Well, I witnessed it today.  HP's newest calculator hit the shelves of our
University bookstore.  It is _simply_ amazing.  I've got to rid myself of my
HP 28s and get this sucker.

Some things I noticed right off.  The screen is much larger and more square.
The actual text dimensions are 8 lines by 22 characters, where the 28s is
4 lines by 23 characters.  The LCD also has a sort of blue tint to it.  I'm
not sure what causes this, but it does look better (sort of Macintoshy).

The machine itself is slightly larger than a 41.  It doesn't fold like the
28s either.  Rather, they have two (maybe three) shift keys for using the
several different functions of each key.  I tried to try out the integral
solver to see if that was improved, but I couldn't figure out how to enter
the equation!  Also, for 28 fans who are concerned that HP has gone backwards
to produce a successor to the 41 rather than the 28, be not concerned.  This
calculator is much more like the 28 than the 41.

The salesman gave me a photocopy of a comparison sheet that HP put out.  These
are some of the features of the 48sx that the 28s does not have.

HP 48sx                  	HP 28s
---------------------------------------------------
2100 functions			1500 functions
8 line by 22 char display 	4 line by 23 char
Curve fit (LIN,LOG,EXP,POW)
Automatic best curve fit
128 flags			64 flags
Application cards
Archive function
30K standard			32K
Maximum of 256K expandable	none
Redefinable keyboard (user)
RS-232C interface
Two-way infrared I/O
2 plug-in ports
Fractionalize functions
Summation
Polar vectors
Cylindrical/Spherical vectors
HP Matrix writer application
HP EquationWriter application
Unit management (?)
Root, slope, area under curve
Local extremes, intersection, F'
Conic sec, pol, para. truth plots
Bar, histogram, scatter plots
Zoom, Z-box, line box, arc graphic control
n, I%YR, PV, PMT, FV (business ap card)
Time and date calculations (built in)
Alarms and appointments


That's it.  The two-way IR sounds really exciting.  I wonder how well it will
work across a room :-).  And finally, the cost.  The bookstore wasn't too
much below suggested retail.  $350.00.  I doubt that will drop for some
time because of the hardcore-upgraders like myself scrambling to get one.

By the way, if anyone wants to buy a 28s, loaded with time, fraction, games,
integral functions (soon to be posted), along with a nice handmade leather
case, let me know.  I'd probably part with it for around $140.00 (during
spring break of course).

[pete@slack.uucp]       [...utah-cs!i-core!slack!pete]        [slack=AMIGA!!]