The eRPN on the Prime is fine and you can enter equations in RPN mode as well, you just do it differently to how you do it on the 49. Maybe read the manual ;-)
RPN requires practice at the beginning but it becomes incredibly efficient if you get the hang of it. I thank god that I learned very young. When I see an equation I already think in RPN.
I agree. Thankfully for me it wasn't too hard to get started. Practicing with very complex equations (That are rarely given anyway) made my learning faster.
I don't understand the big issue. I never had seen it before my HP-41C and it took about 10 seconds to completely understand it. It's just a way of dealing with a stack.
I have something positive to say about this video. Having watched it, I am now ready to buy a Prime, so that I can continue a 48-year-long love affair with HP and RPN.
You can do the same thing on the Prime. Just first press SHIFT ( ) when entering in an equation (so it appears in quotes). Once you have your equation on the stack, quotes will disappear and you can add to it by entering in additional values (or other equations) and pressing one of the operators. Also in RPN mode do the same for many of the other operations, such as in Spreadsheets when using functions instead of using =SUM(X1:X5) you must use 'SUM(X1:X5)' (quoting the function instead of adding = in front).
@@etch4 What do you mean? Yes there is no RPL on this machine. So? RPN is mostly an efficient way to crunch numbers out of complex formulas - you know, calculating. Any CAS will have its own methodology. If you insist of RPL, get an HP-50g while you can still find one.
First, HP has always made RPN calculators, since the beginning. Then it would have been nice to explain why it's called RPN it means Reverse Polish Notation ! Then the example you enter in the 49g + is not written in RPN, it's algebraic, because the operators are between the numbers : You enter the expression 2 x 2 this isn't RPN. Sorry but you don't even know what RPN is about... ! The whole philosophy of RPN is to decide the operator at the END, and not in a straight forward procedure :The Expression 2 ENTER, 2 + this is RPN ! 2 ENTER 2 + Square, will be 16.
I appreciate the video although I disagree with some things. The reason for RPN is to remove the total number of keystrokes for calculations that would otherwise require a mess of brackets. You didn't really show how RPN was not working on the prime calculator, or how it was less than the other. Some things I see: the ENTER key is small on the 49g. The keyboard on those calculators do not look as nice as older HP calculators. The 48 series is thick and built like a tank. It has double molded keys so the numbers are melted deep through the keys and will never wear off. The keys move on a rocket with a satisfying "click" at the end of sustained pressure and a slight bounce back "pop" to let you know you pushed the key even when not looking at the calculator. It was heavy with big rubber feet, so it wouldn't slip when using with one hand on a table. And the old HP calculators, made by HP are often still working after 50 years. My question about these calculators is: are they built the way HP built them? Are they like solid hunks of steel? Or are they built by third parties who simply license the HP software and slap them in a soft mushy button device with a color display? Like a Ti or CASIO crap case? Are these calculators built well? Do they feel great in your hand and allow you to get answers on your display at twice the speed of everyone else in the classroom? And in my opinion, speed comes from your fingers and the case, not the processor.
I watched because I’m considering getting one. This was not a useful review. 4 minutes of you getting frustrated because you clearly haven’t read the manual does not help my buying decisions. Didn’t watch the whole thing.
I'm also considering getting one and this video has not put me off. However, when it comes to the manual, I downloaded it because it doesn't come with the calculator. It's over 500 pages!
Today, I bought some new batteries for my something like 40 year old HP28 RPN calculator. Despite the poor screen, it's the best calculator I've ever owned. (In fact, I've got two of them.) RPN is fantastic, but you do need to get used to it. 1) It uses far fewer keystrokes for anything more than very simple instructions. In the video, he didn't even manage to add two numbers efficiently. He typed "4", "enter", "5", "enter", "+". You don't need the second "enter". "4", "enter", "5", "+" will do the job just fine. 2) It's consistent and hence never confusing. If you want to calculate something like a square root, on some non-RPN calculators you type "√2" but on others, you type "2√". No such confusion exists in RPN. 3) You can see the results of intermediate steps as you go along and you can chain additional calculations on the end easily. My only complaint about the HP28 (apart from the obsolete style screen mentioned above) is that it can't handle non-integer hexadecimal numbers.
