"Tony Duell" wrote:
> Just a pity that modern HP stuff is nowhere near as good, and that their
> support at the moment is a total joke.
>
> -tony
Like others, I also disagree, at least in part. I think that it is
pretty
clear that "consumer electronics" HP products that are marketed for home
use (Pavillions, IDE CDrom burners and the like) are awful in terms of
quality. One of the most deplorable products that they have ever put
out is the craddle for the HP 320LX and other such palmtops. Due to
a design flaw, it can be easily bent along a certain axis, resulting
in poor, intermittent connection and corresponding profanity by the
user.
Easily the worst mechanical design I have ever seen.
But the enterprise-level stuff is still pretty robust
(and, as always, $$pricey$$ ). In the computer and electronics
labs here, where stuff undergoes inhumane abuse by students, it is still
the HP equipment that lasts longest. Most, if not all, of the 715's and
720's that were bought ca. 1993 are still working. I don't remember any
that was retired due to malfunction; rather, people upgraded. I have
a stand-alone 735 that has been down two times since 1995, once because
of
a power failure that downed every machine in the building and another
because of an OS upgrade. The newer workstations seem to be just as
reliable by the account of my colleagues.
Regarding your hp49, isn't this the first model churned out by the
calculator division after its relocation to Australia? I agree that
materials and durability have been downgraded; the 48SX is known for
its easy-to-crack LCD, and I imagine that the 49 is worse. Like
Joe, the last hp calculator that I really like is the hp71b.
Which "advertised feature" did you not find in the 49?
--
Carlos Murillo-Sanchez email: cem14_at_cornell.edu
428 Phillips Hall, Electrical Engineering Department
Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853
Received on Mon Nov 22 1999 - 14:29:43 GMT