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I really like the HP-28C keyboard - Printable Version

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I really like the HP-28C keyboard - Eddie W. Shore - 06-26-2012

I am getting used to the editing capabilities of it. I may go after an HP 28S in the future.

Wired that the antidervatives are returned in the form of Taylor Polynomials - but it is the first calculator to ever have a CAS.


Re: I really like the HP-28C keyboard - Matt Agajanian - 06-26-2012

I'll second that vote. Very manageable to navigate around this dual-sided keyboard, very streamlined. The editing is a breeze too.


Re: I really like the HP-28C keyboard - Reth - 06-27-2012

Quote:
I am getting used to the editing capabilities of it. I may go after an HP 28S in the future.

I wish I could share your enthusiasm.

I bought HP 28S shortly after the release of the heavily crippled (and apparently already discontinued) "C" model.
All that took place 25+ years ago.
Your "future" must be something I've never heard of with the exception of in the SF movies.

Cheers,


Re: I really like the HP-28C keyboard - Eddie W. Shore - 06-27-2012

I collect calculators: new and old. Of the family I now have the 28C, 48SX, 48G, 48GX, 49g+, 50g


Re: I really like the HP-28C keyboard - David Tellet - 06-27-2012

The 28C was the first new HP I was able to afford back in '88. I bought it at a discount at the Harvard Coop when I was up there for a class near MIT. Spent the weekend programming some routines for submarine hydrostatics --- clear proof of a decent system since I am not, and never will be, a good programmer.

I still like the 15C for everyday quick stuff, but the 28C---which I still have and it still runs fine---is great for more complex stuff. And I agree that the keyboard is nice, as long as you have a desktop and aren't trying to hand-hold it.


Re: I really like the HP-28C keyboard - Michael Craig - 06-27-2012

Your 28C's older cousin, my 67, also hails from the Harvard Coop. I made the pilgrimage to Cambridge in my '71 Pinto, a wad of bills in my Levis and butterflies in my gut. Only two of my professors owned 67s; none of my classmates owned an HP.


Re: I really like the HP-28C keyboard - Jake Schwartz - 06-27-2012

Quote:
I bought HP 28S shortly after the release of the heavily crippled (and apparently already discontinued) "C" model.

Perhaps "not sufficiently RAM-equipped" describes it more accurately. After playing with it for a little while, everyone agreed that 2K of RAM would not be enough for this beast, especially with an unlimited-height stack and RPL. However, I believe that is all they could cram into it at the time and keep the costs reasonable. If I recall correctly, when Bill Wickes demonstrated it for the first time to the Washington D.C. PPC chapter at the University of Maryland in February of 1987, it turns out that his own machine had been wired special with the original 2K plus additional 16K RAM from an HP71B memory module soldered in. He admitted that 2K was not enough, but that it was pretty much a proof-of-concept for starting the RPL generation. In the British journal Datafile, the V7N2 (March, 1988) issue which introduced the HP28S had the words "Enough Memory At Last" in very large letters on the cover under the photo of the machine.

Jake

Edited: 27 June 2012, 11:48 a.m.


Re: I really like the HP-28C keyboard - Jeff Johnson - 06-27-2012

Eddie, I share your enthusiasm. I was fortunate enough to get a hold of a 28S a few years back and it's a fine machine with a nice display, logical layout, and lots of power. Obviously it's a lot easier to use when it's laying on a desk than held in the hand, but it's a great machine.


Re: I really like the HP-28C keyboard - marais - 06-27-2012

Gentlement, I bought the 28C the day it became available, and about a year later the 28S, because of the memory limits of the 28C which did not allow to exploit its potential. To this day, I am fond of both machines. The 28C is a landmark with the introduction of RPL and a great usability. Hail the 28C/S!


Re: I really like the HP-28C keyboard - Eddie W. Shore - 06-27-2012

Quote:

Gentlement, I bought the 28C the day it became available, and about a year later the 28S, because of the memory limits of the 28C which did not allow to exploit its potential. To this day, I am fond of both machines. The 28C is a landmark with the introduction of RPL and a great usability. Hail the 28C/S!


I am bummed that the 28C only had 1,614 net bytes to work with, on the other hand about 4 times more memory than the Casio fx-7000G family.

Despite that I am really happy to have one, and I am also jealous that I wasn't a college student when these machines first came out (10 years too early for me).


Re: I really like the HP-28C keyboard - marais - 06-28-2012

Well, I was a student at the time, and the 28C and later the 28S took me through my EE exam. Before the 28C, I used a Casio FX-602P which took me through high school. At first I tried to add the required extra skills - complex math and matrices - to the Casio, but at some stage all the memory was used for programs, leaving no more place for matrices. I think this illustrates the revolution the 28C was for me.


Re: I really like the HP-28C keyboard - Thomas Radtke - 06-28-2012

I don't have a 28C/S, but an 18C and a 19B. The keys appear to wear out over the time. The decimal dot of my heavily used 18C feels significantly different, much less travel.

I found it difficult to type on the left side and wish, HP had designed it as Casio always did - open to the right, like arabian books. In addition to not shadow the display while typing, you could have placed the open calculator to the right of a sheet of paper more easily.


Re: I really like the HP-28C keyboard - Harald - 06-28-2012

Yes, it is kind of a left handed calculator.


Re: I really like the HP-28C keyboard - Matt Agajanian - 06-28-2012

No wonder it's so comfortable to use! Thanks HP for making a calculator for the left-handers of the world!