Yep... What he is doing isn't a "Feature" of "RPN", it basically has nothing to do with RPN itself. It is merely a feature of the 49g+ calculator used to translate an RPN entry into an infix notation for display, the prime can do either infix or RPN notation so it''s basically am moot point he is raising.
@@tekcomputers The issue is that the 48 series, all the way through the 50g, had a single environment where you could do everything. The system wasn't compartmentalized, and user programs could basically do anything that the user could do themselves.
RPN is not a joke man!. You have get used to it first. You can perform calculations quicker compared to standard algebraic calculations. Especially if you try to solve a long scientific equations with a lot of brackets.
I used the HP11, 12, 32, 42, and 48 during my working years. My 48 screen started dying so I looked for a replacement. Of course I wanted the latest HP RPN. I HAVE NEVER BEEN SO FRUSTRATED IN MY LIFE. I learned how to use the old calculators in hours. I don’t use a calculator as much, because of being retired, but I. Can’t remember how to do anything on the Prime. I just don’t get it. Horrible general use RPN calculators. I can’t even remember how to do %Total and % change every time I need it.
I have been using HP RPN/RPL since 1979 (RPN). The Prime behaves a lot like my original HP 33E. I never tried that formula thing on my 49 because to me that's not RPN. And I have used 48GX up to the Prime.
I've briefly used the 48GX, which is considered by many as the most popular RPN calculator by HP, and I didn't like the software. the 49G, which came out in 1999 is the oldest HP I own, and I enjoy the software very much. Fun fact: The 49G, 49g+, 48gII(48g2) and 50G are almost identical from both a software and hardware standpoint. The last 3 even have the same key placement. The major difference between the 4 is the speed.
@@calculator_boy I had a 48SX back in the day, use a 48G emulator on my phone as the closest thing I have to a daily-driver calculator. I tried a 50G emulator and software-wise, it does seem like the final and greatest refinement of the RPL software. I like the way it does algebraic manipulations particularly. And that seven-line display is terrific. On the other hand, I do prefer the 48G's keyboard layout, and I also prefer that on the 48 the functions I'm interested in aren't buried as deeply in as many layers of menus, which I guess is just a function of increasing sheer complexity. I also like that on the 48 you can easily get to a stack-based version of everything with 28S-style menus, whereas it seems like the 50G pushes you more to use the wizard-style interfaces, and sometimes it can be hard just to figure out how to pull arguments for something from the stack (though generally there is some way). So I stick with the emulated 48.
@MattMcIrvin Very well said. I'm not sure which emulator you are using, but "Emu48" is unbelievably good. It has different versions of the 48, 50g,and lots of other legacy HP calculators. It's open source and completely free. Only available for android devices though. I made a video review of it about a year ago.
You could do research in history of RPN on HP calculators then learn what is RPN and RPL and the difference between them. Then you may understand why is there or maybe not but you will better know how to really trash on the HP Prime RPN mode if that still your opinion
RPL/RPN is/was in fact huge simplification of firmware in history - CAS mode detects itself how to correctly form abstract syntax tree of expressions inside :-)
So in the pre-Prime days, HP had two distinct types of RPN. What you're looking at on the 50g is *RPL*, which was a whole language and operating system based on a version of RPN that could manipulate symbolic expressions and had an "infinite" dynamic stack. But they also had a simpler version of RPN with a four-level stack that could originally only manipulate numbers, then got extended in various ways to support complex numbers, matrices, etc., but functions and algebraic expressions weren't first-class objects. This thing on the Prime... I dunno exactly what it is, it seems like they took the simple four-level version of RPN and just made it deeper. Which does seem like a huge step back from the world of RPL--it's just a non-RPL calculator with an RPN mode sort of pasted on. But people who are used to "classic RPN" rather than RPL might think it's fine. That said... HP isn't HP any more, not the company I used to know. They're not making their own calculators in Corvallis any more--these things are made under license by somebody else. And the calculator market isn't what it used to be, either: modern scientific calculators are marketed to students, not to scientists or engineers, so the emphasis in the design is going to be all different. It sounds like the HP35S was a competent nostalgic exercise in making an old-school RPN machine, but that's not the Prime.
