reviews:

Average Customer Review: 4.5

( 361 customer reviews )
Write an online review and share your thoughts with other customers.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

284 of 295 found the following review helpful:

Significant improvement but...Aug 30, 2006
By Dr. Stuart Gitlow
It's 10/5/06 and I'm editing this review right up front with the first paragraph, because this little calc has a problem that I hadn't noticed initially. The new HP keys, as I describe below, are great. They have a solid click and a good rollover ability - meaning that you can push the number 1, then push the number 2 before letting go of the 1 entirely, and you'll still get "12" on the screen. That's perfect. Here's the downside: Rapidly enter the number "1100." Click-click-click-click. And yet my screen says "10." Why? Because a rapid double-click of a numeric key results in the calculator noticing only the first click. If a typewriter worked that way, I'd be attending metings every day instead of meetings.

**UPDATE - 10/14/06** One of the commands available, not documented in the 50g material, but documented for several earlier HP calculators, is a KEYTIME command. Quite simply, replacing the default keytime with "500" eliminates missed keystrokes. This corrects the problem I described above.

And now back to my original review:

First, the keypad issue has been addressed with this model, and each key has a feel that is similar to the HP41 - just about perfect for data entry without needing to look at the keypad. Now all that's necessary is for HP to return to the complex keys that allowed for print both on the top surface and the beveled edge; that would allow for some improvement in the user interface. But overall this is a major step forward from the HP49 line.

Next, the display is bright and legible with good contrast. These multiline displays still aren't quite as good as the single line displays from years past in terms of visibility at odd angles but we're coming close. There's plenty of information here with a seven line stack in the default mode.

The manual is where the calculator loses a star. While the new manual is an improvement over the HP48/49 series (though it has less information, it is more understandable), it is nowhere near as complete and useful as the HP41 series manuals were. HP needs to bring back a well-written manual series with use of color, high-end paper, and quality typesetting. For example, the calculator comes with a user's manual; on page 1-20, it says that additional references can be found in Chapter 1 and Appendix C of the calculator's user's guide. What user's guide? They don't mean the manual since that doesn't have any Appendices (or an index, for that matter). Where would I get the user's guide? Then I discover that it is included, and is on the CD-ROM in pdf form. Apparently it is a larger version of the user's manual, with additional information, including an index. Much of the information in the Guide is duplicated from the Manual - but we still don't have complete programming and functional command discussion. Don't get me wrong - everything you need for standard operations is here; but if you really want to get into the capabilities of the calculator (and that's why you're spending $129, right?), we want the full manual. Oh, and bring back the manuals that are spiral-bound so we don't have to weigh the book down with something each time we turn to the calculator to try something.

Here too is a connectivity kit of software, none of which runs on my Mac. I tried plugging it in to the Mac using the standard USB connecting cable (included) but nothing happened. Since I didn't buy the HP with any need to hook it up to my Mac, it's not a problem, but what good is connectivity if noone bothered with the Mac software?

There are a few little nits that still need to be picked. For example, the stack is right justified but data entry is left justified. It is much easier to quickly review an entered number and compare it to numbers on the stack if they are similarly justified. The enter key needs to return to double-width just above the numeric portion of the keypad, and HP should finally pick a standard numeric/operator layout and stick with it. The HP41 had the major operators on the left. The HP48 put them on the right and changed the sequence. The HP50 keeps them on the right but bumped them all up by one key. For those of us who essentially touch-type on calculators, this relearning is a pain.

I must admit that if HP simply rebuilt the HP41C series with more memory, they'd have a clear winner. And given the prices that those models sell for on eBay in new condition, HP could clearly do well with such a product.

The connectivity issue would have cost another star, but the overall build quality, computing capabilities, programming capabilities, and incorporation of RPN on the 50g make it clearly worth 4 stars.

143 of 148 found the following review helpful:

Why the HP-50gOct 29, 2011
By mrodriguez
Why I Like the 50g

* The Controversy

If you google "TI v. HP" you can find dozens of discussions by partisans of both brands of
calculators arguing for the relative merits of the their favorite model. These days, the two models
under discussion are the TI-89 from Texas Instruments and the HP-50g from Hewlett-Packard. Almost
inevitably, the discussion goes straight into whether the Algebraic or RPN entry method is better.

I can summarize the argument pretty quickly: "RPN saves one or two keystrokes." "Maybe, but
Algebraic is easier to learn---it's just like the way you would write it." From there, someone might
mention the number of built in functions for each, 850 versus 820, or the speed of solving an
integral, 1.2 versus 1.1 seconds.

