To play CHIP-8 games on your calculator, you’ll need an interpreter. Information for HP 48G, HP 48GX and HP 48G+ will be green. Information for HP 48S and HP 48SX will be orange. In the rest of this article, model-specific instructions will be denoted like this: Here’s an forum thread with comparison pictures. You can tell by the color: Black pixels on gray background, as opposed to the usual blue pixels on green background.

One thing you could look for is that some later 48G/GX/G+ models came with a better LCD screen with better contrast. If you find one that comes with a cable, that’s nice, as you’ll need one (but you can buy one separately or even jury-rig one). I recommend an HP 48G+ or HP 48GX, for the faster CPU and additional memory. It’s not actually an HP 48, but an HP 49.

HP 48GX: Same as HP 48G+, but with expandable memory (both RAM and ROM) using special cards.

HP 48G+: Same as HP 48G, but with 128 KB onboard RAM instead of 32.

Won’t necessarily run all HP 48S/SX programs.

HP 48SX: Same as the HP 48S, but with expandable memory (both RAM and ROM) using special cards.

If you don’t already have a calculator, here are your choices and their differences (at least the ones relevant to us).

The user manual is pretty hefty, so I thought I’d write a short guide on how to use CHIP-8 on a HP 48 calculator with no frills or maths. I recently purchased an HP 48GX to play CHIP-8 games on. The numeric keypad was well suited for CHIP-8 input, and the simple language made it easier to make small games to play in the classroom. In 1990, the 1977 programming language and interpreter CHIP-8 had its renaissance on the HP 48S, a graphing calculator that was common in engineering schools. How to use an advanced calculator as a “Game Boy” for CHIP-8!

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