HP sold their calculator division to Morovia I believe. And thank you for this clear explanation. That's been my point the entire time. RPN was never a priority for the prime.
Yes. The first HP-35 (named for the 35 keys) was the first calculator that I used back in the mid 1970s. They were hugely expensive and there was one locked to a desk in the physics lab. I have been using RPN ever since. One company that I worked for got us HP-21 (?) calculators that had an algebraic notation option. I had to return mine, and I insisted on the RPN version. The last one I had was an HP-35S (which they allowed for use on the PE exams.) I’m retired now, but I won’t use anything but RPN calculators. BTW, for my money, the HP-15C was the best calculator that I’ve ever owned.
The RPN works perfectly, I'm not sure why this guy is having such a hard time. I'm hooked and wish RPN was available on more calculators. There are more statistics functions than the TI84, more functions in general, really. Matrices can handle complex numbers natively, which is really nice. Complex math in general is really nice, you can switch between polar and rectangular form in two keystrokes. You can put complex numbers into functions like cosh and sinh. The touch screen makes the ridiculous number of functions available easier to find and use. The notes can use special characters like alpha and beta (or a thousand others), and you can make notes in textbook format, which is why you should NEVER use that amazing functionality to cheat on tests. You can change bases like octal, hex, and binary. I had a TI84 Plus right when they came out, and that's what I started college with. I wish I got the Prime right away. It would have helped a lot to double check my answers using CAS since I waited until I forgot math to go back to school. Plus, I wouldn't have had to use SIMULINK for complex matrices. That was never fun.
I would like to know if it's an "RPL feature" that you do: 4 enter, 5 enter, * = 20, when on a true RPN calculator (HP-42s, WP-34s) you would get 25 as the answer, as the second "enter" pushes the five into the Y register? I get the same result as your Prime as my HP-28s (RPL).
The Prime doesn't have any sort of RPL implementation. It runs PPL language, and supports Entry RPN, which HP refers to as advanced RPN. The 42S has classical RPN and the 28s has Entry RPN. So the 28s, which runs RPL, supports the same type of RPN as the Prime running PPL, except that the Prime has a 128 level stack Entry RPN compared to a dynamic stack on the 28s. On a 42s, when you do for example 4 then ENTER, the calculator will copy the number to the level 2 stack or Y register while still keeping that same number into level 1 or X register. The Prime and 28s will solely copy the number into the level 1 stack or the X register, then take another input/number and save that latter to the Y register.
RPL subtly changed the way the ENTER key worked. On RPL calculators, you're not typing directly into the X register, you're typing into a separate entry buffer, and ENTER interprets what you typed and pushes it on the lowest stack level (equivalent to X). ENTER only copies to the second stack level if you're *not* entering data. That's why RPL has a separate programming command called DUP that always copies the lowest stack level. Operators in RPL also do an implicit ENTER if there's data in the input buffer. So if you were to press, say, 4 ENTER 5 *, that would have the same result in classic RPN or in RPL. But 4 ENTER 5 ENTER * would give 25 in classic RPN but 20 in RPL. It sounds as if the Prime's RPN is neither of these, but in this one regard it behaves more like RPL.
I agree with you at a certain extend. There can never be any denying in the convenience of a touchscreen graphing calculator, particularly for graphing. However, RPN still facilitates inputting certain expressions to the stack a lot faster by requiring less key strokes for one, and it doesn't require the extreme use of parenthesis as other calculators operating solely in algebraic mode do. Though it might be less necessary today than it used to be, I still believe it has its place amongst other calculators, as long as there are fields that deal mostly with numbers rather than graphs.
