| Electronics > Beginners |
| EE Pros: Is RPN still relevant? |
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| MrAl:
Hi, I see that in most of this thread that RPN is being taken as some sort of physical calculator with buttons and the like, but RPN is not just a kind of calculator, it's a way of evaluating expressions and this means it has wider application than in just an RPN calculator. For example, most Infix calculators probably use RPN internally, because that's the best way to evaluate expressions, for a machine. In human terms, Infix is more widely used but once entered into a device the chances are that sooner or later it will be converted into an RBN string because that is easier for a machine to understand. There's much less logic to doing an expression with RPN than with Infix where you could have 100 parentheses waiting around for that last one to be able to finish the calculation. I've used both low end HP's and high end HP's and low end TI's and high end TI's and i can tell you that for a calculator the least important thing is whether or not it does RPN or not. The most important thing is what kind of apps you can use with it. If you work in a certain field and you cant get an app for something you need to calculate, you want want that calculator. This means that ultimately the best 'calculator' choice is not a calculator at all but a laptop. If you just want to bang around with it then it doesnt matter as much, but for your main work you'll get what you need. Back in the old days when i first discovered the TI high end calc's i loved them, and they did all kinds of stuff. Then i met the advanced HP that did Fourier and Laplace Transforms, then i went back to the TI when it came with even more advanced functions. They are all on the sidelines now, now that i have software for the PC that i wrote myself and also some that i downloaded, and none of those advanced calculators, even all taken together, can even come close to what i have on the computer these days. |
| David Hess:
--- Quote from: MrAl on March 06, 2017, 06:50:10 pm ---They are all on the sidelines now, now that i have software for the PC that i wrote myself and also some that i downloaded, and none of those advanced calculators, even all taken together, can even come close to what i have on the computer these days. --- End quote --- I use Mathematica but in parallel with my RPN HP50g. A computer and even PDA lacks the convenience of a dedicated calculator when I am designing on paper. The calculator is portable, I don't have to worry about the batteries dying, and it has a superior user interface unless something much more complex is being done and not even then sometimes. Oddly enough it is often faster as well although the 48 MHz ARM based HP50g is slower than the 4 MHz 4-bit HP48g that it replaced. It looks to me like HP is leaving the calculator business so I suspect RPN as used as a calculator interface will finally succumb. |
| eugenenine:
--- Quote from: jakeisprobably on March 06, 2017, 06:15:55 am --- --- Quote from: xrunner on March 06, 2017, 02:37:35 am ---I was browsing Ebay and just for the fun of it searched for the HP 42S (which I still have). They are going for over $200! --- End quote --- ...thus the real reason for starting this thread... I saw how much people were selling RPN calculators for on eBay and figured I was missing something here.... Too many YT cool kids are playing with them. I wanted to know why. This thread is awesome. Thanks ;) --- End quote --- Most anything retro si in now. Do a search for Commodore or Amiga or even Atari and you'll see the same high prices. |
| eugenenine:
--- Quote from: MrAl on March 06, 2017, 06:50:10 pm ---They are all on the sidelines now, now that i have software for the PC that i wrote myself and also some that i downloaded, and none of those advanced calculators, even all taken together, can even come close to what i have on the computer these days. --- End quote --- When we all used calculators you couldn't fit a computer in your pocket. One of my early projects was making a data acquisition board for my 48sx. I gave up on that project after a while when you were able to buy DMM's, DSO's etc that could communicate with a PC/laptop. When I learned that forth was postfix I started looking into it, before I wasn't interested as I though it just another language. Now a days I don't use my hp as much as I would like but the feel of the keyboard is still there. Its like asking someone why they have a manual transmission. In reality its probably not relevant much anymore, I still prefer to design my wooddorking or schematics on paper, never got used to cad either. |
| rstofer:
--- Quote from: MrAl on March 06, 2017, 06:50:10 pm --- Back in the old days when i first discovered the TI high end calc's i loved them, and they did all kinds of stuff. Then i met the advanced HP that did Fourier and Laplace Transforms, then i went back to the TI when it came with even more advanced functions. They are all on the sidelines now, now that i have software for the PC that i wrote myself and also some that i downloaded, and none of those advanced calculators, even all taken together, can even come close to what i have on the computer these days. --- End quote --- For the last month, I have been playing with wxMaxima on a PC and it is terrific! No calculator will ever compare to this CAS (Computer Algebra System) with a 27" screen. About this, I am an evangelist! I believe! Not all that many people actually need a CAS in their everyday lives. Those who work in tech probably do but they are probably already using such a thing. Everybody in a college STEM program needs something. I just use the calculators for grunt number crunching. Maple and Octave are also highly regarded as CAS programs. Maple tends to cost money and, although I have downloaded Octave, I haven't started using it. I'm still learning about wxMaxima. Matlab needs to be on the list as well. Mathworks has libraries for everything! |
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