Author Topic: What calculator do you use ?  (Read 173308 times)

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Offline FenderBender

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Re: What calculator do you use ?
« Reply #150 on: August 15, 2012, 03:52:43 am »
Sorry to dredge this one up again but I found this neat calculator. You guys are probably all familiar with it, but I like it. I think I'm going to buy it. It even does pico/nano/micro etc etc. so you don't mess them up...like me. One day I swear, I'm going to be working on some big project and bodge up the conversion factor. Well anyway..

http://www.sharpusa.com/ForBusiness/SmallElectronics/Calculators/EL506XBWH.aspx

 

Online vk6zgo

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Re: What calculator do you use ?
« Reply #151 on: August 15, 2012, 04:48:37 am »
Looks nice!

I used a HP11c for years,until I inadvertently put it,& my car keys in my back pocket at the same time--goodbye display!. :(
I now use a HP22s which I picked up secondhand,but it isn't as powerful,& doesn't use RPN-------AAAARRRRGGGHHH! >:(
 

Offline robrenz

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Re: What calculator do you use ?
« Reply #152 on: August 15, 2012, 01:29:26 pm »
Looks nice!

I used a HP11c for years,until I inadvertently put it,& my car keys in my back pocket at the same time--goodbye display!. :(
I now use a HP22s which I picked up secondhand,but it isn't as powerful,& doesn't use RPN-------AAAARRRRGGGHHH! >:(

If it doesn't use RPN it is illogical ;D

Offline FenderBender

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Re: What calculator do you use ?
« Reply #153 on: August 15, 2012, 02:00:50 pm »
Oh stop you sound like the dinosaurs at my brothers work who always bust my brother guts for using a Ti-83.  ;D

If it get's the job done easily enough, I'm not sure why it matters. I've used RPN only once. It's okay. Just have to get used to it.
« Last Edit: August 15, 2012, 02:27:09 pm by FenderBender »
 

Offline Lukas

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Re: What calculator do you use ?
« Reply #154 on: August 15, 2012, 04:18:04 pm »
At school, we've had a ti-82 stats (pretty much a ti 83). Very powerful device, many teachers and students only used a fraction of it's features.
After I read about RPN and the HP48 series, I purchased a HP 50g. I think it's one of the most feature-packed calculators ever made. Which other calc does FFT and calculations with units? Although, it is kinda sluggish. Some time later, I got the 15C LE. I use the one which is in best reach. Once I got used to RPN, using a "dumb" calculator (no algebraic entry) has become real hard.
 

Offline olsenn

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Re: What calculator do you use ?
« Reply #155 on: August 15, 2012, 04:41:59 pm »
I'm not a fan on stack based calculations (RPN) because I like to be able to see the whole equation on one line before I hit ENTER (or =). It is also easier to edit equation in single line entry, although it is quite a bit easier to enter equations using RPN than it is using standard algebreic entry.

However, modern TI calculators don't use this method... they use "Pretty Print" (or something like that, which basically means you can enter an equation exactly as you would on paper. There is no longer a need for excessive brackets. The devisor is placed underneath the dividend, exponents are displayed as superscripts, symbols are displayed instead of functions (square root sign instead of "sqrt(...)"), and you can you the up and down arrows to navigate between the different layers of the equation, instead of just left and right.

Entering complicated equations in my TI Nspire CX CAS is MUCH easier than entering them into my HP 50g. However, it is easier to enter equations in my HP 50g using the RPN mode than it is to enter those equations using its algebreic mode.
 

Offline T4P

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Re: What calculator do you use ?
« Reply #156 on: August 15, 2012, 05:01:16 pm »
i always use the TI-86 on my phone and ... i'll just say i find it very hard to use a normal scientific calculator anymore

The TI-Nspire CX CAS is really nice for what it does and the price is right.
« Last Edit: August 15, 2012, 05:09:41 pm by T4P »
 

Offline ju1ce

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Re: What calculator do you use ?
« Reply #157 on: August 15, 2012, 08:01:46 pm »
My TI-86 (bought in 2006) lost a few lines on the display. I "resoldered" the LCD cable (just heated it with a hot air gun and hoped for the best) and it works like a charm. While I'm not happy that the thing was hideously overpriced and broke down in five years, I still love TI because of their sample policy.