Actually I still find RPN pretty fast for when I need to quickly process. That being said I've seen some people complain about lack of DROP and SWAP keys on the Prime, when the prime makes stack manipulation even speedier as literally tapping on an item in the stack allows you to swap it into the bottom for operations, RPN benefits from the touchscreen as well, much more so than having to cursor through a stack. Simply add its raw power, with still being able to do RPN calculations, and the fact that it ran run programs in python with the most powerful handheld calculator CPU on the market, the Prime is just a no brainer for the one to go to if you need to crunch. I love my older HP's and all, still have my 48SX and 48GX around, but they are toys compared to the prime that I just keep around for nostalgia.
@@tekcomputers hi, The Prime has the SWAP key: it,s the "comma" key on the keyboard, and once you make a stack of numbers you can use the "soft" keys menu to "pick, roll drop, duplicate, etc..." for me the Prime is much better than the old models, at least in the ease of use, which is why I love it. I Remember, my old 48G was really hard for me to learn in the old days.
The eRPN on the Prime is fine and you can enter equations in RPN mode as well, you just do it differently to how you do it on the 49. Maybe read the manual ;-)
RPN requires practice at the beginning but it becomes incredibly efficient if you get the hang of it. I thank god that I learned very young. When I see an equation I already think in RPN.
I agree. Thankfully for me it wasn't too hard to get started. Practicing with very complex equations (That are rarely given anyway) made my learning faster.
I don't understand the big issue. I never had seen it before my HP-41C and it took about 10 seconds to completely understand it. It's just a way of dealing with a stack.
Very efficient for keystroke programming. First RPN hand held was the HP35 in 1972. You can number the non-rpn HPs on one hand.
I have something positive to say about this video. Having watched it, I am now ready to buy a Prime, so that I can continue a 48-year-long love affair with HP and RPN.
You can do the same thing on the Prime. Just first press SHIFT ( ) when entering in an equation (so it appears in quotes). Once you have your equation on the stack, quotes will disappear and you can add to it by entering in additional values (or other equations) and pressing one of the operators.
Also in RPN mode do the same for many of the other operations, such as in Spreadsheets when using functions instead of using =SUM(X1:X5) you must use 'SUM(X1:X5)' (quoting the function instead of adding = in front).
Thanks man! Thar's definitely helpful to know!
Great tip!!
@@calculator_boy I like your video.
Tolg is cheating. Still no CAS !!
@@etch4 What do you mean? Yes there is no RPL on this machine. So? RPN is mostly an efficient way to crunch numbers out of complex formulas - you know, calculating. Any CAS will have its own methodology. If you insist of RPL, get an HP-50g while you can still find one.
I was wrong, Tolg is not cheating, I can do this.
I think the hp50g is better for engineers. I wish they still made it.
we don't want another ti
@@A_tux_linuxwhy not? Competition is always good, well better than a single monopoly
First, HP has always made RPN calculators, since the beginning. Then it would have been nice to explain why it's called RPN it means Reverse Polish Notation ! Then the example you enter in the 49g + is not written in RPN, it's algebraic, because the operators are between the numbers : You enter the expression 2 x 2 this isn't RPN. Sorry but you don't even know what RPN is about... ! The whole philosophy of RPN is to decide the operator at the END, and not in a straight forward procedure :The Expression 2 ENTER, 2 + this is RPN !
2 ENTER 2 + Square, will be 16.
He did RPN.
2 Ex 2.
It was not the multiplication sign !!!
48sx is the pinnacle
... also readily available as Droid48
I appreciate the video although I disagree with some things. The reason for RPN is to remove the total number of keystrokes for calculations that would otherwise require a mess of brackets. You didn't really show how RPN was not working on the prime calculator, or how it was less than the other.
Some things I see: the ENTER key is small on the 49g. The keyboard on those calculators do not look as nice as older HP calculators.
The 48 series is thick and built like a tank. It has double molded keys so the numbers are melted deep through the keys and will never wear off. The keys move on a rocket with a satisfying "click" at the end of sustained pressure and a slight bounce back "pop" to let you know you pushed the key even when not looking at the calculator. It was heavy with big rubber feet, so it wouldn't slip when using with one hand on a table. And the old HP calculators, made by HP are often still working after 50 years.