I find these arguments almost completely irrelevant to the things that draw me to a calculator, and
I tire at their repetition. I will put my cards on the table right now. I far prefer the HP50g for
reasons I will discuss in a second. I own a TI-89 and the really cooler TI-92 plus with the full
alphabetic keyboard, and they are both fantastic calculators. But the HP-50g is "fun" in a way
that's hard to explain in a post. It is *not* RPN, or at least not RPN in isolation from the whole
ecosystem of the HP-50g, that makes it fun.

* The Stack

I don't know why but the HP's stack hardly ever figures into these discussions, yet to me, it is the
indispensable facility of the HP-50g that gives it its elegance. You probably have some idea of what
a stack is, but if you don't the concept is easy, but powerful. The stack is a pile of numbers that
sit on the calculator that can be removed only from the "top" of the stack, which in the HP is
actually displayed at the bottom. Here, for example, is what the stack might look at somewhere in
the middle of a calculation:

7:
6:
5:
4:
3: 5
2: 3.5
1: 9

The number 9 is on the "top" of the stack, position "1", labeled at the left. Further up the stack
are 3.5 and 5, while the rest of the stack is empty. If I enter another number, say, 6.7, it gets
"pushed" onto the top of the stack and all the other numbers get bumped up into the next higher
position. Like this:

7:
6:
5:
4: 5
3: 3.5
2: 9
1: 6.7

The stack serves as a kind of universal input-output facility for the calculator. All of the
functions, and I mean *all* the functions, take arguments from the stack and---here's the important
part---they push their results back onto the stack, starting at position 1, the "top."

The '-' key, for example performs subtraction, a function that takes two arguments. Where does it
get its arguments from? The top two numbers on the stack, of course. And it applies the
subtraction to them in the same order that you see them, in this case it will compute '9 - 6.7'.
Where will it put the result, 2.3? On the top of the stack, of course. After pushing the '-' key,
the stack becomes:

7:
6:
5:
4:
3: 5
2: 3.5
1: 2.3

This regular, predictable behavior gives the HP50g an interactive feel that allows you to "play"
with the numbers more that CALCULATE. You're not Spock, after all, you probably want to fiddle with
a problem a bit. You can stop, contemplate, perform a side calculation, and when you're done, the
stack will return to where it was when you left off the main problem. Say you have 45 on the stack,
and are thinking of taking its sine. As you ponder the problem, you realize that you really want
that 45, which you've been regarding as degrees, converted to radians before you take its sine.
These sorts of mid-course corrections are just what the stack is made for. You remember that to get
this done, you have to divide by 180, then multiply by pi. Simple, just enter 180 / pi *, and you've
got your radians. Now you can get back to the problem of taking the sine (just press the [SIN] key,
and there it is on the stack for you to think about and operate on further.

The stack on the HP-50g (and the 49g and the 48g and the 28s, etc) has an unlimited depth, so you
can push numbers onto it to whatever depth the problem at hand requires up to the limit of available
memory, and I for one, have never found the end of memory on the 50g. This contrasts with earlier
HP's that had a stack that was limited to 4 numbers, usually with only two of them visible. On the
50g, up to seven elements are visible, and you can look at the rest by hitting the cursor key to go
up as far as your curiosity takes you. The TI calculators don't have a stack. They have a history,
which is nice, it allows you to go up and re-enter an expression, but it lacks that spontaneous
push-pop play of the stack.

* Now RPN

Don't get me wrong, RPN---Reverse Polish Notation---is a great way to think about numbers and
operating on them. But all by itself, it's just a bit more efficient in keystroke count (who cares,
already!) and strikes many people (as it did me) as a kind of backwards way of looking at a
problem. But, when combined with the stack, you really get to understand the power and
expressiveness of the RPN way of operating on numbers.

To get into the spirit of RPN, it helps to first understand PN, Polish Notation. Consider the
following nested expression:

SIN(3 * 8 - COS(4 / 7)) - 17

This is in normal, algebraic form, pretty much just like you would enter it into a TI calculator.
But the expression can be rewritten so that every operation is regarded as a function that is placed
in front of its operators in parentheses, just like we do already with functions like sin(x), where
the function name goes in front of its parenthesized argument. But in Polish Notation, even things
like '+' and '-' are regarded as functions, so that '3+2' would be written '+(3, 2)'. Now, if we
re-write the above expression this way, we get this:

-(SIN( -( *(3, 8), COS( /(4, 7)))), 17)

