HP Prime Graphing Calculator Review
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- Опубліковано 22 лип 2024
- An overview and review of the HP Prime Graphing calculator. To buy the HP Prime on Amazon use the following affiliate link:
- amzn.to/3iG44VI
In this video I talk about the basic operation of the calculator via the Home View and the CAS View. I also show an example PPL program to draw a simple fractal, and demo some of the preinstalled apps.
For more calculator videos, check out my channel / akuzi - Наука та технологія
My Thoughts on the HP Prime
After getting this machine a couple of months ago, I have learned some of it's strengths and weaknesses.
First of all, if you're thinking of this as a replacement for the RPL line of graphing calculators like the HP-48 and HP-50g you will be very disappointed. I think HP was pressured into adding a limited RPN entry mode, but it's only half-baked and doesn't integrate very well with the core functions of the calculator. So forget about RPN, and think of this as a powerful, programmable algebraic graphing calculator.
So, now that we've dealt with that, what are it's strengths? Personally, I find the programming environment very nice and easy to use. Whenever I want to experiment with a numerical method (i.e., from the Numerical Recipes book), it is super easy and trivial to implement it on the HP Prime, using the built-in programming environment. Because PPL, the native programming language is similar to Pascal, you can easily translate programs from Fortran, C or pseudo code and get something up and running quickly. Have you ever tried to debug or modify an RPL program written by someone else or by yourself a long time ago? DUP, SWAP, DROP, etc. RPL is a write-only language in my opinion. PPL, on the other hand is very easy because it's a traditional procedural language with familiar constructs. Having the ability to quickly graph functions and to access the graphing environment from a program is also very nice.
The second thing I love about the HP Prime is the CAS environment. It is almost a full implementation of the Xcas symbolic algebra engine, which is comparable to desktop programs like Maple or Mathematica. Unfortunately, the HP documentation doesn't do a very good job in covering all the functionality that Xcas provides. Fortunately, you can download the Xcas documentation separately for free and learn to fully unleash the power of CAS. It's a huge manual, over 1000 pages, and it covers everything you'd want to do with CAS. I think most people don't realize how much functionality is packed in here, but think about it as having Maple or Mathematica in your pocket.
As for it's weaknesses, I think the main issue is that a lot of the functionality is exposed as Apps, and not integrated into the main operating system as it was on the HP-50g. For example, to use the solver you have to use the Solver app, which has it's own set of variables and function definitions, separate from the main Function app. So you find yourself having to re-enter your formulas in different apps, when it would've been nice to have everything available in one place. Another major weakness is that units are not integrated in the solver like they were in the HP-50g. So if you have an equation that uses units, you won't be able to use it in the solver without having to remove the units first. Finally, the separation of Home and CAS was very confusing for me at first. I think you can do most of your normal calculations in CAS, because it can give you both exact and numerical results, but there are certain things that you need to do in Home. For example, most programs run in Home mode by default.
So it seems that the HP Prime suffers from a multiple-personality disorder, and sometimes you have to talk to Dr. Jekyll and other times you need to talk to Mr. Hyde.
Thanks for the insightful comments. I tend to agree with what you’ve written. I do agree that RPL (like the two languages it’s inspired by FORTH and Lisp), although elegant and powerful is difficult to read and maintain, especially if the code is not well factored into small routines. I think it’s cool the Prime has a powerful CAS. I do wonder how much it gets used by students (or others) who have now have easy access to online tools such as Symbolab and Wolfram alpha.
Otro problema de la Prime es que la precisión, 12 dígitos, es muy baja para una calculadora tan rápida.
"So forget about RPN"
Not for me, then.
@@CjdjdDudjdj 48GX and 50G are the best HP calculators.
@@JohnUsp best calculators are those which are in market easy available .No use hyping HP 50g like fanboy.Real practical calculator is HP Prime
I have mixed feelings about this calculator. I’ve been using HP RPN calculators for 40 years. Hp11, 32, 42, and the last being the 48. I learned how to use these calculators in 30 minutes of purchase. When my 48 screen started going bad I looked for a replacement. It seemed this was the one to have. Since I’m retired now and only use a calculator occasionally I find this HP extremely frustrating. The usage from all the other RPN calculators is very different, this one (the prime ) is extremely hard to memorize I can’t remember how to even do % of total and % change every time I need it. I will probably shelf it and buy an old 11 or 12 model.