My question about these calculators is: are they built the way HP built them? Are they like solid hunks of steel? Or are they built by third parties who simply license the HP software and slap them in a soft mushy button device with a color display? Like a Ti or CASIO crap case?
Are these calculators built well? Do they feel great in your hand and allow you to get answers on your display at twice the speed of everyone else in the classroom? And in my opinion, speed comes from your fingers and the case, not the processor.
I watched because I’m considering getting one. This was not a useful review. 4 minutes of you getting frustrated because you clearly haven’t read the manual does not help my buying decisions. Didn’t watch the whole thing.
I'm also considering getting one and this video has not put me off. However, when it comes to the manual, I downloaded it because it doesn't come with the calculator. It's over 500 pages!
@@Chris-hf2sl reading the first couple of pages would probably have sufficed.
Today, I bought some new batteries for my something like 40 year old HP28 RPN calculator. Despite the poor screen, it's the best calculator I've ever owned. (In fact, I've got two of them.) RPN is fantastic, but you do need to get used to it.
1) It uses far fewer keystrokes for anything more than very simple instructions. In the video, he didn't even manage to add two numbers efficiently. He typed "4", "enter", "5", "enter", "+". You don't need the second "enter". "4", "enter", "5", "+" will do the job just fine.
2) It's consistent and hence never confusing. If you want to calculate something like a square root, on some non-RPN calculators you type "√2" but on others, you type "2√". No such confusion exists in RPN.
3) You can see the results of intermediate steps as you go along and you can chain additional calculations on the end easily.
My only complaint about the HP28 (apart from the obsolete style screen mentioned above) is that it can't handle non-integer hexadecimal numbers.
If You wanna do algebra, use CAS, not Home
Oh wow, I never would have figured that one out!
Yes, you have to use CAS mode to do algebra on the HP Prime, but it does not support RPN entry in CAS mode.
Yep... What he is doing isn't a "Feature" of "RPN", it basically has nothing to do with RPN itself. It is merely a feature of the 49g+ calculator used to translate an RPN entry into an infix notation for display, the prime can do either infix or RPN notation so it''s basically am moot point he is raising.
@@tekcomputers The issue is that the 48 series, all the way through the 50g, had a single environment where you could do everything. The system wasn't compartmentalized, and user programs could basically do anything that the user could do themselves.
RPN is not a joke man!. You have get used to it first. You can perform calculations quicker compared to standard algebraic calculations. Especially if you try to solve a long scientific equations with a lot of brackets.
I never said RPN was a joke.
Obviously, any suspected lack of capability or competency does not reside on the product side.
@@StefanBaumgart-qx8st Another waste of walking organs thinking they sound coherent 😂
Just the spreadsheet app on the Prime is worth its cost.
The correct procedure to multiply 4 by 5 is: 4 Enter 5 * NOT 4 Enter 5 Enter *
And I'd argue your method is dumb when dealing with complex expressions.
@@calculator_boy and you’d be wrong.
I used the HP11, 12, 32, 42, and 48 during my working years. My 48 screen started dying so I looked for a replacement. Of course I wanted the latest HP RPN. I HAVE NEVER BEEN SO FRUSTRATED IN MY LIFE. I learned how to use the old calculators in hours. I don’t use a calculator as much, because of being retired, but I. Can’t remember how to do anything on the Prime. I just don’t get it. Horrible general use RPN calculators. I can’t even remember how to do %Total and % change every time I need it.
The Prime can indeed be frustrating.
advice: stop using two hands for key entry. Only one finger hovers over the object when pushing buttons. That way I know what is being pressed.
I have been using HP RPN/RPL since 1979 (RPN). The Prime behaves a lot like my original HP 33E. I never tried that formula thing on my 49 because to me that's not RPN. And I have used 48GX up to the Prime.
I've briefly used the 48GX, which is considered by many as the most popular RPN calculator by HP, and I didn't like the software. the 49G, which came out in 1999 is the oldest HP I own, and I enjoy the software very much.
Fun fact: The 49G, 49g+, 48gII(48g2) and 50G are almost identical from both a software and hardware standpoint. The last 3 even have the same key placement. The major difference between the 4 is the speed.
