Reviews
By B. Heimbigner
Rating: ★★★★★
One of the reviewers above gave a pretty negative review citing that this material was covered elsewhere in the hp user manuals and on hp's own site. That may be true. What the other reviewer failed to mention was the fact that HP includes a very stripped down version of the 800+ page actual manual and this book, and it's sister volume, are a godsend. The calculator is easy enough for most utility, but these manuals quickly help you get down to doing your required operations much more easily. I can't recommend these books enough, as I've found them extremely helpful in the TI dominated environment of my College. I've got the HP-50g btw, thought I should mention that, as these manuals instructions cover this calc well enough.
By John Harllee
Rating: ★★★★★
This book's author clearly loves and respects HP graphing calculators. The book has what the hard copy manual and online documentation should have but don't: explanations that start at the beginning, which was important for me, because I have never before used a graphing calculator. I suspect the people who wrote the HP material assumed their audience consisted solely of people with some relevant experience. The reviewer who claims that you can find 99{490ede0002b08415e87ccfeefe6774198f39eeaaf2837a3b8bd3ca5866846f85} of this material on HP's website is exaggerating, but even if he were strictly accurate, it wouldn't matter. The author provides the sentences that make everything clear.
The author uses RPN mode rather than the usual algebraic mode. The RPN mode is fine with me, but might be a problem for someone not used to it. I am using an HP 50g, which has some differences from the HP 49g, but not enough to damage the usefulness of this book. The book has a few typos, but no more than the first edition of any book of this kind. My only real complaint is that the binding is too cheap for a book that will regularly be propped open so that you can read it while you have your hands on the keyboard.
If you are a beginner with graphing calculators, I highly recommend this book. No one could reasonably ask for better. If you are an experienced user, maybe not. HP's online material may be enough.
