I''ve had an HP 48g for 6 years now. I used it in my high school math courses, and my college engineering courses. I really like it, especially RPN. I find it very difficult to use non-RPN calculators now, as I am so much faster using RPN.

Anyway, I HIGHLY recommend that line of calculators. If you have any specific questions, let me know. I''ve done a lot of programming with user-rpl =)

Boo, heretical TI users!!! BOO!!!

Here''s a simple example of why you should get a calculator with rpn:
Say you want to calculate (3+4)*(3+8)*(7+9)
It takes me about 1 second to enter this into my HP, because I can use a stack. I press
3 enter 4 + 3 enter 8 + 7 enter 9 + * *

I can keep the intermediate results of the first two additions on the stack while I calculate the other numbers. This prevents me from having to add parenthesis.
If you aren''t using rpn, you''d have to calculate this like
( 3 + 4 ) * ( 3 + 8 ) * ( 7 + 9 )
It''s more characters, and you have weird ones(like parenthesis, which have to match). Furthermore, one mistake in any part and you have to recalculate the entire expression, whereas with a stack you can see intermediate results. And you can undo. And you can recall old values you entered.

Here''s another cool example. Let''s say you''re doing a physics lab. You are trying to calculate one forumula repeatedly on a bunch of input data. Well the HP lets you operate on lists, so you can enter the data as a list:
{ 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 }
and operate on it as a whole
3 *
which produces
{ 3 6 9 12 15 18 21 24 27 }

Furthermore, the programming language of the HP 48 g series is RPL - reverse polish lisp, which is a combination of Lisp, reverse polish notation, and forth. It is surprisingly effective, and interfaces well with the rest of the calculator. Remember all those threads about c++ vs lisp? Well, TIs use BASIC! What would you rather program in, BASIC or a variant of Lisp? I have found that it is extremely easy to write programs once you get used to the all the keywords - which the HP exposes through a programming menu to ease development. And, there are even basic elements of a windowing system you can use - message boxes, selection boxes, input text fields, and more.

Complex numbers are built into the 48 series, and are extremely easy to use. It is trivial to convert between rectangular and polar notation(press a button), and complex numbers work just like everything else. So are matrices and vectors.

It can graph quite well too =)

If you want more info, check out the HP faq, or just ask away.

In case you can''t tell, I love my HP. I''ve used casios, TIs, and HPs. And by far my favorite is the HP 48 series.

I like my TI-83 There are probably better ones though, but make sure you don''t get one you can''t use on tests.

quote:Original post by timiscool999 If you get an 89, or that HP you will not be able to use it on the ACT/SAT.

Have they changed the rules? I''m pretty sure I was allowed to use my 48g on the SAT. I thought you could use any calculator as long as it didn''t have a qwerty keyboard, or a printer.

quote:Original post by sjelkjd

quote:Original post by timiscool999 If you get an 89, or that HP you will not be able to use it on the ACT/SAT.

Have they changed the rules? I''m pretty sure I was allowed to use my 48g on the SAT. I thought you could use any calculator as long as it didn''t have a qwerty keyboard, or a printer.

No symbolical calculators or anything that has the capability of solving differential equation for you.