Author Topic: What's your favorite calculator?  (Read 18969 times)

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Offline Illusionist

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Re: What's your favorite calculator?
« Reply #75 on: August 31, 2019, 06:37:30 pm »
Sharp EL-5100

Me too! I bought mine for college in 1982 I think, in a closing-down sale reduced to £15 from £60.

It worked up until two years ago when I finally gave up on it. The LCD screen was almost unreadable. I actually threw it out only a couple of months ago, with the LCD screen obviously much worse, in a fit of tidying.

Can't say I have a favourite now. I have a few that get used occasionally, but mostly I'll be at the PC so just pull up an on-screen calculator or spreadsheet for whatever I need.
« Last Edit: August 31, 2019, 06:40:23 pm by Illusionist »
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Offline hasanayt

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Re: What's your favorite calculator?
« Reply #76 on: October 18, 2022, 06:36:52 pm »
I just saw this topic. It's a very old topic. Online calculations were not very common in these times. My Favorite engineering calculations tool is a website and this is ML. They also produce calculations on request.

https://mechanicalland.com/category/engineering-calculators/
 
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Offline armandine2

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Re: What's your favorite calculator?
« Reply #77 on: October 18, 2022, 08:16:25 pm »
App calculators [emulation] seems to be where it is now - or for a while, I guess

In a closed society where everybody's guilty, the only crime is getting caught - Hunter S Thompson
 

Offline MikeK

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Re: What's your favorite calculator?
« Reply #78 on: October 18, 2022, 09:23:26 pm »
Of the ones I can't have I'd say the Curta is my favorite...It's just so cool.  I've wanted an HP-15C, because I've never had an RPN...but I can't justify the high used prices.  Of the handful that I have I like the Casio fx-260solar.
 

Offline PlainName

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Re: What's your favorite calculator?
« Reply #79 on: October 18, 2022, 09:25:33 pm »
App calculators can calculate, but they don't have physical buttons you can press. I think that's a big part of what makes a calculator - if you don't care about no buttons there are much better calculator apps that aren't emulations.
 
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Online Benta

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Re: What's your favorite calculator?
« Reply #80 on: October 18, 2022, 09:55:47 pm »
App calculators can calculate, but they don't have physical buttons you can press. I think that's a big part of what makes a calculator - if you don't care about no buttons there are much better calculator apps that aren't emulations.
The real problem is, that with app calculators, you have to boot or wake the thing, find the app, and then "Oh dear, there's an OS update that just started, this will take a little time..."
I put my hand in the breast pocket, whip out my HP-15C, and in a few seconds have a result.
 

Offline MikeK

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Re: What's your favorite calculator?
« Reply #81 on: October 18, 2022, 11:46:13 pm »
App calculators can calculate, but they don't have physical buttons you can press. I think that's a big part of what makes a calculator - if you don't care about no buttons there are much better calculator apps that aren't emulations.
The real problem is, that with app calculators, you have to boot or wake the thing, find the app, and then "Oh dear, there's an OS update that just started, this will take a little time..."
I put my hand in the breast pocket, whip out my HP-15C, and in a few seconds have a result.

Yep, and this follows with my general regard that a device specifically made to do X is better than a general device that can do X, Y, and Z.  A computer, or phone, does many things... so its acuity is thinned out amonst them all.
 

Offline PlainName

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Re: What's your favorite calculator?
« Reply #82 on: October 19, 2022, 12:13:42 am »
Quote
this follows with my general regard that a device specifically made to do X is better than a general device that can do X, Y, and Z.

Usually, yes. But the general device scores by actually being in your pocket. Don't know about you, but I don't walk around with a calculator and camera and satnav and all those things filling my pockets. Well, I couldn't - I'd have to take a bag. Things tend not to be too useful, no matter how brilliant and single-minded they are, if you don't have 'em :)
 

Offline helius

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Re: What's your favorite calculator?
« Reply #83 on: October 19, 2022, 12:37:34 am »
Of the ones I can't have I'd say the Curta is my favorite...It's just so cool.
If you do find one, remember that it will most likely take many hours to rebuild, with expert hands, in case there is any mechanical issue.

The Curta is super cool because it is so small, but there were a wide variety of mechanical (or electro-mechanical) calculators over the decades. Friden and Brunsviga had some cool models.

Quote
I've wanted an HP-15C, because I've never had an RPN...but I can't justify the high used prices.

There are a couple of companies making replica 15Cs, including a full-size and a compact. https://www.swissmicros.com/product/dm15

My favorite is the one I used most in school, the HP 48GX. I've been aware of follow-on models that are supposedly faster, but each time I held one in my hands I was disappointed in the feel. Not just RPN entry, but RPL programming is really nice on the 48.
 

Online Picuino

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Re: What's your favorite calculator?
« Reply #84 on: October 19, 2022, 11:10:31 am »
Casio FX-4500PA
Very old and difficult to find in the market.

https://www.casio.com/latin/scientific-calculators/product.FX-4500PA/



 

Offline RAPo

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Re: What's your favorite calculator?
« Reply #85 on: October 19, 2022, 03:32:05 pm »
If I must choose only one: HP41CX with math/stat module (my first love from math university and in use since 1981).

But I have all of the " 10C series: Compact yet Sophisticated Calculators (1981)"  as presented in https://hpmuseum.org/, an HP prime, an HP42s and the DM41X from swissmicro's.

