> The HP50g that came much later is better in every respect
Absolutely not. The big fail on everything after the 48SX was the keyboard.
I could sit in an exam and punch buttons without even looking at the calculator. I could feel the positive "click" from every single keypress, and I don't remember my 48SX ever dropping a keypress for any basic operation.
By contrast, the 49/50 series had mushy keyboards that bounced or failed to register presses. I still have 3 48SX calculators that I can use--I sold all my 49/50 series.
The excellent keyboard is bar none the big feature that I can't duplicate with any modern calculator.
I really wish some mechanical engineer would do a teardown on the old HP calulators and analyze why the keyboards were so damn good.
Absolutely not. The big fail on everything after the 48SX was the keyboard.
I could sit in an exam and punch buttons without even looking at the calculator. I could feel the positive "click" from every single keypress, and I don't remember my 48SX ever dropping a keypress for any basic operation.
By contrast, the 49/50 series had mushy keyboards that bounced or failed to register presses. I still have 3 48SX calculators that I can use--I sold all my 49/50 series.
The excellent keyboard is bar none the big feature that I can't duplicate with any modern calculator.
I really wish some mechanical engineer would do a teardown on the old HP calulators and analyze why the keyboards were so damn good.