That's Polish Notation, or prefix notation. Each function is written at the front of the
parentheses that surround its arguments. The idea of Reverse Polish Notation is that the function
could go *after* the parentheses that surround its arguments just as well. So, '3+2' could be
written '(3,2)+'. Now, our complicated expression looks like this:

((((3, 8)*, ((4, 7)/)COS)-)SIN, 17)-

Now here, finally, is the punch line. Using this Reverse Polish, or postfix, notation, we can erase
all the commas and all the parentheses:

3 8 * 4 7 / COS - SIN 17 -

As long as we (and the calculator) know how many arguments each function takes, this expression is
completely unambiguous. With algebraic notation, we needed parentheses to specify the order of
operations. As it turns out, *any* expression can be written in RPN without parentheses to specify
the order of operations and without any ambiguity. Furthermore, we can enter the expression strictly
left-to-right.

But the real pay-off is that this notation is perfectly suited to working with the stack. See, we
push 3 and 8 onto the stack then press '*', which pops 3 and 8 from the stack and pushes 24 onto the
stack. Then we push 4 and 7 onto the stack, hit the divide key, and the 4 and 7 get popped from the
stack while 0.571428571429 gets pushed onto the stack. Hit COS, and 0.999950266956 goes onto the
stack (replacing the 0.57...), and our 24 gets pushed up. Then, '-' gives 23.000049733, SIN gives
0.390731927492, we push 17, then '-' and -16.6092680725 is sitting on the stack ready for any
further calculation.

Yes, yes, the RPN notation is only 11 keystrokes, while the algebraic is 15, saving a whopping 4
keystrokes, all parentheses and commas, but that's not the beauty of RPN. RPN shines because it
works with the stack, and the stack gives you a visible, interactive, and universal mechanism for
reading inputs and writing outputs. Only the HP calculators sport this combination of a stack and
RPN.

* Elegant Programming

Having a stack and a notation that takes advantage of it were enough to sell me on the HP-50g all by
themselves. But, since both the HP-50g and the TI-89 are *programmable* calculators, it is really
important to know what kind of programming environment each provides. Here is where the HP really
rockets ahead. I have owned both calculators for many years, and I've spent many hours programming
the HP, but almost none with the TI's. Why? Well, the HP provides a language and facilities that
make programming the thing a pleasure. It's language is called "User RPL," and the RPL stands for
"Reverse Polish Lisp," but it is really more reminiscent of FORTH than Lisp.

An RPL program, in its simplest form, consists of a series of commands enclosed in guillemots, those
funny foreign quote characters that look like this '<< >>'. With a single keystroke, I get
these delimiters placed in the command-line with the cursor conveniently placed between them, ready
to enter the program. The best thing about the HP-50g's programming language is that every program
by default works with the stack exactly as you do when doing regular arithmetic. Let's say for
example, that you want to work out the hypotenuse of a right triangle given the lengths of the two
short sides using the Pythagorean Theorem. If 'a' and 'b' are the lengths of the two given sides,
the hypotenuse has a length equal to 'SQRT(a^2 + b^2)'. What's nice about programming the HP is that
I write my program assuming that the two input numbers, a and b, are sitting on the stack. Then, I
just enter the program like this:

<< [x^2] [SWAP] [x^2] + [SQRT] >>

The [brackets] denotes a single keystroke on the calculator, thus [x^2] is the squaring key, [SQRT],
the square root key. [SWAP] swaps the order of the two numbers on the stack. Having entered this
little program, I hit [ENTER] and it goes onto the stack, just like numbers do. Then I can enter a
name on the stack, say 'HYP', and hit the [STO] key, and my little program now has the name HYP. If
I put 3 4 on the stack and hit HYP, I get 5 on the stack, just as Pythagoras said I would.

There's a whole lot more to programming than this, but this little thing exemplifies the how easy it
is to do "quick and dirty" programs and put them to work right away. The input-output facility of
the stack keeps me from having to worry about where the arguments come from and where they go to.
No blabby prompts to worry about to get the two arguments. And because it uses the stack, this
little program becomes an extension to the built-in facilities of the calculator that I can use in
the middle of a longer calculation. In fact, it can become a small part of a much larger program.

User RPL also has if-then constructions, while- and for-loops, error traps, dialog boxes, and all
the other paraphernalia you expect from a decent programming language. But for me, the ability to
quickly crank out little stack-based programs is where the HP-50g really shines.

The TI-89 also provides an editor and an environment for writing programs, but the language is more
like BASIC. It requires keywords, like Function and Program, declaration of local variables, and so
forth. The language feels ponderous and more "computer" like than the nimbleness of the HP.