RPN/RPL has been ingrained into my system (both memory and muscles), I cannot use a non-RPN calculator without great difficulty.
 

Offline Sal Ammoniac

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Re: What's your favorite calculator?
« Reply #86 on: October 19, 2022, 03:47:41 pm »
My favorite calculator is my 40 year old HP41CX, although I rarely use it now as I have an iPhone app that looks and works just like the real thing, only much faster.
"That's not even wrong" -- Wolfgang Pauli
 
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Offline jasonRF

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Re: What's your favorite calculator?
« Reply #87 on: October 19, 2022, 03:52:12 pm »
The last handheld calculator I bought was an HP 32S, 25ish years ago.   I needed it to replace the identical model that was stolen.  So it is my favorite by default.  I do not use calculators for graphing or programming, so even simpler RPNs would be fine.   These days I mostly use the Free42 app on my Iphone, which basically emulates the HP 42S.  That way I don’t need to purchase button-cell batteries, although I do miss the tactile buttons. 

Jason
 
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Offline jasonRF

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Re: What's your favorite calculator?
« Reply #88 on: October 19, 2022, 04:05:59 pm »
RPN/RPL has been ingrained into my system (both memory and muscles), I cannot use a non-RPN calculator without great difficulty.
Me too.  Last year I was doing field testing for work and forgot my calculator.   Tried using the default app on my phone and just could not use it for anything.   Fortunately a younger colleague was with me who was fluent in “normal calculator” so he was stuck doing the quick-and-dirty sanity check calculations.  It made me nervous, but I still did pencil-and-paper order of magnitude checks and looked like a dinosaur.  Soon after I found the Free42 app for my phone so that problem never happens again.   
 
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Offline MikeK

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Re: What's your favorite calculator?
« Reply #89 on: October 19, 2022, 04:15:44 pm »
Too bad the favorite calcs are out of production and too pricey on the used market.
 

Online fourfathom

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Re: What's your favorite calculator?
« Reply #90 on: October 19, 2022, 04:37:58 pm »
Too bad the favorite calcs are out of production and too pricey on the used market.
The Swissmicros DM15L is a decent clone of the HP15 C. I have one of each and use both. I also use a 15C app on my android phone, but prefer the physical calculator.
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Offline Calambres

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Re: What's your favorite calculator?
« Reply #91 on: October 19, 2022, 05:27:32 pm »
Now that you bring Swissmicros here, I've got a DM42 and it is BY FAR my favourite calculator from the many I have.

 
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Offline RAPo

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Re: What's your favorite calculator?
« Reply #92 on: October 19, 2022, 05:31:06 pm »

The Swissmicros DM15L is a decent clone of the HP15 C. I have one of each and use both. I also use a 15C app on my android phone, but prefer the physical calculator.
Indeed, I was a beta tester for the DM41X and DM42. They work really well.
There are myriad apps for the phone: Free42, Plus42 (the same author as Free42 but with enhancements and for a few dollars you'll the developer), GOxx
And for the real afficinados (even non RP): pocketemul.
 

Online Benta

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Re: What's your favorite calculator?
« Reply #93 on: October 19, 2022, 07:03:19 pm »
The Swissmicros DM15L is a decent clone of the HP15 C. I have one of each and use both. I also use a 15C app on my android phone, but prefer the physical calculator.
indeed, but no more than "decent". Key quality/feel is nowhere near the real HP.
 
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Offline tooki

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Re: What's your favorite calculator?
« Reply #94 on: October 19, 2022, 07:32:45 pm »
Have you tried the HP Prime? It has a fantastic keypad.
 

Online fourfathom

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Re: What's your favorite calculator?
« Reply #95 on: October 19, 2022, 08:08:10 pm »
The Swissmicros DM15L is a decent clone of the HP15 C. I have one of each and use both. I also use a 15C app on my android phone, but prefer the physical calculator.
indeed, but no more than "decent". Key quality/feel is nowhere near the real HP.
Agreed (I use both regularly)
. But still quite usable.
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Offline aeberbach

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Re: What's your favorite calculator?
« Reply #96 on: October 19, 2022, 10:57:31 pm »
The Swissmicros DM15L is a decent clone of the HP15 C. I have one of each and use both. I also use a 15C app on my android phone, but prefer the physical calculator.
indeed, but no more than "decent". Key quality/feel is nowhere near the real HP.

They had some issues early on. I have a DM16L that has quite stiff keys but the DM42 from this year is much nicer.
Software guy studying B.Eng.
 

Offline cool_man

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Re: What's your favorite calculator?
« Reply #97 on: October 21, 2022, 01:40:21 pm »
hp45 my favourite.
I have an HP-35 and an HP-6s, but I'd probably prefer an HP-45 to either of them.
 

Online Benta

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Re: What's your favorite calculator?
« Reply #98 on: October 21, 2022, 05:17:26 pm »
Too bad the favorite calcs are out of production and too pricey on the used market.
You don't say... "favorite" and "pricey" kind of go together, I think.
 

Offline wn1fju

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Re: What's your favorite calculator?
« Reply #99 on: October 22, 2022, 12:27:45 pm »
AC powered, Nixie tubes, fixed-point arithmetic, memory, 52 years old and going strong.  My favorite.
 


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