Customer Reviews

HP 48GII Graphic Calculator (F2226A)

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

I had high hopes of this calculator being a "real" 48G, maybe with a faster processor running an EMU, but the original case/key design and ROM.

My trusty HP48GX no longer functions properly, the 3, 6, and 9 keys fail to register when pressed.

Bill Hewlett and Dave Packard would join me in my sadness and disappointment at the lack of innovation at HP, and the pathetic replacements offered to the fine 48GX, the lowly, rubber keyed, algebraic entry, plastic faced, 49G and 48GII (both of which I have tried and rejected).

Upon inquiry to HP customer support about the possibility of getting a 48GX repaired, it became apparent that the cheap printers they make, Carly's merger with Compaq, and Hewlett Jr.'s denouncement of the company's current direction are indicative of the level of service and quality of customer support technicians hired by HP, [...]
While searching for a replacement for my 48GX, I encountered a strange phenomenon, used HP48GXs are selling for twice what the new flagship HP calculator costs, and as much as $400-$900 for the few unused 48GXs still around. This is a testament to the failure of HP to continue to provide innovative products, and to the brilliance of the engineers and programmers of the original 48GX at the now defunct Corvallis research facility.

How can a nearly 15 year old technology product still remain the most desirable and sought after in it's class? Only through initial brilliance coupled with the failure of executive management to develop and support the innovation required to improve such a product rather than trying to replace it with a lesser machine. What right-minded consumer would purchase a 49 to replace a 48?

Alas, we have witnessed the demise of the only truly innovative producer of engineering calculators. What does the slogan "HP Invent" mean today?

The talent behind the last several 48G ROMs, Jean-Yves Avenard and Gerald Squelart have given me renewed faith in the future of calculators. After being fired by the new HP, they have taken it upon their selves to create the finest calculator in the world, the Qonos, and I eagerly await it's release. [...]

In the meantime, I am about to embark upon an all-or-nothing attempt to service my own HP, a process which involves a drill press, razor blades, and surgical precision in hopes of extending it's life once again.

Good luck, and protect your HP from cheap batteries and wrong-doers at all costs.

I first purchased the HP 48GII about two years ago. The first one didn't last a month, but HP quickly gave me a new one free of charge. The second one ran better, but the keyboard was very uncertain and often caused input errors. NOT GOOD and very frustrating. Well now the keyboard has failed all together and the calculator won't turn off. This is REALLY POOR merchandise! I do not recommend anyone purchasing this calculator. Unfortunately I've heard that other current HP models are just about as bad. My old HP 41C lasted nearly 20 years...I don't understand why the new ones are so cheaply made. ///

Pros: This calculator (and presumably other HP 48/49 calculators) has an operating system that far surpasses TI's in usability. The angled keys are really nice to use, when they work.

Cons: Too bad it is hard to use a calculator with a broken keyboard. The bottom row's hinge have almost all broken, so the keys are really loose and wobbly. Apparently, the plastic hinge mechanism is really weak and this is a common problem.

I bought this calculator a few months ago. Used to use a 42s, as well as 32 versions. I haven't had any trouble adapting to the new enter-key location, and after spending some time studying this more complicated computing device, I sort of like many of the features. However, the keyboard on mine is unacceptable. As others have commented (both here and on the page for the 49g+), the keys will sometimes miss the keystroke. I find this totally unacceptable, and I, like others lament the decline of quality in HP (at least in the calculator arena). But, I'm hooked on RPN and TI doesn't have it. I plan to try to return my 48gii to HP and see if they have actually fixed the problem (some reviews of the 49+ look hopeful in this regard). If you have a newer model and the keyboard works perfectly (which it should), please post here so we can once again get people buying HP calculators! It will do us all good ;-) *** OK - I called HP support. They were very nice and sent me a new calculator. The calculator had an earlier serial than the one I already had - so I wasn't hopeful, despite what they told me. Sure enough, it acted about the same. HOWEVER: 1) This was a couple of months ago, so it is possible manufacturing has improved in the mean time. 2) I have found a good workaround: Turn on the keystroke beep sound. It's not too loud, does not bother me, and most important, it is very obvious now when it misses a keystroke. I don't have to look at the display - which slows down work. Instead, my senses detect the missing beep without even thinking and I then just hit the key again. I strongly recommend this for anyone with an existing calculator with the problem - and am hopeful based on some recent reviews that HP may finally have fixed the issue on the latest ones being produced...

