This was my all-time favorite calculator and what got me into programming. I still have it, and I still use it at my desk despite much more performant calculators' availability.

@DanSanderson

3 ай бұрын

+1, all of those statements apply to me as well. It's on my desk. I had the two thick programming manuals in high school, and I still have text files about 48G programming I printed out at the computer lab in a binder.

My ultimate calculator would be the 48sx body with the 50g internals.

I had a 48G+ back in college, loved that thing. I already had some exposure to BASIC, C, Lisp, Forth and a few other programming languages when I got it, while I found it a bit strange the way User RPL handled conditionals, overall I think HP hit a nice compromise between ease of use and learning curve. I never managed to get a printed Advanced User's Guide, but the base manual was already adequate for me to learn enough programming on it to make computation heavy exams fun to tackle. I still have that calculator, sadly, it got a darkened screen and from the looks of it, it might not be as simple as replacing the polarizer, the problem could be in the adhesive between the LCD and the reflective background, which is not as easy to fix, but still doable. I still haven't got the courage to try to fix it, might try buying another one for cheap with a similar problem to fix it first and a check if it's I can do it rather than risk further damaging a model with sentimental value. 😅 Got a couple of second hand later models, a 49g+ and a 50g, real cheap many years later and they're still my go to calculators when doing anything a bit more complicated and I'm in a hurry, just because they're familiar enough. Even though I also enjoy using a 15C or a 41CV when I'm not in a big hurry. For more complex problems I'll either use pencil and paper to properly model it and find a nice algebraic solution whenever possible or at least have the blueprint to get the solution from a calculator or a computer, or if it's easy enough to model but will require some brute force, then I'll go directly for the computer.

The HP48GX was my first HP calculator. I bought it during my studies even though I couldn't afford it. A little later I expanded it with two 3rd party RAM cards. With the software Erable and ALG48 it was a great help to me. Now I have a whole collection of HPs, but the HP48GX is still my daily workhorse on the desk.

Another fantastic video, Antony! You touched on so many great points in this video that I can really relate to and remember. I think this and your HP-48SX videos are my favorites so far. I used my HP-48SX as my primary engineering calculator for over 27 years. I remember when the HP-48GX came out and considered upgrading to that model. But by that time I had been using my HP-48SX for a few years and had memorized the menus that I used and really liked the soft-key menu system. The HP-48GX changed menu locations and its order just enough to make me not want to upgrade. I also did not care for the computer-style interface dialog boxes. I have a HP-48G now and use it in my calculator rotation but the HP-48SX is still my favorite. Thanks again for the video!

@borlibaer

3 ай бұрын

Being able to 'fully' master the swanky hp 48SX has the "Joe Cool Factor" 💯 Actually my hp 48SX (Made in USA) got a tiny Woodstock sticker on the top, right to the hp logo plate. 😁

Still have my trusty HP48G, managed to avoid the failed key issues on the top row by treating it carefully, but to be on the safe side I inserted 22AWG black breadboard wires in the gaps down each side, stops the case squeezing. The battery compartment has the usual issue with the "springy" foam backing losing its springiness and the batteries not fitting firmly, I just insert a thin bit of foil between the battery and metal plate to give a more secure connection. I don't use it so much anymore simply because the free android emulator is so much more convenient and enables free upgrade to HP50G, with haptic feedback enabled (vibration) on keypresses it's surprising very easy to use. Thanks for this channel btw, been subscribed for a couple of years and have very much enjoyed your enthusiastic and informative presentations, lots of nostalgic memories for me as a calculator obsessive in my youth!

I use mine almost everyday and have had it since September 1993. That’s when I started my first quarter at MSOE. This little piece of tech has been a great companion.

I miss those days. It was amazing how much these machines could do: programming in assembly and system RPL straight from the calculator itself. I wrote the Nosy tool that is used by many to peek around in the internals.

My all time favorite calculator. My 48G+ sits on my desk and I haven't allowed it to have dead batteries :)

Splurged on a 48GX for my freshman year in college and it was reliable workhorse all the way through graduation. Many late nights it was just me and that calculator working through engineering homework. I sorely regret selling it a few years after graduation.

The HP 48GX was my introduction to RPN/RPL and Hewlett Packard calculators.

I should look at those memory cards. I bought a home built one that drained battery fast. Still have a 48G, 48GX and a bunch of manuals.

I started with a 48sx back in the day (1990). As a poor engineering student it was one of my largest expenditures. I remember when the GX was introduced and drooling over it especially since I couldn't afford it at the time. If it wasn't for these two calculators I would have had a much more troublesome time in school. I still use my GX to this day. Unfortunately any calculator that isn't RPN takes forever :).

Maybe you can also do the review of this 38G? When I began my college education electronics in the fall of 1996 we needed to have (the teacher preference) either 48G or at least his little brother 38G, mainly for the purposes of matrix calculations (lab, home and/or exams), which could not be done on a basic calculator. I chose then the much cheaper model 38G, which I still have with me. At some point I needed to repair it though. The known problem with bad contact / lack of pressure for the flex/rubber connection (it can be found on YT). I was glad I could repair it. The model 38G also does not use the Polish notation, which for me personally is much easier in use, as I have never (needed to) use Polish notation. It's full functionality can also be tested with the free App like Eric's implementation on android of the original Windows Emu48. I have installed ver.2.6 on my phone and it looks very real and very nice in full screen, as my current phone is not much smaller size as 38G. Beside 38G, with the same app, you can also chose 39, 40, 48, 49 or 50 models emulator. As I was planning to do/learn more math recently I have bought a new HP Prime G2, which i still need to start/learn to use...

