25 Apr
2007
25 Apr
'07
9:20 a.m.
On 25 Apr 2007 at 2:31, Sridhar Ayengar wrote:
I've read the reviews of the HP 16C online for a
long time, and people
are always singing their praises.
When I'm writing assembler, I always have my HP 28S within arm's reach,
and I definitely see its value. Does anyone have information regarding
features present in the 16C that aren't present in the 28S?
Shrug. If the truth be told, I suspect that most programmers using
the 16C probably don't use it for much more than 4 (well maybe 6 with
shift and booleans) banger arithmetic. I can't even remember when I
last used the programming features on mine.
But, as a simple calculator for hex, it's got a better laid-out
keyboard and a less-cluttered display than the two-sided 28S/C. I
do get irritated from time to time by the display not being able to
show an entire 64-bit number without scrolling to the right and left.
The 16C can form a 128-bit product; can the 28S?
And the batteries last pretty much forever. I've replaced them once
since I bought the thing almost 25 years ago. Not too shabby.
I wish HP would re-introduce the thing. There are some improvements
that would make it more useful. I suspect the market for them is
even smaller than it was in 1982, however. There are more
programmers around, but few have the need to work regularly in
binary.
Cheers,
Chuck