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I've been surprised that there hasn't been a good, programmable calculator app gain wide traction.

joezydeco 12y ago
I left my HP42S in the drawer at home and now use the Free42 simulator on iOS. It's insanely handy. http://thomasokken.com/free42/ http://thomasokken.com/free42/ I know some here have mentioned the 48G, the 42S was always a bit more useful and compact for my day-to-day use.
- ghaff 12y ago
  I used an HP41C for many years (replacing an HP55). I found it had a better key feel than later models. I bought an HP28S at some point but I never much cared for it and, to tell the truth, didn't need a graphing calculator at that point anyway. I only used a TI for one year in college. This was during the period when calculator prices were dropping very quickly and between entering college and becoming a sophomore HP prices dropped to something relatively affordable and I never looked back. It doesn't have the key feel obviously but I use an HP41 emulator on my iPhone.
  - CWuestefeld 12y ago
    As a denizen of HN, maybe you're the kind of person to have been exposed to "synthetic programming" on the HP41?
    - joe_bleau 12y ago
      The phrase "synthetic programming" certainly brings back fond memories for me. Something about entering a weird but valid program instruction, then removing a memory module and power cycling to forcibly corrupt the RAM and build the initial wedge to then enter the synthetic codes?
    - ghaff 12y ago
      I think I actually bought a book on the topic at one point but never ended up doing a lot with it. Unfortunately my HP41 is pretty much dead at this point (battery leak and a flaky key) and it's one of those things I can't really justify replacing. (And, like assembly language, I think I'll probably keep HP calculator programming in the "it was cool at the time" bucket :-))
SAI_Peregrinus 12y ago
Graph89 is a port of a TI-89 emulator to Android. Works quite well. You need a ROM image from a calculator, but TI actually has them for download on the website, which saves effort.
bane 12y ago
One of the first things I install on all my phones is Andie Graph. It provides very good emulation of all the Z80 based TI calcs. https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=net.supware.tipro https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=net.supware.ti...
stdbrouw 12y ago
http://calca.io/ http://calca.io/ doesn't have graphing, but it's pretty wonderful otherwise. (But FWIW, I'd rather see general-purpose programming become easier to use than calculators become more complex.)
No1 12y ago
TI afficionados should check out GraphNCalc83 for iOS. Behaves like a modern calculator should (touch interactive, colorized graphs), no ROM shenanigans necessary, and a very familiar interface. All the TI-83 programs I've thrown at it have worked so far.
fluidcruft 12y ago
You can't use phones to take tests.

I left my HP42S in the drawer at home and now use the Free42 simulator on iOS. It's insanely handy. http://thomasokken.com/free42/ http://thomasokken.com/free42/ I know some here have mentioned the 48G, the 42S was always a bit more useful and compact for my day-to-day use.

ghaff 12y ago
I used an HP41C for many years (replacing an HP55). I found it had a better key feel than later models. I bought an HP28S at some point but I never much cared for it and, to tell the truth, didn't need a graphing calculator at that point anyway. I only used a TI for one year in college. This was during the period when calculator prices were dropping very quickly and between entering college and becoming a sophomore HP prices dropped to something relatively affordable and I never looked back. It doesn't have the key feel obviously but I use an HP41 emulator on my iPhone.
- CWuestefeld 12y ago
  As a denizen of HN, maybe you're the kind of person to have been exposed to "synthetic programming" on the HP41?
  - joe_bleau 12y ago
    The phrase "synthetic programming" certainly brings back fond memories for me. Something about entering a weird but valid program instruction, then removing a memory module and power cycling to forcibly corrupt the RAM and build the initial wedge to then enter the synthetic codes?
  - ghaff 12y ago
    I think I actually bought a book on the topic at one point but never ended up doing a lot with it. Unfortunately my HP41 is pretty much dead at this point (battery leak and a flaky key) and it's one of those things I can't really justify replacing. (And, like assembly language, I think I'll probably keep HP calculator programming in the "it was cool at the time" bucket :-))

SAI_Peregrinus 12y ago

Graph89 is a port of a TI-89 emulator to Android. Works quite well. You need a ROM image from a calculator, but TI actually has them for download on the website, which saves effort.

bane 12y ago

One of the first things I install on all my phones is Andie Graph. It provides very good emulation of all the Z80 based TI calcs. https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=net.supware.tipro https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=net.supware.ti...

stdbrouw 12y ago

http://calca.io/ http://calca.io/ doesn't have graphing, but it's pretty wonderful otherwise. (But FWIW, I'd rather see general-purpose programming become easier to use than calculators become more complex.)

No1 12y ago

TI afficionados should check out GraphNCalc83 for iOS. Behaves like a modern calculator should (touch interactive, colorized graphs), no ROM shenanigans necessary, and a very familiar interface. All the TI-83 programs I've thrown at it have worked so far.

fluidcruft 12y ago

You can't use phones to take tests.