I just unpacked it and started messing with it.

My first reaction is "I miss my 48G". :(

I've heard bad things about the new key pad, and it definitly feels cheap. It might just take some getting use to, but I don't like it! (the keys aren't 'solid', and occasionally you can press a key so it 'clicks' but nothing happens)

It seems fast compared to the older 48G, but then I haven't tried anything particularily challenging with it yet.

They moved the <ENTER> key! (just something else I need to get use to)

They include the RS232 data cable and software! (previously an expensive 'extra') However, I seem to be having some trouble to get it working (so far unsuccessful).

It's not like we have a huge selection of RPN calculators (which is why I chose this one), so given the options it is really not that bad.

I must admit that I am loyal to HP calculators! I bought the HP35 in the early 70's when I was a graduate student at Washington University. I currently collect HP calculators.

When I bought the HP 48gII about a month ago I encounted the much talked about keyboard problem. I did what comes naturally. I called customer service. A very friendly representative took my name, address, and the model and serial number of the problem calculator. In about 30 seconds I was informed that a problem free calculator would be on the the way in 3 to 5 business days! I was also given a case number so that I could keep tabs on the progress of the shipment of the replacement. Note that I did not ask for a replacement! The company apparently is on top of the problem and know exactly which calculators need replacement. I asked about instructions for returning the problem calculator and was told to wait for further instruction from HP. If I do not hear from HP in 30 days, I may dispose of the problem calculator as I see fit. What else could one hope for?

In four business days I received my new HP48gII with three 3AAA cells and two memory cells. The calculator only reguires one memory cell. I immediately checked out the calculator. My problem calculator would ocassionally not respond to the pressing of the up/down and left/right keys. At times others would not respond. With the new calculator I have not experienced any problems.

Go on. Stop listening to the foolishness. Get the best calculator out there. Get the HP48gII!

The main thing I want to say is the 48gii has had a USB port since 2006, and as best I can tell this model doesn't suffer from the keyboard issues that plagued early production runs. Even if you do get a bad keyboard however, HP will honor its outstanding warranty policy. I would discount the irate reviews of yesteryear.

If money is no object, you will want the hp 50g or one of the TI or Casio CAS calculators topping $100. If you are a student, you should probably get the calculator recommended by your instructor. But in terms of bang for the buck, the 48gii is an especially sweet deal right now, and I recommend it over the 40gs which runs about $20 more right now.

I've found some troubling issues with the newly available hp 40gs which do NOT apply to the 48gii:

- In EQW -- where you must be for most exact symbolic calculations -- the results appear in throbbing inverted text which is pretty hard to read. You can press VIEWS, to get normal text, but then often it's reduced to a tiny font and you must press yet another button to reach el display sympatico.

- There's no universal Clear key that always works in equation writer. According to the User's Guide, SHIFT CLEAR clears the display -- but not so in EQW. Not always. Closest thing I've found is jumping to HOME, then back again to CAS. Yet the ON/CANCEL key is unused and could easily meet this need.

- PUSH (mentioned in another review) does not round out the system as one would hope. Arbitrary expressions can not be transferred from HOME to EQW. From Mastering the hp 39gs & hp 40gs: "In general the PUSH command is not really very useful." I'm forced to agree.

- Some expressions are not what a trained mathematician would expect. For example, in EQW, enter 4 / 2 right-arrow squared. The result looks all the world like 4 squared over 2. Press the ENTER key and you discover the 4/2 behaves as though it was enclosed in parentheses -- but it wasn't. HP should be really embarrassed by this. (Yes, I know the exponent is past the end of the divide line. That's beside the point.)

