General > General Technical Chat
Do you still use stand-alone ("pocket") calculators?
Gyro:
--- Quote from: george.b on January 11, 2020, 09:56:05 pm ---
--- Quote from: KL27x on January 11, 2020, 09:14:04 pm ---Also, RealCalc doesn't even show you what you punched in. It's the most old school calculator UI. 16 + 12... oh, what did you do, so far?
--- End quote ---
RealCalc can show 4 lines of RPN stack:
(Attachment Link)
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So can Neocal on my (everyday) Palm, as can the Android version. :)
P.S. Camera colour rendition way off!
I wanted a rude username:
--- Quote from: BU508A on January 11, 2020, 12:10:53 pm ---I've bought a HP 48G / 32k RAM back in the ninties. A friend of mine bought one, too and he came up with the suggestion to upgrade it to 128k RAM.
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In the '90s I had the desire to upgrade my 48G, but lacked the skills. Now I have the skills but lack the desire. ;D
The SRAM ICs are still available though, and even those with the slowest access times are fine since the 48G's RAM clock only runs at 2 MHz ...
george.b:
--- Quote from: KL27x on January 11, 2020, 10:21:15 pm ---^That sounds nice, but I don't even know what "4 lines of RPN stack" even means or what the x y z stuff on the left means.
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It sounds like you've used RealCalc in algebraic mode, instead of RPN. In that mode, I'm inclined to agree, it is sad; then again, I think algebraic is sad in general.
RPN (Reverse Polish Notation) is another way of entering data and operations on the calculator. Algebraic is the "natural" notation, Like 4+3. In algebraic mode, you'd enter 4 + 3 =, but in RPN, you'd enter 4 [enter] 3 [plus]. You push 4 and 3 into the stack, and then specify the operation you want to execute between the operands in the first two levels of the stack (X and Y on RealCalc). The other levels (Z and 4 on RealCalc) are used as memory. Other calculators may have more levels, visible or not.
It comes in handy when you need to do more complex operations, like, say, (1+2)/(3+4). In algebraic mode, you'd have to use parentheses, or, on a more simple calculator, you'd have to store one intermediate value in memory - extra steps/keystrokes. In RPN, that would be 1 [enter] 2 [plus] 3 [enter] 4 [plus] [divide].
I very much prefer RPN. :)
--- Quote from: Gyro on January 11, 2020, 10:32:28 pm ---
So can Neocal on my (everyday) Palm, as can the Android version. :)
P.S. Camera colour rendition way off!
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Hah, I think you're the second person I see who still actually uses a Palm! Cool :D
KL27x:
^Thanks. Did not know this. That's how adding machines work, more or less. I never used it on a calculator, though. I'm gonna play with this mode on RealCalc to see what shakes out; I assume you get used to thinking like that on complex calculations; so far I only trust myself to use RPN to add receipts, lol.
george.b:
...and I mean, it's not like I particularly like RealCalc, I think it's just adequate. If I must use a calculator on my smartphone, might as well use an RPN one, so RealCalc is what I use for that. I don't enjoy using my smartphone as a calculator, though. I just don't normally have my HP 48 on me all the time ;D
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