Programmable Calculators!

[Robomeds]

I got an HP-48GX and an HP-50g at a yard sale a while back, and I have completely given up on them -- they are awful calculators! Poor construction quality, go through batteries like you wouldn't believe, and they are buggy. I realize that they feature lots of functions that their TI counterparts don't have (Laplace transforms for example); however, they are difficult to use, don't always provide a solution, and when they do provide a solution it is never simplified. It is easier solving equations by hand then it is trying to use the HP-50g!

Sorry you feel that way, but the 48GX and older calculators are well regarded.  Certainly, the newer ones (in the last 5-7 years) and not as good, poor keyboard mostly.  I've had the same batteries in my 48 for the last 4 years.

The 48GX ROM released are pretty good, only a few bugs, not sure what error you were hitting.   I believe all the newer hardware versions after that were actually emulators running the 48 GX code underneath, so those "bugs" you mentioned would have been in those, but those would have firmware upgrades available.

I know a lot of engineers that would only work with HP calcs and wouldn't be caught dead with TI or Casio in the workplace.  That was the thought almost 10 years ago and more, but PCs have now overtaken the mundane tasks of quick calculations, so there's no where near as much use these days for any of them (outside of any exams).

IMHO, once you've picked up RPN entry and understood it's strengths, you would never use a calculator with a "=" key again.

I noticed that back in the 90s when HP had RPN while the rest were, well what ever things like the old TI-30 used.  As soon as you could start doing equation style entering I think the value of RPN was dead.  It's early value was better handling of parenthetical operations.  It also required fewer key strokes.  Well compared to equation type entering the fewer strokes is still true.  The easier to keep track of part isn't. 

[SLJ]

I have this one in my collection.  I've seen plenty of vintage ads for it but this is the only actual one I have ever found.


Otherwise I just use a TI-86 which I picked up for $10 at a swap meet.

[AlessandroAU]

My favourite is still the Casio FX-9860G. I feel like the TI nSpire CAS _might_ be the new favourite though once I learn to use it as well as I have the others. The EL-506W as it can do calculations and conversions in binary, hex, oct and pen which is handy. For a basic scientific the FX-82AU (not pictured) is the best as it has a graphical display and can handle multi-line inputs, Officeworks was giving them away here for $3 not so long ago. http://www.casio.edu.shriro.com.au/fx82auplus.php

[Jon86]

Well I've just got some great news, the college will give me £60 towards any graphing calculator I choose to buy. But there's one catch, it has to be from a shop because I need the receipt...
Looking at this one http://www.ryman.co.uk/1290410000/HP-39gII-Graphing-Calculator/Product
Any thoughts? And anywhere I might be able to buy a better one?

Also thanks for the all the great advice!

[IanB]

It's probably between that and a Casio. I've always had a soft spot for Casio calculators, but HP are fine too. You should look for detailed reviews on the web. Unfortunately I hardly ever touch a calculator these days as I work in front of a computer screen and the facilities available on a PC are far superior to any calculator out there 

[c4757p]

I've always found a handheld calculator to be more convenient even if I am at the computer. I'm quicker with it - a calculator keyboard is specifically designed for math - and I don't accidentally close it and lose results or anything.

Anything binary or bitwise is done at a Python prompt, and anything with lots of data or something to plot is done in MATLAB. Complicated + symbolic = Mathematica. But basic arithmetic and such goes to the calculator (HP 48G or 35S).

From what I have heard about newer HPs, it's either 50G, or get a Casio or (shudder) TI. But that's just hearsay, I haven't owned any of them.

[jpb]

HP used to make calculators with very good keyboards (such as the 48SX) but then their keyboards became awful (I bought the 48SX replacement - top of the line at the time - and I sent back the first 3 I got because the keyboard was so bad before deciding they are now all like that).

The HP35s has a much better keyboard than many of the recent models, though it is still not as nice as the earlier ones.

So if you're buying an HP from a shop, make sure you like the keyboard (the keys register with a nice click and there is no key bounce or failure of the key to register). Casio calculators have different sort of keys - they are not as nice as the good HP keyboards but are much better than the bad HP keyboards.

