HP 48GX Ebay Lemon

[Zucca]

It was cheap... then I discovered this...



well... failed, but I will not returning it  it is too funny

[HighVoltage]

You think is was a genuine mistake by HP or the previous owner fooled around with it?
Hard to be believe it left the factory like this.
Almost looks like it was painted on.

[Zucca]

You think is was a genuine mistake by HP or the previous owner fooled around with it?

No idea. After looking at it very closely there are no traces of a "square X". Yes that crazy key looks like something between a painted one and a defect production key.
I guess for some obscure reasons that key was simply replaced.
Weird.

[Zero999]

Could it be fake?

[Neganur]

Oh man! What are the odds!!

[Rick Law]

The out of place right pointing arrow key should be a square-root-of-x key. 

It would be unreasonable to expect someone would take that much trouble to repaint a sqrt(x) to an arrow.  That would not make sense.

I suspect it felt off, took to a non-hp store like "Joe's Computer Repair" type store for repair, and they stuff in a key that they got laying around that happens to fit.

"Joe's Computer Repair" is imaginary.  You get the idea of the kind of shop I am talking about.

[Neganur]

The keyboard is one piece of plastic, you can't swap the keys.

[Rick Law]

The keyboard is one piece of plastic, you can't swap the keys.

I was thinking it would be like some of the older calculator or laptop keyboards I had disassembled.    I know newer calculators are one piece for keyboard,  The HP48 is very old.

If it is one piece of plastic, that has me muffed too now.  How did the sqrt(x) key got painted wrong...  If it was out of the factory properly labeled, why would someone go through the trouble of messing it up?

That is an interesting puzzle, hate to sound distrusting, are you sure it is one piece for this 20 year old calculator or are you guessing?

[nctnico]

Oh man! What are the odds!!

Post the serial numbers. Maybe they are sequential or very close.

[SeanB]

You can always cut a section out of a dead keyboard and weld a donor piece in place, keep the hinge area intact and weld the frame only.

[HighVoltage]

Oh man! What are the odds!!

Near impossible.
These were still the good quality days of HP, when the 48GX was built and it is hard to believe that the keys got mixed up at the factory.
But then ... where would someone get an extra key?
Very weird indeed.

[lapm]

Lol, had to dig up my old trusty HP-48GX to see what key should be there..  Mine is normal...

Maybe someone had broken key cap and they took key from old broken calculator to replace?

[amyk]

That is an interesting puzzle, hate to sound distrusting, are you sure it is one piece for this 20 year old calculator or are you guessing?

Yes. Look at the pictures here: http://users.ju.edu/hduong/repair/ and the one here: http://www.hpmuseum.org/cgi-sys/cgiwrap/hpmuseum/archv011.cgi?read=30545

They are the same style of keys used in the 22S 32S, 42S, and several other HP calculators. Lovely tactile feedback, but they tend to break off after prolonged use.

[daybyter]

Maybe you can sell it for millions like those old stamp misprints?

[Rick Law]

That is an interesting puzzle, hate to sound distrusting, are you sure it is one piece for this 20 year old calculator or are you guessing?

Yes. Look at the pictures here: http://users.ju.edu/hduong/repair/ and the one here: http://www.hpmuseum.org/cgi-sys/cgiwrap/hpmuseum/archv011.cgi?read=30545

They are the same style of keys used in the 22S 32S, 42S, and several other HP calculators. Lovely tactile feedback, but they tend to break off after prolonged use.

Thanks for the link!  Seeing that, I have to accept it is one-piece-rubber.

You can always cut a section out of a dead keyboard and weld a donor piece in place, keep the hinge area intact and weld the frame only.

I think that is exactly what has been done during last repair to replace the original damaged SQRT(x) key - probably using another calculator.  Perhaps miss-cut the replacement damaging the replacement SQRT(x).  So for second try, with the replacement SQRT(x) already damaged, rather than choosing one with wrong key label, they choose the arrow.

Of course, pure guess work.  Just trying to come up with a "workable scenario".

[Zucca]

Back in those days, here what happend at the HP GX48 production line.

[New Production Eng. at HP, Mr Dickhead]
"I don´t understand why they don´t optimize the code for the HP48GX key in that production machine"
"Oh well, I tell nothing to anybody, that´s surely a good idea. Crystal clear..."

[Months later, Quality Manager calls]
"Hey Dick, there is a big problem. Some 48GXs have been shipped with a "right arrow" key instead of the "root X" one"

[Mr Dickhead]
"No problem boss I will take care of it"

[Quality Manager]
"Thanks, I want an update for noon tomorrow. It is a big issue"

[Mr Dickhead]
"Sure!"

[Mr Dickhead runs to the line machine which was updated by his smart brain]
"Let´s see, very easy I just need to change it back. Where was that menu? Mmmm I should have done a backup. Oh well here it is. Done"

[Mr Dickhead, calls Quality Manager]
"Boss, there was a glitch in the system. I fix the sporadic problem and on top of that I implemented an extra check to see if this issue was contained. All the double "right arrow" will be catched..."

[Quality Manager]
"Thanks" - and keep moving in his busy life.

[Quality Manager thinks]
"That Mr. Dick is strange, I should had ask more details on that issue, oh well now the problem is gone who cares"

[Months later, Quality Manager got another bomb from the customer service department]
"What? Now there is a "root x" instead of the "right arrow" in the filed? Sh....

[Quality Manager calls mr. Dickhead]
"You are fired"

[Dickhead]
"Why Boss? the line is green with no issue!"

[Quality Manager]
"That´s why you are fired"

[Dickhead]
"You are a Dickhead! I will leave now"

[1 week later, Quality Manager report to the HP CEO board]
"The double key issue is fixed and I fired the responsible, only a few customers got the defects products. Since the calculator is fully functional I suggest to not recall the products and provide free returns/exchange for the customers who complains"

[HP CEO board]
"Good job, let´s move one to the next point in the agenda"

and in 2015, many years later, someone posted a double key issue on the EEVBLOG...