I've also got a TI 30-XA in the lab. I spilled some juice on it the very day I bought it.
« Last Edit: August 15, 2012, 08:03:22 pm by ju1ce »
 

Offline Sal Ammoniac

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Re: What calculator do you use ?
« Reply #158 on: August 15, 2012, 08:05:32 pm »
For me it's HP all the way! I've been using HP since my first calculator back in the early '70s.

In fact, the only time I've ever used a non-RPN calculator is when borrowing something from someone to do a quick calculation when I didn't have one of my HPs at hand.
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Offline PA4TIM

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Re: What calculator do you use ?
« Reply #159 on: August 15, 2012, 11:10:24 pm »
HP-35S always in RPN mode and my most used and two casio Fx-something. Besides that two slide rules  8)
I would love to have an electonics sliderule (and the one HP made for VNA use in the early seventys)
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Offline PedroDiogo

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Re: What calculator do you use ?
« Reply #160 on: August 15, 2012, 11:49:25 pm »
Which other calc does FFT and calculations with units?

I know my TI-89 Titanium does, and many others should too.
 

Offline slateraptor

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Re: What calculator do you use ?
« Reply #161 on: August 16, 2012, 12:01:25 am »
HP-35S always in RPN mode...

Manager type borrows the 35s sitting on my desk to do a quick itinerary calculation, then returns it shortly thereafter due to his inability to locate the = button. That was earlier today.

Prognosis: Wielded by the ignoramus, RPN calculators tend to cause spontaneous scalp itching.
 

Offline robrenz

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Re: What calculator do you use ?
« Reply #162 on: August 16, 2012, 12:17:31 am »
I still use my 48GX and have a virtual one on my Laptop.  I got a 50G for my son and in my opinion they ruined it. 

Offline IanB

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Re: What calculator do you use ?
« Reply #163 on: August 16, 2012, 02:01:06 am »
I own many pocket calculators, but it is a long time since I have used any of them. Somehow they seem to have become obsolete...

I hate this conclusion since I loved calculators in my youth, but they no longer seem to have any value outside of exams.
 

Offline NiHaoMike

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Offline JuiceKing

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Re: What calculator do you use ?
« Reply #165 on: August 16, 2012, 05:58:46 am »
My name is Ken. I have a calculator problem.

I use a HP 32S at work, HP 34C at my desk, and HP 15C at my lab bench. I love them all but generally recommend the 15C for those benighted souls who have yet to discover why HP zealots are sold on RPN. Because I've used it longer than the others, the 34C has a special place in my heart, but the "1/x" key (used frequently in RPN operations) is a shift function, which makes it harder to use than it should be. The 15C gets it right in all the important places. The long-discontinued 32S has base conversions, which are great for software work.

Aside from the 15C, the current HP RPN offerings are problematic. The 35S has its charms (fractions, for example), but the display resolution is so coarse I find it hard to read, the format is too big and clumsy, and I still can't forgive HP for making "STO" a shift function. The 50g is a fascinating machine that I would choose for an eternity of solitude on a desert island, but it's a dreadful calculator for almost all practical purposes. (I will also admit to a small collection of "antique" HP calculators, but I don't use them as my daily beaters...)

I have explored HP calculator apps on my iPhone, too. My favorite is "VintageRPN", which includes an emulation of the original 35 and 80, arguably the most usable and inspired HP calculators of all time. And once again, they are highly usable, even on the tiny touch display of the iPhone.
 

Offline T4P

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Re: What calculator do you use ?
« Reply #166 on: August 16, 2012, 08:54:32 am »
I have the HP48 TI-89 and TI-86 on my phone ... oh no
 

Offline slateraptor

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Re: What calculator do you use ?
« Reply #167 on: August 16, 2012, 11:58:52 pm »
15C gets it right in all the important places.

Except for perhaps a keypad layout with a bias towards right-handed people.