@CalculatorCulture

3 ай бұрын

Yeah it’s an under appreciated one

Fantastic, thank you. Back in the 90´s I had a 48SX that lasts for around 10 years and recently I got a 48GX. I really think the colors at SX were way better but as whole GX is much better.

I still have the serial cable and both the standard manual and advanced user manual for the HP48G series stored away with other cool stuff under the stairs

I'm looking forward to the Meta kernel.

A real beast!

I need this in my life! Why can't HP see the light?

I wish HP still made those high quality RPN/RPL calculators. Alas their latest one, the HP-35S, was a disappointment for me (also because of the short battery life).

@CalculatorCulture

3 күн бұрын

Have you looked at Swiss Micros?

I had its immediate predecessor, the HP48SX, but the emulator I use as a daily driver now is of a 48G. It took me a little while to get used to the menu scheme, but I like that most of the pop-up menus have the option of using the other shift key to get the older style of menus (the 50g mostly abandoned that). Now I think of it as an all-around improvement over the 48SX and maybe HP's all-around best calculator, except that the shift key color coding on the case is worse (and potentially color-blind-hostile).

Awesome calc, i have one !

You can pry my HP28S from my cold dead hands. I still have it and still use it.

I got mine in 1996, and it is stilll my daily driver

I had one and boy do I miss it. Anything that came after it was junk!

The hp 48GX all you need as a math guru; where the hp 48SX is the prettiest one; the hp 49g+ (hp 50g) the last hp RPN calculator of late famous swanky HEWLETT PACKARD Technology Corporation. RIP

posiblemente la mayoria de los usuarios de las calculadoras hp a partir de los 90s, preferirian el software de la hp 50g + el tamaño de pantalla , en el cuerpo de una hp 48gx o una 48 sx. De cualquier forma, la hp 48g/x es la calculadora mas exitosa junto con la hp 12C en finanzas.

Retrotronik has been out of stock nearly a year. I'm not expecting them to produce more memory boards.

@threadripper979

13 күн бұрын

I have a couple of their cards and they work fine. It's too bad they stopped selling them and have gone silent, even though their website is still active while showing all cards out of stock.

The SX looks better. Sweet browness. I had a GX but it died when a beer spilled on it. I still have my 48SX from 1991 and 50G.

can you please tell me how to do a polynomial division on the hp48gx?

@3:32 49G

@CalculatorCulture

3 ай бұрын

Yes thanks for the correction.

What is the difference between the GX and G series?

@MattMcIrvin

3 ай бұрын

Expansion slots, mainly

@r380

3 ай бұрын

@@MattMcIrvin thanks

@SteveSim99

3 ай бұрын

The HP-48GX had 128K RAM and 2 expansion slots. The HP-48G had 32K RAM and no slots. The HP-48G+ had 128K RAM and no slots.

I hate HP for letting these nice calculators go... Never understand why. Nice video, thanks.

@borlibaer

3 ай бұрын

HP (lets say, starting with the Compaq "merger") has nothing to do with late super swanky hp HEWLETT PACKARD Technology Company and it's "The hp Way". HP is since that the first computer company enabling the satanic, diaboloc "New World Order" Agenda. If Mr. HEWLETT & Mr. PACKARD would know that, they would spin around in their graves.

@johanp162

3 ай бұрын

Unfortunately the market is gone. Now it is only the education market that drives sales and that was taken over a long time ago by another brand that shall not be named due to much more aggressive marketing ,something HP was never good at. The professional market for scientific calculators are so small that is is practically gone. However, As an engineer/researcher I still use the HP50g emulator on my phone (which is 20-50x faster than my real one) when I'm doing work with paper/pen. A dedicated keyboard makes a calculator so much quicker than to fire up Matlab/Maple for minor (and I'm using that term in a professional sense) numeric calculations for back-of-the-envelope kind of stuff. Together with RPN, which is much more natural than most people think, it is simply unbeatable as a calculator. It really makes me feel sorry for the upcoming generation of engineers that will not have this great help when doing homework or lab work. I couldn't really afford one back in the days but I got a HP28S in '86 (or '87) when I saw that it could do matrix inversion (and lived on nudles for a long time). It was an absolute life saver (and time saver) not having to do matrix inversion (and factorization) by hand which is so tedious and error prone.

Please contact me if you want to buy my HP48GX with mathlib card. Condition is great

I had a 48G+ back in college, loved that thing. I already had some exposure to BASIC, C, Lisp, Forth and a few other programming languages when I got it, while I found it a bit strange the way User RPL handled conditionals, overall I think HP hit a nice compromise between ease of use and learning curve. I never managed to get a printed Advanced User's Guide, but the base manual was already adequate for me to learn enough programming on it to make computation heavy exams fun to tackle. I still have that calculator, sadly, it got a darkened screen and from the looks of it, it might not be as simple as replacing the polarizer, the problem could be in the adhesive between the LCD and the reflective background, which is not as easy to fix, but still doable. I still haven't got the courage to try to fix it, might try buying another one for cheap with a similar problem to fix it first and a check if it's I can do it rather than risk further damaging a model with sentimental value. 😅 Got a couple of second hand later models, a 49g+ and a 50g, real cheap many years later and they're still my go to calculators when doing anything a bit more complicated and I'm in a hurry, just because they're familiar enough. Even though I also enjoy using a 15C or a 41CV when I'm not in a big hurry. For more complex problems I'll either use pencil and paper to properly model it and find a nice algebraic solution whenever possible or at least have the blueprint to get the solution from a calculator or a computer, or if it's easy enough to model but will require some brute force, then I'll go directly for the computer.