New HP50G

[Scotty]

[Some serious comments, some nonesense. Hope it's not too much of a
waste of bandwidth].

Yes, I just bought an HP50G even though I just bought an HP49G+
recently. I wanted the serial feature, the darker color, and the main
difference: to finally be able to load "specific" software that
doesn't have me guessing if a 49G program will crash on my 49G+, etc.
Also, I wanted a calculator to match Debug4X <g>.

Initial summary:

The color is a lot darker than expected. I thought it would be a
48GX-brown, but it's pretty black. I love the color orange, so the
white and orange of the keys and lables makie that nice for me.

Styling wse, it looks kind of "clunky" compared to the "curves" of the
49G+ (due to the color variations). Since I'm turning 40 in August
and developing a little belly (7 years of relationship), the 50G looks
more like "me" than the somewhat girlish 49G+.

The 50G screen has a small white speck up by the annunciator icon
that drives me crazy. My partner says he can't really see it, but my
eye goes straight there. This is not a general calculator "feature."
It just happens to be on mine.

The left edge of the display cover seems a bit misaligned and jagged.
It drives me nuts, but I may be able to get used to the cosmetic
stuff. Again, this may not be on everyone's device.

The keyboard is similar to the 620 series HP49G+, although a bit
softer. It feels good. It's not as loud as the 49G+, but both are
very similar.

The 50G's display contrast is actually better than the 49G+, even
though the serial number for the 50G indicates that it was built
*before* the 49G+ <g>. The 49G+ has a color wash of semi-contrasted
pixels at a useable contrast setting, where the 50G's contrast can be
turned down to about 4 for a totally B/W usable screen. Side-by-side,
the 50G's display is a lot darker (more black color) than the somewhat
washed-out, blueish?, display of the 49G+. I'm very happy with the
display of the 50G. For some reason, the 50G's display "looks" bigger
physically than the 49G+'s display. Could be the black styling.

Going into the purchase, I thought that 512k RAM was an increase over
the 49G+, but it's not. They both have about the same of RAM.

I prefer the 50G's PDF reference manual and have loaded that into my
VGA PDA. It is perfectly readable on the VGA device and should be a
great reference. As an aside, I called my local FedEx-Kinko's to find
out how much it would cost to get the manual and the 49G+ AUR printed
and bound and it was about $200. Ouch! I'm using my 48GX printed AUR
and my PDA.

Since my initial want was for the serial port (to replace my 48GX,
which is still in perfect working condition, just a bit slow),
searching through the 880+ page manual yielded ONE instance of the
word "serial." It basically said it could be done. Thanks,
sweatheart.

With both calcs in-hand, Doug and I can play IR "battleship" while
sitting across from each other on the train to Vancouver. It was
worth every penny.

Cheers,
Scott

[Jean-Yves Avenard]

Scotty wrote:
> and the main
> difference: to finally be able to load "specific" software that
> doesn't have me guessing if a 49G program will crash on my 49G+, etc.
> Also, I wanted a calculator to match Debug4X <g>.

That's a weird argument provided that the 50G and 49G+ run the same
firmware and any application running on the 49g+ will run just the same
on the 50g...
So you will always have to "guess" as you wrote

JY

[ME]

In other words besides the color , extra battery and RS-232 your money
mostly went to *a new (albeit somewhat more expensive) keyboard*
How do you like it?
"Jean-Yves Avenard" <m...@privacy.net> wrote in message
news:4j5a0sF...@individual.net...

[Avatar_e]

ME ha escrito:

More expensive? If you don't have any calculator already is just more
for less... it's not *directly* a upgrade, is a complete new product...
you can't plug new functions/fixes in your actual hp49g+ :-(

[hga...@xmission.com]

Here I disagree. The 50G screen has a reddish tint which is slightly
blurry and becomes annoying after some time. This can be seen if one
compares both screens under an incandescent light source. The 49G+
screen is more neutral and has better contrast! The 49G+ screen is
clearly darker (more black color) and also sharper to my eyes.

[cyrille de Brebisson]

hello,

the 2 screen are from the same manufacturer and have the same part
number....

cyrille

<hga...@xmission.com> wrote in message
news:1154359231....@b28g2000cwb.googlegroups.com...

[Scotty]

On Mon, 31 Jul 2006 12:59:39 +1000, Jean-Yves Avenard <m...@privacy.net>
wrote:

I understand that. When I wrote that I was thinking in my mind that
something would be laid-out at hpcalc.org that better seperated the
49g+ and 50G. When I look now, I see a little icon that says "49G" as
a tooltip, and some of the programs that I install on my 49g+/50g
don't get along very well.

I'm not always the best communicator <f>. In hindsight, I wish I
could just delete the whole post.

Best,
Scott

[Scotty]

Yup, it's the same thing. BUT, it has '232, which means it now can
replace my HP48GX! That's what the money's for.

I like the keyboard okay. Also, the screen has better contrast than
the 49g+, but it may be a production run thing?