Wasn’t expecting the crystal castles intro. You have my respect.
Awesome review! More people should learn about this calculator and use it. The touchscreen and the graphing speed combined makes it very easy to work with graphs. Also the Geometry app is really powerful and helps a lot with some problems. Furthermore I don't seem to find a feature like the Advanced Graphing one in any other calculator. It really is like having Wolfram Alpha or Mathematica in your pocket!
The prime g2 is the best handheld calculator in the world -and I agree, anyone in engineering, physics, mathematics, computer science, especially since the addition of python. Would benefit from owning one. Or just a techy that wants to see something state of the art.
Ur comment made me buy one today lol
@@deadstar962 you wont be disappointed. 2300+ functions, wicked fast, 700+ page manual.
@@mellowtube it’s so fast. & the touchscreen is so useful I definitely can’t wait to use this in class
Pueden resolver sistema de ecuaciones diferenciales en esta calculadora??
@@santiagocas3683 Yes you can
You made a very fair and useful overview of the Prime. I recently bought one to revisit and repair my poor experience of learning maths many years ago at school. The calculator far exceeds my ability and knowledge at the moment. Hopefully I will grow into it like a hand-me-down coat.
Also, as far as I can tell HP seems to have divested itself of support and development for HP branded calculators. However, I used the connectivity software to update to the December 2021 firmware. It now has Python.
Would you care to revisit your review and share some insight into using Python on the Prime?
Yeah think the situation around MicroPython on the Prime is uncertain. It’s still technically in beta. Also it’s not clear now the rights to HP calculators have been sold to Moravia and Royale whether MicroPython for the HP Prime will be continue to be maintained and developed. Also I think MicroPython on calculators sounds good in theory but in practice is quite limited. On the Prime there is not much integration with the built in data types and functions and the libraries that people typically use in Python that makes it the Lingua franca of data science are not available.
@@CalculatorCulture Thanks for the insight. I don't think I will invest too much time into microPython on the Prime.
Engineering pre-200: does it do the job well?
Engineering today: is the screen pretty?
Pre 200? Jk just busting your balls 😂
Yes screen pretty but better than buying HP 50g for 600$ like fanboy,Prime serves better for 150$.
Can you please make a user guide for this calculator. It is way harder than a TI to use
I still enjoy my HP 41CV
Always wanted one of those, I have a prime and a 12c, father had a 41c
Hello. Why when I press the button "," in Home mode, it prints ";" but in the CAS mode I press the button "," it is printed correct ","
@
Calculator Culture do you think Texas Nspire CX IIT CAS is better than HP Prime G2?
Its hard to say. The hardware of the Prime is better but being able to program in Python on the NSpire II CAS is pretty sweet.
Very nice review! I quite enjoyed it. Perhaps turn the brightness down a bit or turn it to light mode next time so it's a bit more crisp on camera. :)
Hello, please make a video about programming this calculator. Thank you
The latest firmware supports Python - i'll probably make a video about that at some point.
Can you show us it statistical applications?
I like the black case of the older ones better. give a higher contrast and readability
I got this one i bought at the same time the ti inspire cx ii cas. I both of them.
HEY! I've just ordered the TI CX II CAS. I will receive it tomorrow. I am a first year student at a Mathematics and Computer Science University. I'm in doubt if i should send it back and get the HP PRIME G2 or not... What would be your opinion?
Maybe, i will keep the TI and buy the HP, too. I don't know yet...
I love this calc
I suggest to review Numworks calculator as well
The more I read up about calculators, the more confused I get. As an adult who's trying to get back into math -- I hope to refresh myself on calculus before moving on to linear algebra and real analysis -- what features do you think I should I be looking for in a calculator, and is there any one in particular that you recommend?
Hi. I’d recommend any modern CAS calculator, so the HP Prime Gen 2, the TI NSpire CX CAS or the Casio Classpad II. You may also want to try some online tools like Wolfram Alpha and Symbolab that are good at showing step by step results.
