HP Prime Calculator versus HP48

[eMonBee]

Hi,

I have just bought the new HP Prime graphing calculator because my 48 of >20 years died (RIP). I have a found a large numbers of queries/ problems. To summarise I find that there are functions I used extensively on the 48 that have not been included in the Prime.

I have search the HP website and have not found a means to send my requirements/ complaint directly to HP, so I am using this forum.

This can be considered as a review by me, but in which I list a number of shortcomings that I believe need to be provided by HP as a software update.

I have downloaded the and printed the entire Prime user guide and been through it many times and have not been able to find these functions. If I missed them, it is not for want of looking.

I will post each separatly, but hope that HP will look at them collectively. The problems are around the following:

• Creating of Apps - actually this cannot be done despite claims to the contrary.
• Complex Number APP - there was a very good for complex numbers in the 48, but HP has elected to drop it. I will post my requirements for Complex Number calculations.
• Re-assigning of keys. This is problematic because we cannot RELABEL the keys, I will deal with this in the Creating of APPs.

[BartdB]

Good day,

---

@eMonBee wrote:

Hi,

I have just bought the new HP Prime graphing calculator because my 48CV of >20 years died (RIP). I have a found a large numbers of queries/ problems. To summarise I find that there are functions I used extensively on the 48CV that have not been included in the Prime.

I have search the HP website and have not found a means to send my requirements/ complaint directly to HP, so I am using this forum.

This can be considered as a review by me, but in which I list a number of shortcomings that I believe need to be provided by HP as a software update.

I have downloaded the and printed the entire Prime user guide and been through it many times and have not been able to find these functions. If I missed them, it is not for want of looking.

I will post each separatly, but hope that HP will look at them collectively. The problems are around the following:

• Creating of Apps - actually this cannot be done despite claims to the contrary.
• Complex Number APP - there was a very good fro complex numbers in the 48CV, but HP has elected to drop it. I will post my requirements for Complex Number calculations.
• Re-assigning of keys. This is problematic because we cannot RELABEL the keys, I will deal with this in the Creating of APPs.

---

I am not aware of a "48CV". The 48 series calculators have models 48S, 48SX, 48G, 48GX, 48G+ and 48gii.

There does exist a 41CV.

So called "Apps" are created in the Prime by programming in the "HP Prime Programming Language" ( although the Prime Programming is described as a "basic"-like language, but like many modern "basic" languages it seems more like it has its roots from Algol ).

This is not compatible with either HP-41 or HP-48 programming.

Complex numbers are built-in throughout, not as an APP. In the HOME settings, select Complex allowed (check the box next to the complex number format setting) and then entering e.g. the square root of a negative number will yield a complex result.

Re-assigning keys is done through programming. Please see "Re-assigning keys" sub-section in the Programming section of the manual.

For further help you can visit the following forum:

http://www.hpmuseum.org/forum/forum-5.html

There are users there that have experience in the HP-41, HP-48 and HP-Prime.

Best regards.

Addendum: 

Reading your other posts, I think you should rather have upgraded to the HP-50g which continues in the line of the HP48 series.

The HP Prime is a different breed of calculator that stems more from the HP-38G series algebraic calculators (with CAS added by using University of Grenoble's XCAS).  An RPN mode was added to keep old users happy, but is very limited - e.g. no stack operations are possible within programs.

[eMonBee]

My Mistake - definitely the HP48.

Thanks for your comments. I notice you take a lot of interest, and have experience, in the HP calculators, .

And in the HP Prime, the Complex number handling is very clumsy. I have done the settings for Complex numbers in HOME. That was one of the first things I looked for.

There appears to be no way to switch from rectangular to polar notation and back again, not even in the functions. (I have MathCad software which strangely also has this limitation.)

About re-assigning keys: problem is that I cannot re-label them as well. I really want access to the six touch labels at the bottom of the screen. (Why ever not? Seems simple enough to me).

Maybe the HP50g would have been better, but it was just not possible to see this on the HP websites at the time I was looking around.

There also seems to be no way to contact HP directly to tell them what I want - any ideas on that?