Re: LZ: HP48 v.s. TI-85
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Re: LZ: HP48 v.s. TI-85
On Mon, 29 Jul 1996, SPARKY wrote:
> How much more does a HP48 cost than a TI-85? Does it have assembly? Is
> it faster? How does it transfer files from Computer to Calculator? Is
> it better? Why?
The 48G costs about $99 and the 48GX is about $199. The difference is
that the G has 32k and is not expandable and the GX has 128k and 2
expansion slots. It can be expanded to 1.2 meg currently and if larger
cards become available (Epson is negotiating for 2 and 4 meg cards now)
up to 4.2 meg.
There are a number of on-board assembly development systems. The system
of choice is Jazz, which includes an assembler, symbolic disassembler,
editor and a lot of other tools, including sysrpl, the mid-level language
on the 48. Jazz is one of the most elegant development tools I've ever
seen on any computer. It does require a 48GX because of it's size, and
for practical use it needs a ram card as well.
The 48 has a standard RS-232 port and a non-standard connector. It has
both kermit and xmodem built into rom. I use kermit to transfer files.
Is it better? That depends. It's more powerful in many ways but it's
much harder to learn to use than the 85. Once learned, I think it's
much easier to use. If you're in for the long term it's worth the
learning curve. If you're not, then the 85 is probably better.
Keep in mind that my math uses for a calculator are limited and my
comments about the 48 being more powerful are more about it's configurabity
and it's computer like abilities than about it's math.
Barry
References: