alt Hacker NewsI would love a programmers' calculator but I really hate RPN. I wish they would make one without it. Back in the day they did it for efficiency. But that's no longer an issue these days.
I do still have a mint HP48GX but never use it for the same reason. The successor the 49 had normal math as an option but it was not as iconic.
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I absolutely love my HP48SX and HP48GX (I have both) and the RPN is what I like the most. But if you don't like RPN, just type a regular expression between simple quotes and evaluate it.
It's simply not for you then. That's okay.
I'm the opposite. I can't use a non-RPN calculator. Getting the numbers out of my head and onto the stack is how I achieve clarity in what I'm doing.
I used the 49 in high school until I wore out the substandard keyboard. Then I did what I should have in the first place and bought a 48GX which I still have 20+ years later.
I felt the same and got a Casio CM-100 that has similar functionality. Not as nice as the HP but it does the job. Much cheaper too if you can find one.
They did it for user efficiency, not machine efficiency. And it is still better today for hand calculation.
RPN felt so weird and alien to me, and then one day I felt my brain pivot, and now it's the only method I can bear. RPN isn't just more efficient for the calculator to process. I mean, it is, but that's not the selling point. It's way more efficient to use. It requires the least number of keystrokes necessary to enter a formula, and never requires parentheses for grouping. You can start at the innermost nested, hairy bits of a formula, then quickly work your way outward. That's the part I love and would hate to be without.