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HP 35s Scientific Calculator | List Price: $59.99
Discount Price: $49.63
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Brand: Hewlett-Packard
Binding: Electronics
Features: - Robust and economical scientific calculator
- 100+ built-in functions; 30 KB memory with 800+ registers
- Supports RPN and algebraic data entry
- 2-line, 14-character display
- 1-year limited manufacturer's warranty
Handy Tool [Posted on 2008-12-03]
I am about to finish a degree in Geomatics, so I purchased the HP35s to use on the NCEES Licensure Exam. I have a lot of the more useful programs that a surveyor would need in print, and have begun entering them into the calculator. It's a little tedious, as I haven't completly gotten accustomed to the buttons yet, but so far I'm pleased with the purchase. Once all of the programs are entered this should be a valuable asset to me in my test preparations.
Brings you back to the days of the HP41 [Posted on 2008-12-16]
THis is a great calculator. It will remind you alot of the HP 41. The difference is, instead of having "packs" you buy seperatelly and plug in the back you have to actually program the calculator. This is a positive and a negative. Positive by having the freedom to program what you want and negative by the time consumption to enter it all in.
Very nice [Posted on 2008-12-19]
I carry it in my lab coat pocket. It's tough, easy to use, and lightning fast. It impresses clients and makes me feel secure.
Excellent Calculator and easy to use [Posted on 2008-12-27]
I highly recommend this for any student or professional. It is loaded with features and is very easy to use.
Not what I expected [Posted on 2008-12-28]
I purchased an HP 48 when I was an undergrad back in 1992 and fell in love with RPN. (I believe it's in my advisor's desk or in a friend's garage.) Now that I'm teaching intro science courses, I find myself doing lots of calculator type calculations again. The TI and Sharp calculators that students use these days, both the cheaper and graphing, are really awful. They're completely algebraic. To find the sine of 30, for example, you have to type the SIN first then 30. You end up using parenthesis for everything. (In hindsight, all older calculators were a little bit RPN.) Hence, when I heard that HP had introduced a new RPN calculator I decided to order it.
What I wanted: A simplified HP 48. I wanted a RPN calculator without the graphing, formulas, matrix operations, programming, etc. I almost never used these features.
Surprise: The stack does not work at all like I expected, and I'm not alone. (See other posts.) A number of people here have claimed that something is broken or that there's a design flaw. Old fogies have explained this is how some old HPs used to work, and there is a difference between RPN and RPL. The HP 48 uses RPL. For two months now, I've been trying to get used to the HP 35, true RPN, and asking myself why it is better to have the stack work like this. Nostalgia is the only thing I can think of. Maybe it made more sense back in the day when pocket calculators were new and memory was scarce.
The stack only holds four numbers. I don't like this. Moreover, I don't like that you can't hit delete, delete, delete and pull the stack down. I don't like that it fills in numbers at the top when the stack does move down. How is this useful? Also, as noted by others, if you hit 2 enter 3 enter +, you get 6. OK, maybe the extra enter is bad form, but why is getting 6 useful? To me, the stack does not work like a stack.
Annoying thing #1: There are four modes of display. Fix, Sci, Eng, and All. The All is what you might call normal or float. But if you type 1/3, you'll get 3.3333 with an exponent that is off the screen. Others have mentioned this. The alternative is Fix, Sci, or Eng, but here you always see 4.000, for instance, and never 4.
Annoying thing #2: The battery cover on mine is really loose and falls off. Luckily the case (shaving kit) keeps it on. I remember the cover on the HP 48 was really jammed on. Plus the 48 took normal AAA batteries.
The HP 35s is not a simplified HP 48. I wanted RPL, not RPN. In addition, I would drop all programming, imaginary number, and arrow keys. I don't want a mini computer, especially in a small calculator with two lines of display. I want no menus. I want fewer and smaller keys. The keys on HP 35s are too big and wobbly with too much stuff printed on them. Get Log and Ln out of 2nd. Make different zones of keys different colors, not all black.
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