Oh, and I almost forgot. The HP has a debugger that allows you to single-step through your programs
when they don't do what you think they should. You can actually watch the stack do its thing during
the execution of a program. This is really handy. And oddly fun.

* Single-key operation

I skirted over an issue, and a really important one, in that last section. I said I could put 3 4
on the stack and "hit" HYP to get a 5. But there is no HYP key on the HP-50g. Or is there? Well,
there is. There is a [VAR] key that causes a menu of "soft keys" to appear on the bottom of the
screen below the stack with the names of all the variables I've created with the [STO] key. If I
have stored a program in the variable, I can run the program by hitting the key underneath the HYP
soft key label. If I've stored a number in a variable, I can put that number on the stack by
pushing its soft key.

This means I can run the program with a single keystroke. You can see up to six variables in the
soft key menus and page through the rest, six at a time, by hitting the [NXT] key. So I have single
keystroke access to every variable. There is never a need to use the [RCL] command. No need to
retype HYP every time I want to use it. By contrast, on the TI, I can write a program called HYP,
but when I want to invoke it, I have to type H-Y-P-(-3-,-4-). That's eight keystrokes to three (3 4
HYP) on the HP. As little as I think of the keystroke efficiency argument in discussing RPN versus
algebraic, this *is* a BIG DEAL. What if the name were 'HYPOTENUSE'? Still one key on the HP; you
can count 'em for yourself on the TI.

In addition, the HP lets you assign programs to *any* key on the keyboard using any combination of
unshifted, left-shifted, right-shifted, and more. This makes any program accessible whether the
soft-key menus are showing or not.

* Directory Structure

Here's another well-thought-out feature of the HP-50g: it's clever implementation of directories.
The calculator's memory is organized into a tree-structured set of directories, with a directory
called HOME at the top. You can create directories under HOME, and directories under those, and so
on as deep as you like. These directories are like the directories on a computer, but the "files"
are variables. This provides a nice, easy way to organize your work. When you start out on a long
problem, the first thing you should do is create a directory for your work. This keeps all your
variables from conflicting with variables of the same name you might have used for other problems.

Furthermore, when you are working in a directory, all the variables in that directory are available
for use as well as all the variables in every directory between your current directory and HOME at
the root of the tree. So the variables in the HOME directory are global, while each subdirectory
under it creates a kind of nested name-space below it. This setup is easy to understand and allows
you to create whole branches of memory that share common programs for a given problem area.

But that's not all. In each directory you can create a variable called 'CST' that allows you to
create a customized "soft key" menu for just that directory. This is in addition to the 'VAR' menu
you get in every directory for free.

* The SD Card

Finally, the HP-50g supports the insertion of an SD card. My calculator has a 1GB card, which I
will never fill. It also has a USB cable, like the TI, for transferring files to and from your
computer, but I find having an SD card reader attached to my computer makes transfers really easy.
It won't run programs directly from the SD, but it makes for an excellent backup for your whole
directory structure, and from there you can backup to your computer.

71 of 75 found the following review helpful:

Three words: keyboard, keyboard, keyboard!Aug 18, 2006
By KG
At first I was somewhat disappointed with the HP50G, since it essentially has the same form factor and functionality as the HP49G+ (which I also own). Just changing the color doesn't justify a new model designation, IMHO. Wait a tick... the keyboard seems a bit better... played with it for awhile... switched back to the HP49G+... ack! I never noticed how horrendous the keyboard was on the HP49G+. The keyboard on the HP50G is velvet in comparison. If you have been frustrated by the clunky, clicky keyboard on the HP49G+, then the HP50G is the answer. Otherwise, stick with the HP49G+, since it is essentially the same calculator.

116 of 129 found the following review helpful:

The most powerful calculator available.Jul 28, 2006
By James T. Sherman
I just received mine in the mail today. I do not think that it is officially even released in the US; at least, it is not on HP's English language website yet.

This is the first HP calculator I have ever owned and my impressions so far have generally been very positive. It seems just like the 49g+, but with a fully plastic case and keyboard, a serial port, and a four cell battery compartment.

Compared to the TI-89, the HP-50 seems more powerful. The CAS seems a little stronger, it has a lot more built-in mathematical, scientific, and engineering applications, and the hardware is far superior. The calculator runs on a ARM processor similar to the speeds on low-end pocket PCs, unlike the TI-89's slow custom processor, but the CAS runs on an emulated processor, so it is not as fast as it could be. The HP also has an infrared port and a SD expansion card, so it has no realistic memory limits.

