Some pictures of the new HP 49G+

By Thomas Gruber

At this time (5th of September), the HP 49G+ is very new, and there are a lot of questions about it. A big discussion is ongoing on the comp.sys.hp48 newsgroup. Since I managed to get one unit very early, I decided to put some detailed pictures online, so anyone who is interested can view the calculator. I won't describe the internals here, you can find a lot on the newsgroup.

Click on any image to view the full picture. If you like to use any or all of the pictures for your own site, please do so. I only ask you to use your own webspace, i.e. don't link to my files, instead download the images and put them on your own site.

More pictures can be found on hpcalc.org, but I bet you already know this.

The packaging
The german package is a cardboard box, not like the blister pack that can be found also.

Box contents
In the box you find:

The HP 49G+ calculator
A very nice leather case
The USB cable
The manual with about 170 pages
A CD with the connection software, and full manuals as PDF (around 800-900 pages) in english, german and spanish.

The calculator and the case
The leather case is very nice and fully protects the whole calculator, not like the protective cover on the old 49G, which only covered half of the unit. The case closes using a magnet and is very easy to use.

Calculator in case
As you can see, a small part of the calculator can still be seen, so it is very easy to pull the calculator out.

The calculator
Here you can see a big picture of the calculator's front.

The keys
Many were hoping for good keys, like on the 48 series. The good news is, that the keys are better than on the 49G. The bad news is, they're far away from reaching the 48's keys quality.
The keys are plastic (no more rubber keys). They are harder to press like the 48, and have a very loud click. You can hear and feel the point where the key should be recognized very well. But, on some keys (not all, only a few) of my unit the click has nothing to do with the actual recognition. I have to fully press the keys and can't count on the click, which makes typing slower, and I have to read what I type for control. The old 48 keyboard was very nice to use for quick calculations, the 49G+'s keyboard isn't.
You can hear the spring sometimes when pressing a key. All in all, the keyboard feels and sounds very cheap.
At least, the keys are very good to read.

The calculator's back
Here you can see the battery compartment, with 3 AAAs and a CR2032 for memory backup installed (still covered). I had lots of problems getting good contact. Even new batteries showed a battery warning sometimes and the calculator would turn off while I used it. I had to find a brand that fitted well and would work without problems. Funny, that the betteries that came with the calculator didn't work reliably. This happened on both of my units. The Energizers you see on the picture seem to work well.

The SD card
Here you can see the calculator with a 64 MB SD card installed. This seems to work well and doesn't slow down the calculator. Unfortunately, the calculator cannot format SD cards.

Using the HP 49G+
Here you can see a proud user with his calculator. This picture shows the display turned on. The display has excellent contrast, it is the best of all HP graphing calculators yet in this discipline. Admittedly, the HP 48G/GX/G+ displays have a much better anti-reflection coating. But after all, reflections are not so bad as on the old 49G, since the display cover is no more curved.

A family shot
You can easily see that the 49G+'s display has the best contrast.

		The packaging The german package is a cardboard box, not like the blister pack that can be found also.

		Box contents In the box you find: The HP 49G+ calculator A very nice leather case The USB cable The manual with about 170 pages A CD with the connection software, and full manuals as PDF (around 800-900 pages) in english, german and spanish.

		The calculator and the case The leather case is very nice and fully protects the whole calculator, not like the protective cover on the old 49G, which only covered half of the unit. The case closes using a magnet and is very easy to use.

		Calculator in case As you can see, a small part of the calculator can still be seen, so it is very easy to pull the calculator out.

		The calculator Here you can see a big picture of the calculator's front.

		The keys Many were hoping for good keys, like on the 48 series. The good news is, that the keys are better than on the 49G. The bad news is, they're far away from reaching the 48's keys quality. The keys are plastic (no more rubber keys). They are harder to press like the 48, and have a very loud click. You can hear and feel the point where the key should be recognized very well. But, on some keys (not all, only a few) of my unit the click has nothing to do with the actual recognition. I have to fully press the keys and can't count on the click, which makes typing slower, and I have to read what I type for control. The old 48 keyboard was very nice to use for quick calculations, the 49G+'s keyboard isn't. You can hear the spring sometimes when pressing a key. All in all, the keyboard feels and sounds very cheap. At least, the keys are very good to read.

		The calculator's back Here you can see the battery compartment, with 3 AAAs and a CR2032 for memory backup installed (still covered). I had lots of problems getting good contact. Even new batteries showed a battery warning sometimes and the calculator would turn off while I used it. I had to find a brand that fitted well and would work without problems. Funny, that the betteries that came with the calculator didn't work reliably. This happened on both of my units. The Energizers you see on the picture seem to work well.

		The SD card Here you can see the calculator with a 64 MB SD card installed. This seems to work well and doesn't slow down the calculator. Unfortunately, the calculator cannot format SD cards.

		Using the HP 49G+ Here you can see a proud user with his calculator. This picture shows the display turned on. The display has excellent contrast, it is the best of all HP graphing calculators yet in this discipline. Admittedly, the HP 48G/GX/G+ displays have a much better anti-reflection coating. But after all, reflections are not so bad as on the old 49G, since the display cover is no more curved.

		A family shot You can easily see that the 49G+'s display has the best contrast.