Customer Reviews

HP HP30S Scientific Calculator with Multi-Colored Faceplates

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

 

 

I hate to say this but I don't think HP has much control over their products since they're not made in-house anymore. I have tried really hard to like this calculator because it is an HP and I love my 32sII and 10B calculators. Although it's not as bad as the TI's and Casios, it pales in comparison to HP's former products. It does have some good points. It has a good key feel, not great but good. Much better than the current TI's. It has a lot of useful functions programmed in. But that's where it stops. Now the bad. No rubber feet. This thing doesn't stay still on the desktop. All of the clear functions aren't near each other. No set stats keys. You have to go through a list of stats calculations to find the answer you want. Having both memory keys and storage/recall keys is redundant. The quick reference guides use to be printed on the back of the calculator so you would never loose them. Now they are on a little card that's meant to stay in the cover every time you take it off. The thousand indicators are small and at the tops of the numbers. The slash when entering fractions is a small, backwards L symbol. They could have used a regular slash since the blocks on the entry line are made up of a 5 x 6 grid of pixels. It dosen't retain the display when turned off (however it retains recently used equations) although it does retain the display if it goes into auto shut off mode.

I guess with computers and laptops every where the art of calculator design is becoming a lost art. The only reason I'm giving this three stars is because I rate it better than the competition's products which I would give one or two.

This calculator is OK for a high school junior chemistry student and that's just about it. Or keep it in your toolbox in the garage for those times when you need to figure the area of your back yard before applying lawn fertilizer.

Contrary to the reviews that say this functionality is not needed in a hand calculator, I submit for your consideration that there are PLENTY of times when you need computing horsepower and you are not conveniently seated in front of your computer, e.g. in a meeting or out in the field.

I bought this grudgingly for use in the field as a backup calculator so I wouldn't have to risk dropping my 48 in the mud and having subsequent heart failure (I am a professional engineer) and I am sorry to say it is an utter disappointment. It is only marginally better than the competing TI or Casio. Hmmm, maybe if I DID drop it in the mud, it might at least add some character.

Poor build quality, horrible instructions, crappy feel to the keys, cheezy colored faceplates... come on, HP! Think you couldn't sell reissues of the 11c or 15c or 32sII any more? Why then are you still making the 12c? Have you seen the prices the 11/15/32 are commanding on eBay? Two, three times the original retail selling price! Hmm, why do you suppose that is? And look at the number of bids they get! Geez! Wake up and smell the coffee! Bring back RPN! Bring back tactile keys! Heck yes I'll pay $150 for a 12c reissue! Shoot, I'll commit to buy six of 'em right now! Build it (a decent calculator) and They Will Come!

This is a review of 4 calculators marketed for `High School''. These are: The Hewlett Packard 30S, The Texas Instrument 30X II S and T.I. 34 II, and the Sharp 506R.

Most of the opinions are those of my niece [grade 6], and two nephews [7th and 8th grade]. At the end I shall insert mine [I am a retired tech writer]

For anyone who has to use fractions the T.I. 34 II is best as it shows fraction simplification and L.C.D. finding in steps rather then just a result as do the others.

The HP 30 S has many functions not used by anyone not IN school. A fine calculator with every tool anyone would reasonably want. HP is known for poor instructions. Figure it will take you at least a week to `figure this calculator out. `

The TI 30X II S has fewer functions then the HP [but most one needs] and is the most easy of those 2 to use and has the best instructions. Figure it will take you an hour to `figure this calculator out'. `It is the best liked by the 8th grader.

The Sharp is `unto itself'. The most functions. A super low price. Lousy instructions. Feels `cheap'. Hard to use. An adventure in calculator use. No kid here likes it.

If I could have but one calculator of these it would be [marginally] the HP 30 S. I dont like its keys and keyboard as much as the TI's but I do like the HP equation solver. As I wrote it is a very marginal `call' between the TI 30X II S and the HP 30 S and to me it was/is the TI ease of use and great support vs the HP's linear and quadratic equation solvers and additional functions. And before someone from Sharp sqacks their calculator can do calculus ... ya, but I dont.

As to the HP colored faceplates. I am not `much impressed' but the kids are sure it is the HP 30 S's greatest and `coolest' feature.

It is cheap, which is the only thing going for it. Aside from the usual complaints about it not being an HP (no RPN? terrible keys? fashionable looking?), it had a short unhappy life before it started crashing. Crashing when turned on. Crashing when picked up. Crashing when doing multiplications. I gave mine away and the person who got it had nothing but complaints.

For the money, this calculator is far ahead of others in its class. It can store ten variables and a constant expression using some of these variables. It can also store an expression with up to 4 variables using the HP solve system, which calls for inputs and solves the expression. It's not a professional engineer's calculator, but it would probably do in a pinch. For high school or lower division college I would recommend it. It also has a short list of physical constants in its memory.

I also like the keyboard layout and feel of quality.

Its main failing is the rudimentary instruction sheet. It can be figured out, but mainly through trial and error.

There's nothing to recommend this calculator over any other cheap calculator by TI, Sharp, etc. I bought it when my 15 year old HP48 died and this is just not a replacement.

If you're out of high school, the idea of a graphics calculator is kind of silly given the accessability of spreadsheets, but as a statistician I found my HP48 useful for lots of quick calculations. The 30S has lost virutally everything I found useful (RPN, all the valuable probability distribution stuff) and has limited functionality in most other areas. What it has got is 3 different color face plates (what? do they think it's a cell phone?) and the virually useless ability to calculate means, standard deviations, and correlation coefficients (why would anyone waste time inputing a bunch of data into a calculator when they could save it in a spreadsheet file?).

It's a decent calculator but I have two complaints. The 'answer' key it's not easily accesible, It's necessary to use the shift key to recall the last answer. In an algebraic calculator the answer key is very important but in the 30S it's necessary to use the shift every time!!!. Less frequently used keys are are more accessible. Also the 'ENG' key found on other calculators is not present, it facilitates a lot. The keyboard of Casio calculators is better designed, you should consider taking a look at them before buying this one. Oh, what's the point of having two extra faceplates???

I defy anyone to find a calculator cheaper than this that has built-in Physical Constants (from NIST's Physics Lab, our tax $$ at work) and Unit Conversions (I only use that EVERY SINGLE DAY).

One more thing: What were they smoking when they counted 66 built-in functions? I stopped counting at 100 more than that....

I love this calculator. It is extremely easy to use and the value for the price is crazy good! A lot of people in my stats class paid triple for their calculators compared to what I paid for this calculator and mine is way easier to use.

Maybe this works great for other disciplines, but for engineering/surveying it is darn near worthless.

Unfortunately, this is one of only 6 or 7 cheapo calculators (including the HP 33s--another piece of garbage) allowed for use on the liscensing exams. HP, please, please, please bring back one of the following: 11C, 15C or 32SII. That way, I could use a calculator for the exam that won't let me down.

Unless you have to use one of these, pony up the bucks for a used HP (one of the models listed) if you need a good basic scientific calculator.