HP40GS

[David]

I have played with the hp50g emulator and wanted to get the real thing, but my school wont allow it due to irda (I'm in Europe).
So I think the 40gs is my best option (or perhaps an original 49G if I could find one, but they may expensive 2nd hand). Either that or TI89 Titanium, or lesser ti (83/4 maybe).
But I have emulator for ti and I dont like it compared to hp.
40gs lacks some nice things like symbolic diff eqns, but I can get by without. No RPN is a -ve too.
I hear so many good things from professionals about hp calcs (esp here and on comp.sys.hp48 - the users are really knowledgeable and love their calcs. Most ti forums are about getting games to run and full of wanabee 3133t types - ugh!).
Does anyone here have a 40gs? Would you rather have a 40gs or a ti89?
(I will still get a 50g sometime, for my own interest).

[The wanderer]

Basically you are putting an algebraic HP against a TI.
So, lets see. An algebraic-only HP is an abomination unto the Lord. The 40GS is a direct challenge to TI high-school dominance (though as you're in Europe this is irrelevant).
With the TI89 you get symbolic diff eqn solns. Bags of support on TI forums. Plenty of free apps to help you.
The 40GS is so new that not much is out there for it. I mean it can't even do unit conversion! Weak...very weak.
As for getting a 50g sometime - well don't bother.
The TInspire will kill off HP once and for all with its superior graphics and programming capabilities. HP will be the darlings of engineers and financial calc fanboys. The serious math/science people will be using TI.
So start now. Buy a TI89 Titanium and leave HP in behind (besides, HP is a dirty company - just google for 'hewlett packard controversy' and you'll see what I mean. TI is *clean*, and they invented the pocket calculator).
I hope to see you on http://www.ticalc.org/ )

[HP and TI Owner]

Get a TI 89 Titanium, then get a HP50G. Then you'll have the best of both worlds. When compared to the HP40GS, the TI 89 Titanium is a class above and has many more features if you download the available free apps. You'll get a spreadsheet, Cabri Geometry, calendar, EE Pro and ME Pro, which has the steam table encountered in Thermodynamics and other reference information, more Statistics analysis, distribution and hypotheses test functions, and a finance solver. All of them fit in the memory of the TI 89 Titanium. If you need to compare first hand, you could try out the old HP40G using EMU48, and the TI89 Titanium adding all the free apps using TIEmu. Hope you'll be satisfied with your purchase.

[Mr emulator]

Just take a look at the ti.
So many basic functions (trig, etc) are on shifted keys. Whats up with that? Its diabolical. Compare to the logical layout of a 50g.
Don't let the forums put you off the TI. I'm sure there are idiots with HP's too.
You really need to assess your abilities. Are you confident with, eg, solving 2nd order linear ODE's? Or do you need a calc to check? And how much confidence do you put in your calc? (HP's are *really* messy when it comes to arbitrary constants in ODE solutions).
As you have the emulators, I'd say play with them for a while and get a feel for the calculators. (Isn't it great that you can even do that? You aren't exactly buying blind).
And don't discount the HP33s. OK, so it doesn't have CAS/graphing, but its a damn fun calculator.
Finally. Double check any model against your exam regulations, and make sure you know the methods (calculators just spit answers at you - you wont get too many marks for just giving answes).

[Karl Schneider]

All in all, I'd consider the TI-89 a much better-engineered device than its "contemporary" HP-49G, based on owning the HP-49G and having experimented with the TI-89. I have not tried the new derivatives of the HP-49G, nor do I intend to. They are still based on the same flawed paradigm.

The TI-89, though, is also not without its annoyances. A previous poster mentioned the shifted trigonometrics. The keys are cheaply-made and mushy, with little travel -- certainly not up to "old HP" standards, including the HP-49G.

What bothers me about the TI-89 is that tiny input buffer on the lower part of the screen. Granted, it's very high resolution, but many people over 40 would need reading glasses to see it. I suppose that wasn't the target market, anyway...

I also tried a function-catalog listing, and the first screen of functions it showed me was what I believe to be a bunch of arcane plotting commands. There's just so much "stuff" in it, one sometimes has to browse or dig to find what is really wanted -- kind of like an abominable US big-city Sunday newspaper.

Even though the TI-89 is still readly available, I didn't like it or the TI-86 well enough to pay the retail price. Instead, I got a used TI-82 for US$25 to see how TI "does things". And, those new stylized versions (e.g., TI-89 Platinum) are even less appealing to me.

-- KS

[Anon]

There's a combined 39gs, 40gs, 50gs emulator here
http://www.educalc.net/2140088.page
You can get the manuals from HP's site.
I'd steer clear of the ti. Not that they are bad, but they have some niggles (like having to dig deep in menus to find functions and the screen is a bit small, unless you get a V200 - but you wont be allowed that in an exam in Europe).
I think, for the money, the 40gs is a great little machine.
Your only other option would be a used 49G (NOT G+, which has irda).
The 40gs has a *very* good manual - even better than the 50g IMO.
Stick with HP. They are what most pros seem to use for engineering, surveying, etc.
Also, depending on your age/level of course, the 50g may be a bit advanced for you at the moment.
The 40GS will serve you well into your University life.

[Anon]

The 40GS *does* do symbolic differential equations.
Download the manuals and take a closer look at the CAS (which is *really* powerful).
It can also integrate (1-2*x^2)*Exp(-x^2)
Can the TI? No. (though that proves nothing)