@@calculator_boy I had a 48SX back in the day, use a 48G emulator on my phone as the closest thing I have to a daily-driver calculator. I tried a 50G emulator and software-wise, it does seem like the final and greatest refinement of the RPL software. I like the way it does algebraic manipulations particularly. And that seven-line display is terrific. On the other hand, I do prefer the 48G's keyboard layout, and I also prefer that on the 48 the functions I'm interested in aren't buried as deeply in as many layers of menus, which I guess is just a function of increasing sheer complexity. I also like that on the 48 you can easily get to a stack-based version of everything with 28S-style menus, whereas it seems like the 50G pushes you more to use the wizard-style interfaces, and sometimes it can be hard just to figure out how to pull arguments for something from the stack (though generally there is some way). So I stick with the emulated 48.
@MattMcIrvin Very well said. I'm not sure which emulator you are using, but "Emu48" is unbelievably good. It has different versions of the 48, 50g,and lots of other legacy HP calculators. It's open source and completely free. Only available for android devices though. I made a video review of it about a year ago.
You could do research in history of RPN on HP calculators then learn what is RPN and RPL and the difference between them. Then you may understand why is there or maybe not but you will better know how to really trash on the HP Prime RPN mode if that still your opinion
I do know the difference between the two; and that will always be my opinion.
RPN and RPL is for kids
RPL/RPN is/was in fact huge simplification of firmware in history - CAS mode detects itself how to correctly form abstract syntax tree of expressions inside :-)
@@7alken oh yes, RPL I used to love it in university
Tried doing this on my 48 and it also solved it. Although I haven’t used that calculator for like 3 years so
So in the pre-Prime days, HP had two distinct types of RPN. What you're looking at on the 50g is *RPL*, which was a whole language and operating system based on a version of RPN that could manipulate symbolic expressions and had an "infinite" dynamic stack. But they also had a simpler version of RPN with a four-level stack that could originally only manipulate numbers, then got extended in various ways to support complex numbers, matrices, etc., but functions and algebraic expressions weren't first-class objects.
This thing on the Prime... I dunno exactly what it is, it seems like they took the simple four-level version of RPN and just made it deeper. Which does seem like a huge step back from the world of RPL--it's just a non-RPL calculator with an RPN mode sort of pasted on. But people who are used to "classic RPN" rather than RPL might think it's fine.
That said... HP isn't HP any more, not the company I used to know. They're not making their own calculators in Corvallis any more--these things are made under license by somebody else. And the calculator market isn't what it used to be, either: modern scientific calculators are marketed to students, not to scientists or engineers, so the emphasis in the design is going to be all different. It sounds like the HP35S was a competent nostalgic exercise in making an old-school RPN machine, but that's not the Prime.
HP sold their calculator division to Morovia I believe. And thank you for this clear explanation. That's been my point the entire time. RPN was never a priority for the prime.
I believe the HP35 was the first I remember that had RPN, followed shortly by the HP45 which I bought back in 1974. Great calculator at the time!
Yes. The first HP-35 (named for the 35 keys) was the first calculator that I used back in the mid 1970s. They were hugely expensive and there was one locked to a desk in the physics lab. I have been using RPN ever since. One company that I worked for got us HP-21 (?) calculators that had an algebraic notation option. I had to return mine, and I insisted on the RPN version. The last one I had was an HP-35S (which they allowed for use on the PE exams.) I’m retired now, but I won’t use anything but RPN calculators. BTW, for my money, the HP-15C was the best calculator that I’ve ever owned.
Dude... are you rowing crew or something? Those are some serious callouses...
Freestyle Calisthenics
I recently bought an HP Prime. Please don't just tell me what's wrong with it. Any comments about its strengths, other than speed?
The RPN works perfectly, I'm not sure why this guy is having such a hard time. I'm hooked and wish RPN was available on more calculators.
There are more statistics functions than the TI84, more functions in general, really.
Matrices can handle complex numbers natively, which is really nice. Complex math in general is really nice, you can switch between polar and rectangular form in two keystrokes.
You can put complex numbers into functions like cosh and sinh.