--Scott

[Scotty]

On 31 Jul 2006 08:20:31 -0700, "hga...@xmission.com"
<hga...@xmission.com> wrote:

I don't know if it's a production run; I'll see if I can take a
picture of both screens. Perhaps HP just pulls parts out of a bin
that go to both calcs? Clearly, the HP50g screen (for me) has much
better contrast than the 49g+.

--Scott

[Scotty]

Not sure what to make of the display. I put the 49g+ and 50g
side-by-side again. Performed an ON-D and performed the LCD test.
With both units on the same screen, the 50g, at its level of 07, has
many more bias pixels illuminated. So, with that, I turned it down to
04 to get a readable display. On the 49g+, the same 07 level yields a
significantly lower level of bias pixels.

Then, with the calculator screen in normal stack mode, it appeared
that the 50g's screen was darker than the 49g+ and I believe that's
the case, but when I turn the 49g+ down to 04, there's actually fewer
"bias" pixels (my words, I don't know what else to call them) on the
49g+, which some could interpret as being better cotrast? IMO, the
50g's screen is definitely more "black," but it seems to come at a
price of more bias pixels.

Not sure if I can capture the difference with digital media, but I'll
try to post a representaive picture so I don't have to spend 1,000
words to describe it <g>.

Cheers,
Scott

[hga...@xmission.com]

I don't doubt that. Perhaps you are right and it is a production run
issue. Don't get me wrong, I can live with the 50G screen, but all I
can say that the screen of my 50G has a slightly reddish tint, compared
to my 49G+ (which has a geenish-greyish tint). The red will go away,
however, by repeatedly pressing <<ON>>-<<->>, but then the contrast is
a little on the weak side.

The serial # of my 50G is CNA 618...
The serial # of my 49G+ is CNA 452...

[Scotty]

On Mon, 31 Jul 2006 17:45:16 GMT, Scotty <blueel...@hotmail.com>
wrote:

Here's a photoo of both screens at minimum contrast. The 50g appears
darker for the given contrast, although side-by-side at higher levels,
the 50g may have more "bias" pixels, even though it's a bit darker
than the 49g+.

http://www.fuzzypenguin.org/anon/CalcScreens.jpg

My 49G+ s/n is 620+ and my HP50G s/n is 618+.

Regards,
Scott

[hga...@xmission.com]

Thanks for the photos. I can see what you have been describing, and
would agree with you (at minimum contrast, your 50G does appear
darker). I'll try to post photos later, for what it's worth.

[aplnub]

I am pretty sure you don't know what you are talking about. I just ran
a sub-atomic molecular scan with the latest Star Trek modifications and
they are defintely different.

;-)

Eric Barger

[horsz...@gmail.com]

So did the 50g come with two sets of cables, one USB and on Serial?

Thanks

Luis

[hga...@xmission.com]

Mine came with USB only.

[Scotty]

On 31 Jul 2006 12:48:15 -0700, horsz...@gmail.com wrote:

>So did the 50g come with two sets of cables, one USB and on Serial?
>
>Thanks
>
>Luis
>

Only USB. Someone posted a picture of a mini-USB B but I'm still not
sure what the "formal" cable definition is for the 50g.

Cheers,
Scott

[hga...@xmission.com]

Here is my picture. Voila, 50g has a more reddish screen, 49g+ a more
greenish screen.

However, I believe these are production run variations. Also, I used
my 49g+ quite heavily outdoors, so maybe the sunlight altered its
screen color somewhat.

http://www.kgprog.com/pic.jpg

[JT]

Are you pretty sure that this isn't an illusion due to the
darker color of the HP50G around the screen as opposed
to the lighter color of the 49G+ around the screen? Not
doubting you, just asking if it is a possibility.
In other words, if someone made a paper cutout to mask
the color of the calculator and to only let the majority of
the screen show - are you still able to detect the reddish
tint of the 50G screen and the greenish tint of the 49G+
screen?

[markb]

JT wrote:
> Are you pretty sure that this isn't an illusion due to the
> darker color of the HP50G around the screen as opposed
> to the lighter color of the 49G+ around the screen? Not
> doubting you, just asking if it is a possibility.
> In other words, if someone made a paper cutout to mask
> the color of the calculator and to only let the majority of
> the screen show - are you still able to detect the reddish
> tint of the 50G screen and the greenish tint of the 49G+
> screen?

Yes, the 50g screen has a red tint in the photo. You can copy the
photo into a graphics program and move the 50g screen next to the 49G+
screen to see the difference.

[cyrille de Brebisson]

hello,

the LCD level setup has slightly changed and is now calibrated in the
factory, so level 7 one calculator does not always correspond exactly to the
same thing on another calculator.

cyrille

"Scotty" <blueel...@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:kvfsc21f95orcc31q...@4ax.com...

[hga...@xmission.com]

Yes, I noticed that. However, at comparable (to the naked eye)
contrast levels, there is a noticeable difference (reddish tint on 50G,
greenish tint on 49G+). But it could be a wear-and-tear issue,
exposure to sunlight, different voltage (4.5 volts vs. 6 volts), I'm
not sure.