@@CalculatorCulture Gosh, thank you so much, this is very helpful! I didn't know about Symbolab and it seems perfect for my use. I might eventually get the HP just because it seems fun to use.
@@Elizabeth-ei7ne Don't laugh, but I seriously own all 3 that he listed. I love all 3, but the Classpad is my favorite. It doesn't do unit conversions though, that I'm aware of. Also, its community isn't as large as N-spire and Prime.
@user-un7xm7ps6v
You don't really need a graphing calculator anymore. You can do everything online for free. However, it's advisable to have a simple scientific calculator with physical buttons for quick calculations like the square root of a number or a cubic root or combinations/permutations. The reason is it's very cumbersome to go into a program or some mode to calculate such basic stuff. It's just a couple of key strokes on the calculator, and it should not involve delving through the menus or various modes. For example, I have a lot of graphing math apps and calculator apps on my phone but I still prefer a simple calculator with physical buttons to calculate basic stuff like the cubic root of a number, a trig function or n choose k. It's unacceptable for me do go through the menus to do something like that. So my advice: get a non-virtual (such as a Casio or Citizen) calculator with physical buttons for important/basic functions: factorial, combinations/permutations, roots, etc. I got an old Casio FX82 TL that even has a separate button for the cubic root. So the calculation is just a couple of key strokes. As to modern calculators, they are very good. There's nothing wrong with buying an HP Prime or a Casio FX 400/500 (you can choose a slightly simpler calculator like the Casio FX CG50 or FX CG10 and you can't go wrong -- they are superb ideal for elementary math. Texas instruments are less comfortable to use in my opinion). It's commendable to have and use such a calculator but for basic calculations it's important to have a calculator with dedicated buttons for basic algebraic stuff which includes physical buttons for pi, e, permutations/combinations, general roots, square root, exponents, logs, ln (a natural log), trig functions, inverse trig functions, and factorial. Note that calculators like the HP Prime or Casio FX 400/500 cover a lot of college material. So a simple scientific calculator will suffice + online or a graphing app (or a calculator like the Casio FX CG50 or FX CG10).
*It's far more important to get a good comprehensive textbook than worrying about calculators.* Examples are _Algebra and Trigonometry_ by Stewart or the same title by Larson or Swokowski. *Books with precalculus titles are inferior truncated versions* which are very popular. Yes, they are shorter and simpler but that's not the way the cookie crumbles. A good text on elementary geometry is by Serge Lang.
So what do you recommend for the professional user engineering?
As a day to day calculator for an engineer I'd recommend the SwissMicros DM42 or the Plus42 app.
@@CalculatorCulturewhy? size?
Does this calculator show proces of getting answear??
I don't believe the HP Prime CAS engine supports step by step output.
Is there a calculator you could recomend for a electrotechnic school student? (sorry if its wrong the right name doesnt come to my mind right now)
I'd recommend the Prime for student, especially now it supports MicroPython.
@@CalculatorCulture oh thats nice thanks
Is this good for mechanical engineering? Is there a better option?
I would get a HP50g for that purpose.
I have the 50g and I love it, does it make sense to upgraded it? I use most RPN and some programs I made...
If you are an RPN user you will struggle with the Prime. It has an RPN mode but it is quite basic and is really designed as an algebraic device.
Don’t switch to the Prime. It’s not meant for serious professionals. It’s powerful toy at best.
Horrible hardware, system full of bugs, whenever it receives a power load it needs to be reset, it accepts wrong inputs and in the end it warns of the error, battery lasts very little. I bought it because of the rpn system but it's not worth it.
@@sergiov.53 I agree. It’s a very, very bad design and system around a quite powerful hardware. It’s a shame, it could have been a great calculator.
I returned mine after just a week or so.
The prime can do anything 50g can but in a different way. It is definitely not a toy, it’s just different than 50g, and 48.
Is the Prime still being made or has it been discontinued?
I believe it is still being made by Moravia and Royal under license from HP.
what about the finance functions? seems limited compared to ti nspire cx ii cas... Do I need to program the missing functions or am I wrong about missing finance functions?
The HP Prime has a finance app that has improved upon over the years. Looking at the version from the latest firmware it supports the following operarions: TVM, interest conversion, Date calculation, cash flow, depreciation, break-even, % changes, bond and Black-scholes.