...I still can't forgive HP for making "STO" a shift function. The 50g is a fascinating machine that I would choose for an eternity of solitude on a desert island, but it's a dreadful calculator for almost all practical purposes.

Not as unforgivable as their handling of binary and hex. Complex number handling could be improved too. I'd probably use my 50g more often if it had a proper plastic cover like TI graphing calcs; I'm too chicken shit to lug it around in my backpack out of fear of damaging the crap the screen from all the random trinkets tumbling around, and its leather pouch is just retarded IMO.
 

Offline nanofrog

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Re: What calculator do you use ?
« Reply #168 on: August 17, 2012, 12:31:20 am »
I'd probably use my 50g more often if it had a proper plastic cover like TI graphing calcs; I'm too chicken shit to lug it around in my backpack out of fear of damaging the crap the screen from all the random trinkets tumbling around, and its leather pouch is just retarded IMO.
It's not a hard case, but you might want to look at Ripoffs (IIRC, the CO-29 fits the 50g; dimensions look right, and the image matches what I have). Dense foam sandwiched between nylon, so it's thick and does protect rather well, so it will do what you want. Only a very small area of the top sides is even exposed (say 3/4"x1" where the flap folds over). BTW, you get 2 layers of case over most of the the screen when the flap is folded over.

Not in school anymore, but I'm clumsy, so I bought one of these to protect it from myself.  :P

http://www.ripoffs.com/datasheets/co29/co29.html
 

Offline EEMarc

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Re: What calculator do you use ?
« Reply #169 on: August 17, 2012, 01:55:37 am »
I use two calculators. A TI-83+ silver edition and a TI-89 Titanium.

For calculations that are exceedingly large, long and difficult, I use Mathematica. One example is the Park's Transform. That transform and it's inverse are used to simplify the control of 3 phase AC motors. The output equations are pretty terrible, yet a powerful Digital Signal Controller (DSC) are able to use them to drive the motor.
 

Offline WorldPowerLabs

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Re: What calculator do you use ?
« Reply #170 on: August 17, 2012, 02:58:54 am »
I like calculators with real, light-up VF displays.  My favorite is an old Sharp EL-500 scientific calculator.  It has a weird placement of the "0" key, but otherwise it's almost perfect. 

My circa-y2k TI-82 sits on the shelf, in case I need it.
 

Offline lapm

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Re: What calculator do you use ?
« Reply #171 on: August 17, 2012, 10:20:17 am »
Well im pretty sure you cant buy one as new anymore. What i use i mean... HP 48GX, its more then 10 years old, but does job nicely. Programmable, has rs-232 serialsport (needs adapter cable)... And if i really want to go old then my trusty old Sharp PC-E220 programmable calculator. Both are older then i care to admit, but still work perfectly.

Advise for you? Go any decent store and you can buy reasonable calculator there, expecially if your willing to buy one of those scientific ones...
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Offline NewBeginner

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Re: What calculator do you use ?
« Reply #172 on: August 17, 2012, 10:40:36 am »
 

Offline blackjames

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Re: What calculator do you use ?
« Reply #173 on: August 17, 2012, 10:51:07 am »
i use my calculator that i got for school. its a Texas instruments TI-30XB scientific calculator, i think it costs 30 or forty Aussie dollars. it does all that i need.
 

Offline DarkPrince

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Re: What calculator do you use ?
« Reply #174 on: August 17, 2012, 02:32:01 pm »
Various tasks require various calculators! I don't think it is universal. For example I have three calculators and they are all used semi-regularly.

Texas Instruments TI-30Xa Calculator (used for basic calculations on bench or classes which don't permit graphing calculators)
Texas Instruments TI-NSpire CAS CX   (used in some of my advanced math classes)
Texas Instruments TI-92+                   (used generally on my electronics bench when working more complex formulas. generally doesn't go to classes anymore

Late (Dead/Gone/Missing):
Texas Instruments TI-83+ SE

Alright I didn't even realize I am biased towards TI... not intentional just get either what is commented by professors or what other classmates are getting (why I now have the nspire).
« Last Edit: August 17, 2012, 02:34:17 pm by DarkPrince »
 


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