HP 48G
Hacker ApprovedShares rank 5 of 21 calculators by recommenders
People recommend it for its fast RPN workflow, satisfying keys, and long useful life, and the most common caveat is that it has no backlight.
People recommend it for its fast RPN workflow, satisfying keys, and long useful life, and the most common caveat is that it has no backlight.
17 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 16
- criticize it
- 1
- approval share
- 94%
Recommended in 9 of 13 months
- November 2025: recommended
- December 2025: not recommended
- January 2026: recommended
- February 2026: recommended
- March 2026: recommended
- April 2026: not recommended
- May 2026: recommended
- June 2026: recommended
- July 2026: recommended
- August 2026: recommended
- September 2026: recommended
- October 2026: not recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it carries the badge
- 16 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, met.
- 16 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 9 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Satisfying tactile keys
“its keys are simply a delight to press compared to even the best glass touchscreen”
Comment from 11 Nov 2025 in “The R47: A new physical RPN calculator” “It had such a nice crisp tactile feel to the key presses”
Comment from 2 Jun 2026 in “HP re-releases classic computer science calculator: The HP-16C” Owners still use it for decades
“You can claw my HP48 out of my cold, dead, hands.”
Comment from 1 May 2026 in “Ti-84 Evo” “I still have my HP 48G and love it.”
Comment from 11 Nov 2025 in “The R47: A new physical RPN calculator” Community ROMs and emulator apps
“released HP48 ROMs into community curated public license at the end of the product life-cycle”
Comment from 10 Aug 2026 in “Stop Killing Games: It's time to sue Sony, join us” “the emulator apps are the most used apps on my phone/ipad”
Comment from 1 Feb 2026 in “Ask HN: Do you still physical calculators?” Used for exams and learning
“what I took SAT-I and AP Calculus BC exams with”
Comment from 1 May 2026 in “Ti-84 Evo” “RPL IMO is underrated as an educational tool.”
Comment from 26 Jul 2026 in “Teaching Kids Forth – Anna Liberty”
What people warn about
Each mark is one comment
No backlight
“the thing that makes the HP48 series much less useful is simply that they lack a backlight”
Comment from 13 Jun 2026 in “C47/R47 Calculators” Screen can fail or go dark
“The LCD screen polarizer may eventually detach, effectively ruining the screen.”
Comment from 3 Jun 2026 in “HP re-releases classic computer science calculator: The HP-16C” “the display has gone dark even though the device is functional”
Comment from 11 Nov 2025 in “The R47: A new physical RPN calculator”
Other calculators people recommend
The four most recommended other calculators, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Texas Instruments TI-84 Evo | 41 | 53 | 44% | 4 | 10 yrs7 owners | — |
| TI-89 calculator | 31 | 8 | 79% | 8 | 28 yrs4 owners | Approved |
| HP 15C | 24 | 6 | 80% | 5 | 41 yrs5 owners | Approved |
| TI-83 Plus | 21 | 8 | 72% | 6 | 30 yrs3 owners | Approved |
| HP 48GThis page | 16 | 1 | 94% | 9 | — | Approved |
What people said
18 of the 19 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“had such a powerful, software-controllable IR LED with a learning remote program”
“released HP48 ROMs into community curated public license at the end of the product life-cycle”
“RPL IMO is underrated as an educational tool.”
“it's basic and doesn't hold a candle to the 48”
“the thing that makes the HP48 series much less useful is simply that they lack a backlight”
“The LCD screen polarizer may eventually detach, effectively ruining the screen.”
“It had such a nice crisp tactile feel to the key presses”
“one of the major (unique?) UX innovations of the physical HP48 (c. 1990) was that it could beam apps and data to other calculators”
“what I took SAT-I and AP Calculus BC exams with”
“You can claw my HP48 out of my cold, dead, hands.”
“the far superior HP 48 series”
“the emulator apps are the most used apps on my phone/ipad”
“It's just a joy to use and i also like it a lot design wise.”
“RPN was lovely because it was significantly faster to operate with”
“its keys are simply a delight to press compared to even the best glass touchscreen”
“the display has gone dark even though the device is functional”
“the 99% perfect calculator that's always at hand is better than the 100% perfect calculator”
“I still have my HP 48G and love it.”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.