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I'm considering purchasing a hp 50g in lieu of a ti 89 or ti-nspire CAS. One of the things I've read about the 50g is that it has a relatively steep learning curve.
Try a 50g emulator. There are emulators for Win/Mac/Lin for the 50g.
Windows: http://www.debug4x.com/
Mac/Linux: http://x49gp.svn.sourceforge.net/viewvc/x49gp/README.QUICKSTART
As for learning curve, I started with HP RPN/RPL calculators, the 50g was easy. I still struggle to use my kids 83, I just do not get it. Learning curves are relative.
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Another is that it does not have a good printed manual. Since it's relatively impractical to be constantly looking up functions of a calculator on a computer, I was wondering whether or not it was possible to load the documentation onto an sd card in a usable format and therefore access it from the calculator itself. It just seems so logical to me - since you have like a gigabyte of storage with the sd card, you could load the entire 800 page manual onto the calculator.
You can printout the AUR. That is a great manual. You can also store it on the SD card, but the limited screen resolution would make for difficult reading and navigation.
The 50g CAS system has online help/reference. For the non-CAS commands install this: http://www.hpcalc.org/details.php?id=5973. This is a library + reference (to be stored on SD). It's not a manual, but a lifesaver as a reference.
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Also, is the 50g limited to using 1 gigabyte of storage on a sd card?
No, 2GB cards work just fine, but appear as 1GB to the filer. Just ignore.
IMHO, get an emulator, give it a try before you buy.
P.S. C programming on the 50g is easy.
Edited: 6 Mar 2009, 5:54 p.m.
