Hewlett Packard HP-48S, SX, G, G+, GX, GII

 

HP-48S
Serial Number		 3301S00276: 1993, 1st week, Singapore
Accessories Pouch

Manual: HP-48 Benutzer Kurzübersicht (German), Aug 1993

Manual: HP-48G Kurzanleitung (German), Nov 1992, 1st edition (note that this is not the correct manual for this calculator!)
Condition Very good. There a three small indents in the alu plate ontop of the display, one below the "MTH" key and one above the "0" key.
Acquired 1.6.2003


HP-48SX
Serial Number		 3051S00611: 1990, 52st week, Singapore (labelled 1989)
Accessories Pouch

Quick reference: HP-48X Erweiterbarer Wissenschaftlicher Taschenrechner Benutzer Kurzübersicht (German, 8/1990)

Manual: HP-48X Erweiterbarer Wissenschaftlicher Taschenrechner Benutzerhandbuch Band 1 (German, issued 4/1990, 494 pages)

Manual: HP-48X Erweiterbarer Wissenschaftlicher Taschenrechner Benutzerhandbuch Band 2 (German, issued 4/1990, 912 pages together with volume 1)
Condition Mint
Acquired 27.7.2003

HP-48G
Serial Number		 3536S03982: 1995, 36th week, Singapore
Accessories Pouch

Manual: Serie HP-48G Benutzerhandbuch (German, 2nd edition Feb 1994)

Quick Reference: Serie HP-48G Kurzanleitung (German, 3rd edition, March 1994)

HP-48G Series Message Booklet (English, French, Spanish, German, Italian, dated 12/1994)
Condition Absolutely excellent!
Acquired 17.10.2003
HP-48G
Serial Number		 3517S04729: 1995, 17th week, Singapore
Accessories Pouch

Manual: HP 48G Series User's Guide (English, 8th edition 12/1994)

Quick Reference: HP 48G Series Quick Start Guide (English, 5th edition 12/1994)

Leaflet: "Low Cost Service Agreement" (English, a 1-year service for the 48G was offered for $13)
Production registration form plus envelope for sending it back to Hopkins
Booklet: "HP Handheld Products Accessory Guide. Calculators and Palmtops"  (English, 16 pages, 11/1994)
Small nameplate for engraving (5.1 x 0.9 cm, unused).
Booklet: "The HP 48 Catalog of Independently Developed Products" (English, 16 pages, 3/1995) Contains ads for a wide range of hardware and software for the HP-48G.
Condition Absolutely excellent!
Acquired 21.4.2008 courtesy of Rex

HP-48G+
Serial Number		 ID00703773
Accessories Pouch

Manual: Serie HP-48G Kurzanleitung (German), Jan 2000, 3rd edition

Manual: Serie HP-48G Benutzerhandbuch (German), Jan 2000, 2nd edition

Software Kit Transfile WIN 48

Serial cable to connect to a PC
Condition Absolutely excellent!
Acquired 12.10.2003
HP-48GX
Serial Number		 3401S03734: 1994, 1st week, Singapore (labelled 1993) 
Accessories Pouch

PC serial cable, DB9

Manual: Serie HP-48G Kurzanleitung (German), Aug 1993, 2nd edition

Manual: Serie HP-48G Benutzerhandbuch (German), June 1993

Boxed: Calculus/Mathematik 1, V3.0 by Odd Bringslid:
128kB ROM, Calculus Bedienungshandbuch (German), Calculus Add-on book "Solved Problems"
Condition Mint
Acquired 17.6.2002
Accessory Calculus/Mathematics, 1 ROM including handbook
Acquired 7.7.2002

HP-48GII
Serial Number		 CN33501390: 2003, 35th week, unit number 1390, made in China
Accessories Pouch

Manual: HP-48gII grafikfähiger Taschenrechner Benutzerhandbuch (German, (C) 2003)

CD-ROM: hp 48gII graphing calculator user's guide and connectivity software (2003)

Serial PC interface cable

Original cardboard box
Condition Mint out of the box! Came with dead batteries installed.
Comment
 "Version HP49-C Revision #1.20", "Copyright HP 2003"
Acquired 12.12.2003, from Dynatech (www.dynatech.de)
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HP codename, series
HP-48S HP-48SX HP-48G HP-48G+ HP-48GX HP-48GII
Shorty Charlemagne Alcuin
Hammer
Series: Charlemagne
Type, Precision, Input Mode Scientific, 12 BCD digits, exponent ±499, Reverse Polish Notation
Programmable Yes, in RPL. The HP-48GII is a surprisingly fast unit! About 100 times as fast as the HP-67, 10 times as fast as the HP-42S and even twice as fast as the Sharp PC-E500. The only comparable unit is the HP-49G. The RPL programming model is similar to the HP-28S and HP-49G.
Performance Index
HP-48S HP-48SX HP-48G HP-48G+ HP-48GX HP-48GII
83