What stylus is that?
An Apple pencil
Nice review. I disagree with you. Any calculator can be used by thinking engineers, professionals, students, regardless of make and model. A programming language is a programming language in which you can do loops and branching (some are better than others, but HPPL is fine here). RPL, FOCAL, keystroke programming are nice for nostalgia, but are very hard and pretty much obsolete for any professional use. The other thing is that young professionals (students, engineers) for the most part use Python, Matlab, Mathematica, SageMath, Maxima, spreadsheet, etc. on their tablets, laptops for any serious desk-side work (even if the Prime supported Python for real, I'd doubt you could install all the libraries that Python users have written). The choice is much bigger today than it was in 1975 for pro tools. And a real pro can use anything programmable. (Sidenote: you can use CAS functions in RPN mode, it's pretty ugly but it works. Check out Eddie Shore's instructional videos her on youtube.)
Hi Andras. I understand your points and i'll spare you my lame reductio ad absurdum rebuttals of "any tool can be used..." and "a program language is a programming language". I do concede the landscape has changed a lot over the last 30 years. My comment about the Prime being designed for education first is not meant as a criticism. Hopefully the video conveys that I really admire the Prime and I am pretty fond of mine. I do say "it's the most powerful, state of the art calculator on the market" and "the Prime can be a great tool for those users". To me it's more a case of c'est la vie- and my interest is more in the history of personal computing devices and how we got to where we are now.
Does it support python?
I would love to have something portable instead of my tower.
Yeah it supports micropython, while is a scaled down version of python for embedded devices. You probably won't be able to your favourite libraries though.
@@CalculatorCulture So it has to be programmed for the hp prime in mind?
@@irsshill4502 the language itself it similar to standard python, you just won't have access to any libraries like NumPy, Pandas etc
Yes, but has DooM been ported to it yet?
There is a video in Russian of someone running Doom on a Prime. I presume it requires a jailbreak, since the Prime doesn’t have an SDK. ua-cam.com/video/Nq497U3KPs0/v-deo.htmlsi=XtW1npurSkOg3szY
The silver front bezel = It's not feux brushed metal, it IS brushed metal :-)
Yeah, there was a reason, but I don't know why i said that now. I don't have a G1 anymore but the G2 does faceplate does feel like brushed aluminium.
They are competing with TI in the education market. Most serious professionals have moved away from calculators and run Python on a PC or cloud environment.
Sure.
Hi! If you are planning to get into an ENGINEERING career, pick the ti nspire cx cas instead. I have both, but the ti nspire cx cas is much more usable since it has better factory software and really good extra software like the step by step calculus made easy for TI, algebra made easy, etc. You can get a lot more of use from the TI nspire than the prime. Beware that if you pick up a Ti nspire cx, it must be the CAS model, since it brings algebraic system able to solve matrixes, equations, indefinite and definite integrals, any kind of derivation and differential calculus.
Depends on the engineering discipline I suppose. As a soon to be retired Controls Engineer, I almost never used a calculator. I always *had* one, usually a HP15C and a HP16C, but I was the exception. And I only used it a handful of times over 30+ years. You simply don't need it.
Ok, maybe that was just me, but I can't recall all but a very few of my coworkers even having one at their desk. And that's a lot of guys over the years.
So what did they use? Excel.
Philistines...
No, not true. It doesn't always have to be the CAS model.
HP Prime has no integrals?
@@technics6215 it does. Everything he mentioned is also present in hp prime.
Ah, the HP Prime, the calculator that doesn't know whether it is a smartphone or a calculator, ending up being neither. I agree with other commenters, not a calculator I would recommend if you are getting into an engineering or science discipline. I would still want RPN though, I would either try and get a HP-50g or get a SwissMicros DM42 and do your graphs on a computer.
Yeah it's quite a polarising device for HP fans.
Are engineers using this calculator?
It's an interesting question. Generally, only a tiny fraction of engineers use calculators these days, and if they do it's likely to be the one they had at school - but the Prime is not permitted on most engineering exams. So I would guess the answer is no, but I don't have any inside information about sales numbers. This is not to say it wouldn't be a great calculator for an engineer.
Next up: The first dual core, 1Ghz graphing calculator.