I like the HP35s, I also like RPN but the one thing that bugs me about the 35S is that in maximum display mode (i.e. without a fixed number of digits) the display overflows so you need to scroll sideways to see the exponent value. This seems a very poor design decision on HP's part. Generally I want the flexible display (I don't want 1.2 to be displayed as 1.2000000 but on the other hand where there are more digits I like to see them) but having the exponent only half visible is a constant pain.

[c4757p]

The overflow is very dumb. I run mine in four-digit engineering mode constantly just to avoid that.

[Jon86]

But there's one catch, it has to be from a shop because I need the receipt...

Amazon do receipts.

Hmm, real printable reciepts?
Also, is there any advantage to buying from Amazon, are there better options there?

[creyc]

I always liked my Casio FX-991 because of how easy it was to enter metric prefixes.  It offered quick access to everything from femto and pico, up to Giga and Tera multipliers as 2nd functions of the number keys.

Of course the output was regular scientific notation so you still had to know your prefix conversions (as you should!) but at least it made number input feel quicker and more natural.



Just wish I hadn't lost mine!

[mos6502]

I always liked my Casio FX-991 because of how easy it was to enter metric prefixes.

Um. That's what the EE key is for. 

pico = 1e-12
nano = 1e-9
micro = 1e-6
...

[casinada]

MJLorton a friend of this forum reviews calculators go to Youtube and take a look at some of his videos. I know Dave has a couple of calculators somewhere on his workbench. Nothing fancy, just scientific calculators with emphasis in electronics like hex bin dec conversion and scientific notation. When I went to the university I couldn't afford a programmable calculator. It would have been helpful to solve matrices, specially with complex numbers, other than that A Casio Scientific did just fine. When my wife went to the university, they asked to buy an HP financial calculator, I don't think she used it that much, the same for the TI-83 I got for her. My son that is senior in high school uses his TI-84+ Silver all the time and he loves it. Currently I use the Calculator that comes with windows, I use it most of the time in scientific mode. When I'm not in front of the computer I use a free scientific calculator I downloaded on my IPhone. I think I wouldn't mind having a cheap SCI calculator on my desk. You can buy some TI, Sharp, or Casio scientific calculators for $10 new. Here in the USA can buy a scientific calculator for $1 at the dollar stores. Good luck on your calculator quest 

[JDubU]

Currently I use the Calculator that comes with windows, I use it most of the time in scientific mode. When I'm not in front of the computer I use a free scientific calculator I downloaded on my IPhone.

For a Windows based calculator, I always use Excalibur (freeware):
http://www.freeware-guide.com/dir/files/excal32_200.zip

It is very much like an HP calculator -- RPN, fast, scientific/engineering notation, complex numbers, fractions, unit conversions, programmable, etc.

It doesn't do graphing or printing though.

[clifford]

I always liked my Casio FX-991 [...] Just wish I hadn't lost mine!

Before you buy a new one, have a look at the SHARP EL-W506. It replaced the Casio FX-991 for me and I never looked back. (I think it is even something like 50 EUR cents cheaper than the Casio.) However: I haven't used it much in the last years as I am now usually in front of a computer when I have to calculate something or use Math Studio (that has quite good CAS support) on my cell phone.

[timb]

I'm a big fan of Calca for OS X and iOS. It's basically a simple text editor with a builtin symbolic calculator. It supports variables, functions, matrices, boolean logic and more.

[codeboy2k]

I'm a big fan of Calca for OS X and iOS. It's basically a simple text editor with a builtin symbolic calculator. It supports variables, functions, matrices, boolean logic and more.

Nice, I didn't know it existed. It's very similar to Mathcad for Windows.  Now I use SMath Studio on Linux, since I don't use Windows every day anymore, just occasionally when I need to   SMath is actually a Windows program, written in C# and uses the Mono runtime on Linux.   

I wish there was a native Linux application similar to Mathcad/SMath/Calca.  Does anyone know?