- If you exceed the calculating power of the 40gs, and let it run for more than a minute or two, you will get no error message. It will simply lock up and your only recourse is a hard reset erasing the entire history. You may need a straight pin that fits in the reset hole in the back. For example, in EQW, press and hold down SHIFT followed by the square root key four times and then the 1 key. Release the SHIFT key and press ENTER (turn on complex mode, if prompted). If you don't press the ON key within approximately ninety seconds (and you may have to press it twice) you will get the lock up. But this is not an especially tortuous expression, and some expressions actually REQUIRE over two minutes to evaluate.

- Occassionally, the 40gs locks up for no apparant reason. Once again, the history, and all your variables and functions, are toast.

Three of these issues are moot on the 48gii and the remaining three were resolved in various ROM revisions years ago. The 48gii gets its pedigree from the HP's top-of-line 50g. 4/2 right-arrow squared actually encloses 4/2 in parentheses, and even after 10 ... 15 ... 20 minutes on the hour glass, a quick stroke of the ON key revives the 48gii with memory intact. Finally, in nine months of daily use the 48gii hasn't once required a reset.

There are several other reasons to prefer the 50g's paleface cousin over the 40gs. RPN is available just for fun, but it's not forced upon you. You can press the ALPHA key twice for ALPHA lock (on the 40gs you have to hold down the ALPHA key -- which doesn't work for the O key ... issue #33). The ALPHA keys don't conflict with the number keys, as they do on the 40gs, so you can intersperse letters and numbers in ALPHA lock mode. Your entire calculation history is available in one place -- the HOME screen. And even though the processor is only 48 Mhz versus 75 on the 40gs, most symbolic calculations are actually faster on the 48gii. And there's less difference than one would expect for exact numeric calculations (e.g. 40 seconds for 1000 factorial in exact mode on the 48gii versus 30 on the 40gs).

In sum, the 48gii has inherited many generations of ROM revisions from the 48-49-50 line of HP calculators while it seems the 40gs is only two or three steps up from the original 40g. Each new ROM represents thousands of programming man hours, making the 48gii easier to use, more stable, fast, and elegant.

The amazing deals from a few highly rated sellers on the hp 50g and 48gii might portend something new coming round the bend for HP. But if you do decide to order a 48gii, inquire to make sure you're getting one of the recent USB port models with 256K memory instead of 128 and four AAA batteries instead of three.

I bought this calculator because it allows use of the RPN method.

The keyboard is horrible. Having the <Enter> key in the wrong place is bad enough, but it often does not register keystrokes. This means one has to make slow, deliberate entries in order to make sure all has been keyed in correctly. The Casio, which I bought in 1987 for $14.95, and that I keep in my field kit, has a better quality keyboard.

So far, I have not attempted programming with it; I use it strictly as a calculator. Yet, it has locked up twice in the past three weeks. The only thing that would get it going again was to shove a paper clip down the "RESET" hole on the back.

Using the "financial" function is made far harder than it needs to be, its editing function is needlessly complex, and getting back out of financial mode is next to impossible. The instructions for its use are clear as mud.

Over the years, I have owned several HP calcs; all of the Singapore-made ones were first-class products. I no longer have most of them due to loss, theft, and in one case, a fire. The 48GII is nothing but Chinese-made rubbish.

If Casio, TI, Sanyo, or Sharp made an RPN calculator I would wave good-bye to HP and never look back.

Not much to say about this thing, other than I miss my 48SX. I used it for a good 17 years before it just went dead on me, and there was nothing I could do to save it.

I replaced it with a 48GII. However, my "new" 48GII's keys regularly fail to register (annoying and frustrating), and I'm lucky to get a month out of the batteries with light use; my 48SX performed FLAWLESSLY though half of a bachelors degree, a masters degree, and 15 years of a career in engineering. It would only need new batteries every 8 months to a year. What's up, HP? Quit making this garbage and bring back a quality, well-made product.

Considering its price, it has a lot of features that more expensive calculators have. It has everything I needed, linear algebra, symbolics, graphs. The only con that I have found so far is that is not so easy to use it, you basically have to read part of the manual before you get it started, but once you have read it and know how to use it, it is a pretty good deal.