English speaking Canadian here: 80% of your speech is unrecognizable to me. I ordered the HP Prime which is why I wanted to see your video. Sorry about the communications problem.
Yeah a lot of North Americans have trouble with my accent. My only tip is to turn on closed captions. ua-cam.com/video/zElInyBdLo0/v-deo.html&ab_channel=Stashio
English speaking, native Bosnia and Herzegovina, living in The Netherlands 🙂 can understand everything, no problem at all with this (I suppose) Australian accent. Quit funny to listen too, but my remark would be that you can raise your voice a little and maybe put some more "enthusiasm" to it. But I understand, everyone is different and your intonation is okay, not really a problem. You compensate it with your good content! I have much more problem with the Indian accent, actually I just skip those videos. I don't even consider it to be English..
Horrible hardware, system full of bugs, whenever it receives a power load it needs to be reset, it accepts wrong inputs and in the end it warns of the error, battery lasts very little. I bought it because of the rpn system but it's not worth it.
Well jp prime sucks I've replace it with scientific calculator since it could do majority of the work
Once you've put a back-lit color touch screen on a calculator you've lost its only remaining advantage over a smartphone app - indefinite battery life. My current favorite is HiPER Calc on an Android phone. Does everything this does and the hardware can do much more besides, including running Python or any other programming language that takes my fancy. There is a reason why dedicated calculators have been pushed into an educational niche - they only survive because of arbitrary rules about what is and is not allowed in classrooms and examinations.
Tend to agree, still there is something to be said for the hardware keyboard.
HiPER Calc isn’t programmable. And sure whilst you can run some languages on a smartphone as a casual user - those programming language apps are typically barebones implementations with little integration with the libraries and graphics display of the host smart phone. Part of the appeal of programmable calculators is the well thought out integration between all parts of the calculator incl. the programming language, the vast amount of calculator functions and the graphics - a self contained world.
I find myself using a combination of the Wolfram Alpha app, the GeoGebra graphing calculator (similar to Desmos) ...and, when I want to bang something out in RPN, an emulator of an HP48.
gen 1 screen was horrible
Do the Gen 1 and Gen 2 actually have different screens? I was under the impression they are the same 320x240 pixel lcd.
@@CalculatorCulture maybe to be aware of the auto-focus. When you put your hand to use the calculator the focus is on the hand and calculator gets "blurry". Maybe to focus on the calculator and turn off the auto-focus?
@@ernestb.2377 yeah sometimes i forget to set focus-lock. thanks for the reminder.
Thanks for the review :). My opinion on these devices is that they are headed for extinction. I'd rather these companies provide the same software to run on your own smartphone devices which is 100x more powerful and having a full fledged touch display is beyond these hand held calculators. You can even simply use something like Microsoft math solver online via webpage and still be more useful than these hand held devices. The only problem I have with these calculators is that they are not upgradeable nor are they fast enough. The worse is the small 320x240 display and basically the high price of it. $30-$50 is more reasonable. $150 msrp is insane!
Yeah I agree that to a certain extent smartphones have made calculators obsolete - although there is something great about hardware keyboard etc.. For me my videos are about appreciating the design and function of these devices that have contributed to the evolution of personal computing.
The problem with that is there are some schools that prohibit the usage of smartphones even in the stead of a calculator
You can get the same tool in both iOS and Android, so you have that already. The one thing nobody criticised prime for is that it is slow. It is in fact a lot faster than it needs to be.
mumble mumble mumble mumble mumble
Yes I’ve tried to improve on my clarity in more recent videos.
@@CalculatorCulture Thank you. I'll subscribe and see how you do. ;-)
Thanks, but the sound quality is horrible. I don't mean it needs to be a little better. I mean that it's so bad that parts are useless. I had to move on to another video.
Yeah I agree it's pretty horrible. I'll work on improving the sound in the next video.
@@CalculatorCulture personally i dont have much problems with the audio it is bot the best but decent
Is this good for mechanical engineering? Is there another better option?
Yes, a SwissMicros DM42. MUCH easier and quicker to use. Far superior to this smartphone/calculator chimera. And if you need graphs, use a computer, or if you absolutely must, get an HP-50g, but that too is quite a workout.