150
 56 in exact mode
221 in approximate mode
Memory Permanent memory, 128kB total memory for program and data
Display 132x64 pixel black&white LCD
Special features PC connectivity. Unlimited stack size. 300+ built in functions. Graphics display. Extpansion port for additional RAM and ROM. Works with the HP Infrared Printer (for more details see HP-49/50 page).
Original Pricing, Production
HP-48S 2.4.1991 ($250) - 1.6.1993
HP-48SX 6.3.1990 ($350) - 2002 ($350)
HP-48G 21.05.1999  ($229.95) - End 2002
HP-48G+ 30.03.1998 ($179.95) - End 2002 ($119.95)
HP-48GX 1.6.1993 ($350) - now (2003 approx. 180€)
HP-48GII
 Nov 2003 (112 Euro) - now
Batteries 3x AAA
Dimensions
HP-48S, SX, G, G+, GX
 Length 17.9cm, Width 7.9cm, Height 2.8cm
HP-48GII
 Length 18.5cm, 8.5Width cm, Height 2.2cm
Links (local) HP 48SX Scientific Expandable Calculator Owner's Manual Volume I (PDF, July 1990)
HP 48SX Scientific Expandable Calculator Owner's Manual Volume II (PDF, July 1990)
hp 48gII graphing calculator user's guide (PDF, English, 864 pages, 2003)
hp 48gII grafikfähiger Taschenrechner Benutzeranleitung (PDF, German, 979 pages, 2003)
hp 48gII graphing calculator user's manual (PDF, English, 175 pages,
HP-38G/39G/40G/48XX/49G Links
Some links are available at the HP-48/50 page.
Links (external) hpcalc.org.
hpcc.org: HP-48 Series.
Programmers Heaven.
Unofficial Homepage.
Software 1.
Zengrange.
Emulators.
About a HP-48 virus on Finseth.com.
Character set on Finseth.com.
Metakernel.
http://www.area48.com.
Christoph Giesselinks's Emu48 FAQ.
Newsgroup comp.sys.hp48.
Forensic Result8.99999864267 obtained from a HP-48GX
Comment The HP-48 series consist of these versions:
Model
 RAM
 Expansion Port
 Misc
HP-48S
 32kB
 No
HP-48SX
 32kB
 Yes
 Better software, realtime clock, calendar
HP-48G
 32kB
 No
 Better software, faster than the HP-48S
HP-48G+
 128kB
 No
HP-48GX
 128kB
 Yes
HP-48GII
 128kB
 No
 Faster CPU, presumably an ARM version
See also the HP-38G, HP-39G and HP-40G.
The keyboard of the HP-48S and HP-48G are very similar but not identical! The HP-48G is clearly an advanced version of the HP-48S.
Most programs for the HP-48S can be used on the HP-48G. However, there are some compatibility issues (see HP-48G manual page 29-23):
  • Variable names can conflict with new HP-48G command names
  • SYSEVAL doesn't work the same way because memory locations changed
  • The MENU command works differently in the HP-48G
  • Flags 14. 28. 29 and 54 have different meaning in the HP-48G
For a comparisn of the HP-38G/39G/40G/48XX/49G see this overview.

Special HP-48GII key combinations:
Down
 Edit value in stack level 1.
Right
 Swap stack level 1 & 2.
Left Enter graphic mode.
Up
 Move stack mark up and enter special stack edit mode.
Shift-right & right
 Start Xmodem server.
Shift-right & down View all variables.
Shift-right & variable-softkey Put variable contents onto stack.
Delete left
 DROP if not in edit mode, otherwise erase character left.
Shift-left & DEL
 Clear stack if not in edit mode, otherwise erase character under cursor.

The HP-48GII is significantly faster than the HP-48GX. The keyboard is equipped with hard plastic keys which feel a lot better than the HP-49G keys but still cannot rival the traditional HP keysboard feeling.
Note that the keyboard layout of the HP-49G+ is identical to the HP-48GII. Also, the software versions are (more or less) identical suggesting that the only real difference is the additional memory and the SD card slot of the HP-49G+.
Both the HP-48GII and HP-49G+ have a strange behaviour where the display seems to be redrawn about 3 seconds after the last change of the display contents. This is especially nasty when the blinking edit-cursor is visible because it constantly triggers the display refresh. As a consequence the blinking cursor does not blink steadily but more or less randomly.
On the HP-49GII the bottom row of soft keys gives a visible "blink" when the display is redrawn which is rather annoying.
The manual mentions a "flash memory card connector" which I cannot find. Only the HP-49G+ is equipped with a SD flash card slot.
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