8.7.5 - EMU48 1.25b4
Hewlett Packard calculator emulator for Mac OS X. HP48, HP48GX and more.
Features: Everything the original HP calculator had, plus debugging if you want it, minus the physical reality of the calculator (and minus its battery consumption, risk to coffee spills, and so on.)
As an engineer, it's not that surprising that I own an HP48GX and an older HP48SX. I keep one at home and the other on my desk at work. So perhaps you can imagine my delight when I stumbled upon this HP emulator. I was searching via Google for an RPN (Reverse Polish Notation) calculator for my Mini, as that's what I'm used to and I'm just more facile in an RPN environment, and EMU48 came up.
I had seen this before, for Linux, but that version didn't come with the ROM image files, which are required to actually run the calculator. That was some time ago, but I didn't pursue that because I wasn't about to take my calculator apart, and I didn't want to go down some shady route to get copies of them, reasonable as that might seem for someone who actually owns the calculators.
Well, to make a long story short, the Mac version does have some calculator ROMs, and better yet, it had the ROMs for the 48GX. So I downloaded it (link below) and installed it, the usual pretty easy set of steps. But it wasn't as easy to get going as I'd hoped; there are about four steps required before you can create a working calculator. They're not difficult at all — just load this, save that, name this other thing — and I suppose it has something to do with the legalities of it all. In any case, once that's done, starting the program and loading your calculator gets you going. After that, it can keep running in the dock, just like other Mac programs.
It's a very good emulation, as you might expect, using the exact ROMs the calculator does. It times out to save its "batteries", which is really kind of funny. Just like the real thing, pressing ON brings it back. When you save it and quit, you can save the state of the calcutor's memory, or not, as you choose. Even the clock in the calculator runs, keeping perfect time with the Mac. Plus, it even comes with "memory cards." How fun is that?
This product is and does just what it says, highly recommended if you have any interest in Hewlett Packard calculators of this vintage. It might give you a good shot of nostalgia if you've used one of the supplied calculators before; if not, and you're looking for a good RPN calculator, look no further. Or just a good calculator, and you're willing to learn a more efficient way to work than the algebraic method that is inflicted upon us in school. The HP RPN series are, in my estimation, the best of the best when it comes to calculators of any type. I've been kind of dreading the eventual death of my HP48 and 48GX; no longer. I expect to have this around pretty much forever, now.
Freeware.
Five out of five stars.
Link: EMU48
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