Too Frustrating, Horrible Documentation, Not Recommended
I am an engineer and purchased this calculator (based on amazon reviews) for graduate engineering courses. Several weeks into classes (many hours trying to figure out the functions) it was too difficult to understand quickly and I abandoned it for the semester. I used an hp calculator in undergrad engineering but the complicated new menu layout and the horrible documentation make an awful combination.
I have now spent more 40 hours trying to figure this calculator out and still consider myself confused. I find the examples in the manual poorly written and poorly indexed. Even basic functions are too complicated. Many examples just don't work. For entering a 3x3 matrix I followed the example. There are actually two steps missing which you have to guess and find yourself. Someone should thoroughly test these first.
After feeling I was deceived I went back and looked at the other hp50 amazon reviews carefully. In 20 of the 5 star reviews the reviewer only reviewed the hp50 product which now makes me suspicious. In addition, 15 other excellent reviews are from foreign countries in such simplistic and incorrect english that I wonder if they really saw, used, learned, or tried to program the hp50.
Even re-reading many of the other 4 and 5 star reviews that I think are genuine I noticed a lot of "however..." comments.
Before you buy here are some of my comments. Many are mentioned in other reviews but I give them here to justify my review number.
- Documentation is horrible (as mentioned in many other good and bad reviews)
-Way too frustrating to learn how to use the product
- Many functions are two strokes (shift+function) (like x2)
-888 page manual (4" thick), colossal waste of paper, hardly any writing on each page
- Because the PDF manual is so big it is difficult to navigate
-Index alone is 25 pages, could be on 6-7 pages, too much flipping pages to find things
- ENTER key is now bottom right of calculator (further to travel to enter data)
-I don't like the heavy leather case: clumsy and weighs almost as much as the hp50
-Its a nice case for opera glasses, but for a calculator it should be light and easy/fast to remove (its not)
- Case with calculator inside approaches 2 inches thick (is that necessary?)
- It has a weird magnetic case button that doesn't seal on the first try, you have to push it around until the magnet connects properly every time you close it
- Navigation up,down,right,left buttons are hard to push, slow, and have a loud click
- Battery cover comes off when removing calculator from case, poorly made in China
On the positive side the unit itself seems sturdy not unlike my original hp. Keys are relatively solid. I haven't experienced any mistaken or extra keystrokes as others have, but it is still new. Screen seems fine.
I'm stuck with it (almost 3 months so far) so maybe after another 3 months I'll start to change my mind.
In summary, if you want to own a calculator for 3-6 months and still have no idea how it works, and if you like feeling stupid and frustrated, this is the calculator for you. You will be guessing how functions work and wasting a lot of time.
I equate the experience to learning a completely new programming language by myself with no help from anyone and little documentation. This should not be from HP.
It appears many satisfied hp50 users are people who already own the hp48 (which i did not), and with years of experience with that product the learning curve might be fine.
Save yourself the headache and carefully read the 5star/4star reviews. You will see that many have a "however..." section talking about the bad points. I wish i would have read them more carefully before I bought.
The product is too frustrating. Not recommended.
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