The touch screen makes the ridiculous number of functions available easier to find and use.
The notes can use special characters like alpha and beta (or a thousand others), and you can make notes in textbook format, which is why you should NEVER use that amazing functionality to cheat on tests.
You can change bases like octal, hex, and binary.
I had a TI84 Plus right when they came out, and that's what I started college with. I wish I got the Prime right away. It would have helped a lot to double check my answers using CAS since I waited until I forgot math to go back to school. Plus, I wouldn't have had to use SIMULINK for complex matrices. That was never fun.
It seems that you don't really know what RPN is.
Worst demonstration video I’ve ever wasted my time to watch. This guy hasn’t a clue what he’s talking about.
Apply for a refund and send your complain to my manager.
I would like to know if it's an "RPL feature" that you do: 4 enter, 5 enter, * = 20, when on a true RPN calculator (HP-42s, WP-34s) you would get 25 as the answer, as the second "enter" pushes the five into the Y register? I get the same result as your Prime as my HP-28s (RPL).
The Prime doesn't have any sort of RPL implementation. It runs PPL language, and supports Entry RPN, which HP refers to as advanced RPN. The 42S has classical RPN and the 28s has Entry RPN. So the 28s, which runs RPL, supports the same type of RPN as the Prime running PPL, except that the Prime has a 128 level stack Entry RPN compared to a dynamic stack on the 28s.
On a 42s, when you do for example 4 then ENTER, the calculator will copy the number to the level 2 stack or Y register while still keeping that same number into level 1 or X register. The Prime and 28s will solely copy the number into the level 1 stack or the X register, then take another input/number and save that latter to the Y register.
@@calculator_boy Thanks for the Info.
RPL subtly changed the way the ENTER key worked. On RPL calculators, you're not typing directly into the X register, you're typing into a separate entry buffer, and ENTER interprets what you typed and pushes it on the lowest stack level (equivalent to X). ENTER only copies to the second stack level if you're *not* entering data. That's why RPL has a separate programming command called DUP that always copies the lowest stack level.
Operators in RPL also do an implicit ENTER if there's data in the input buffer. So if you were to press, say, 4 ENTER 5 *, that would have the same result in classic RPN or in RPL. But 4 ENTER 5 ENTER * would give 25 in classic RPN but 20 in RPL.
It sounds as if the Prime's RPN is neither of these, but in this one regard it behaves more like RPL.
@@MattMcIrvin Thx.
Learning curve is something that U missed...
The purpose of RPN was to manipulate quantitities the best possible way...The touch screen on the Prime makes it pretty much irrelevant today
I agree with you at a certain extend. There can never be any denying in the convenience of a touchscreen graphing calculator, particularly for graphing. However, RPN still facilitates inputting certain expressions to the stack a lot faster by requiring less key strokes for one, and it doesn't require the extreme use of parenthesis as other calculators operating solely in algebraic mode do.
Though it might be less necessary today than it used to be, I still believe it has its place amongst other calculators, as long as there are fields that deal mostly with numbers rather than graphs.
Actually I still find RPN pretty fast for when I need to quickly process. That being said I've seen some people complain about lack of DROP and SWAP keys on the Prime, when the prime makes stack manipulation even speedier as literally tapping on an item in the stack allows you to swap it into the bottom for operations, RPN benefits from the touchscreen as well, much more so than having to cursor through a stack.
Simply add its raw power, with still being able to do RPN calculations, and the fact that it ran run programs in python with the most powerful handheld calculator CPU on the market, the Prime is just a no brainer for the one to go to if you need to crunch.
I love my older HP's and all, still have my 48SX and 48GX around, but they are toys compared to the prime that I just keep around for nostalgia.
@@tekcomputers hi, The Prime has the SWAP key: it,s the "comma" key on the keyboard, and once you make a stack of numbers you can use the "soft" keys menu to "pick, roll drop, duplicate, etc..." for me the Prime is much better than the old models, at least in the ease of use, which is why I love it. I Remember, my old 48G was really hard for me to learn in the old days.
Rpn is just old, let it die
Try DB48X.