Its liabilities are that the screen seems a little smaller than the TI-89's, the calculator is not nearly as user-friendly as the TI-89's, the calculator only comes with a basic manual of about 100-200 pages while the full 900 page manual is only available on CD, and there does not seem to be as much third party support as for the TI-89.

But if you want the most powerful portable mathematical system available in a handheld calculator, this is definitely a must-buy.

35 of 36 found the following review helpful:

Maximum power available in a hand-held computerNov 18, 2007
By L. G. CHARLOT
The HP-50G is Hewlett Packard's latest offering in the line of top-end calculators stretching back through the HP-49 and HP-48, all the way to the "dawn-era" of scientific calculators in the 1970's, when the HP-65 and 67/97 defined "high-end" calculators. This device is so powerful, and has so many potential capabilities, that in many ways it is much more than a "calculator"; better to call it a handheld "computer", one dedicated to mathematics, rather than general purpose use like a PDA. The HP-50, at only $115, is a lot more affordable than most PDA's too.
In fact, the HP-50g is so powerful that most owners will never tap it's full capabilities. Programing it in SystemRPL or Assembly language opens up an instruction set of some 3000 commands! Even if you don't write software for it, the HP-50g has enormous capabilities to solve complex algebraic and calculus problems right in the built in Equation Solvers and Computer Algebra Systems (the CAS).

For users of more traditional calculators, the HP-50g may seem intimidating , if not overwhelming. One problem that I had right off the bat is that much of the keyboard is dedicated to programming and equation solving, rather than simple math functions. Unleashing the potential of this beast requires programming, whether you do it yourself or buy commercial software. The HP-50g can of course be used to do simple math, but that would be like using a 12 pound sledgehammer to set finishing nails.

Noteable features:
-Programs and user data can be stored on SD flash cards, up to 2 gigabytes. Accessing the calculator's various memory areas is not unfamiliar to anyone who has ever used a PC computer: anything stored in the calculator is an "object" with a name, whether it be a data file, executable program, or program library. Objects can be separated and stored in discrete subdirectories. There are three memory "ports": Port 1 is located in RAM (this is volatile memory that requires maintenance of the CR-2032 memory battery), Port 2 is located in the HP-50g's built-in non-volatile flash memory, and Port 3 is your SD card if one is installed. Programs and program libraries can be executed from any of the three ports; with a 2 gig SD card, this means that the capacity of the HP-50 to store programs and data files is virtually unlimited.
-The RPN Stack shows 7 levels visible, compared to only 2 for lesser calculators like the HP-33s and 35s.
-Graphing capabilities. Not sure whether I will ever actually need this myself, but it's there.
-Connectivity: Comes with a USB cable and software to connect the calculator to your PC for uploading/downloading. Also has a serial port to allow the HP-50 to connect to other devices that use RS-232 comm protocol. For example, with the appropriate cable and software, the HP-50g can be used as a Survey data collector/controller with many brands of Total Stations, digital Theodolites, and digital levels.

CONCLUSION- This is the "ultimate" calculator, and probably "too much" calculator for most people who are not nuclear physicists or aerospace engineers. The learning curve is very steep, and even the "simplest" of the three available programming languages (UserRPL) is not "easy" to learn. For general use by engineering or surveying students, or anyone else who just needs a good general purpose algebra and trig machine with good programmability, the HP-33s and 35s are much easier to learn and make use of right out of the box. The HP-50g is not allowed in the National (NCEES) Engineer or Land Surveyor exams (it is allowed in some of the State-Specific exams). The HP-33s and 35s are allowed in NCEES exams, as of November 2007. Be sure to check the NCEES website for changes in their calculator policy before you walk into one of their exams, as the policy does change occasionally (the HP-35s was just added to the "Approved" list in Nov. 2007)

UPDATE: September 2010. This calculator really goes through batteries, especially if you run processor or graphics intensive programs a lot. While I was developing a State Plane Coordinates conversion program for it, my HP-50 was eating a set of batteries about every two weeks. Recommend you run it off of a USB power source when possible to save the batteries.

See all 361 customer reviews on Amazon.com

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HP 50g Graphing Calculator

HP 50g Graphing Calculator

882780502291-F2229AA#ABA

New display upgrade--the new HP 50g display features a 30% increase in usable space over the HP 49g+

New powerful SD card slot allows you to format your card right in the calculator and expand memory

Massive 2.5 MB total memory--512 KB RAM plus 2 MB flash ROM for performing future upgrades**

New larger equation library and 2300+ built-in functions--ideal for both professionals and students

The choice of efficient RPN, Textbook or Algebraic data entry