[Zad]

Generally speaking, at A-level and above calculators aren't used that much in maths - the actual numbers aren't massively important. What matters is that you know how to manipulate things and can demonstrate all the intermediate stages. A very basic scientific calculator will do all you need it to.

I don't think I have seen anyone use the graphing capabilities of the "big screen" models beyond the first fortnight or so of ownership. Whatever you buy though, make sure it is approved for exam use. A-levels and University level maths related exams will not allow any programmables because of the potential for storing textual information to cheat with.

My choice would be (is) a HP-35S. It isn't trying to be a computer or a 1990s mobile phone, just a good calculator.

[SLJ]

I've collected a few over the years. This is the smallest scientific calculator I've seen.

[Rigel]

My favorite calculator right now is TI-36X Pro. I just find it very intuitive to use. I also like that I do not have to change modes to use complex numbers.. The one exception is for my microprocessors class converting between decimal hex and binary I use a Casio Fx 115ES. I purchased a TI nspire CAS, while I think it will be very useful and powerful, I am not allowed to use it on any exams So I am not spending anytime mastering its capabilities.

[olsenn]

Stay clear of the TI nspire CX calculators. They are fragile (up/down buttons are already going on mine even though it's rarely used and never dropped etc) and since it uses a Li-Ion battery, if you put it away for a month and then grab it to perform a calculation, the battery will be dead, even if you left it fully charged. This crappy calculator was obviously designed with narrow-minded high school market intentions.. It is not field capable

[creyc]

Stay clear of the TI nspire CX calculators. They are fragile (up/down buttons are already going on mine even though it's rarely used and never dropped etc) and since it uses a Li-Ion battery, if you put it away for a month and then grab it to perform a calculation, the battery will be dead, even if you left it fully charged. This crappy calculator was obviously designed with narrow-minded high school market intentions.. It is not field capable

That's a bit of a disappointment to hear on a flagship TI product, although I'm not all that surprised to be honest.  The graphics and styling make me think someone spent a bit more time working on the aesthetics than the guts of it.

Does anyone have experience or much of an opinion on calculators with CAS (computer algebra system) built in?  It sounds neat being able to keep equations in symbolic form, but probably not all that useful in the real world?

Prettyprint seems like another neat feature on the TI models, again I wonder how important that might be..

[IanB]

Does anyone have experience or much of an opinion on calculators with CAS (computer algebra system) built in?  It sounds neat being able to keep equations in symbolic form, but probably not all that useful in the real world?

I for one don't like them. It sounds neat in principle, being able to recall the last calculation and edit it, but in practice I just find the system cumbersome and slow. I far prefer the traditional old style of calculator where you press a key and something happens, which fortunately you can buy very cheaply these days.

[Alexei.Polkhanov]

I use MAXIMA or wxMaxima which is open source Algebra System but it works only on PC not calculator. Sometimes I use MATLAB or Octave. Lately I started using simply Google search like this

https://www.google.ca/?gws_rd=cr&ei=9iiEUuriKMW92wXL8YCIAQ#q=(12+nanoseconds+*+speed+of+light)+%2F2
or this
https://www.google.ca/search?q=1%2F(i*(10+mhz+in+rad+per+second)+*+1+microfarad)&oq=1%2F(i*(10+mhz+in+rad+per+second)+*+1+microfarad)&aqs=chrome..69i57j69i58.150090j0j7&sourceid=chrome&espvd=215&es_sm=122&ie=UTF-8#es_sm=122&q=1%2Fi*(10+megahertz+*+1+microfarad)

because it understands units very well.

Biggest disadvantage of calculators is that it is hard to share your calculations like copy paste them into Email.

[c4757p]

Does anyone have experience or much of an opinion on calculators with CAS (computer algebra system) built in?  It sounds neat being able to keep equations in symbolic form, but probably not all that useful in the real world?

I for one don't like them. It sounds neat in principle, being able to recall the last calculation and edit it, but in practice I just find the system cumbersome and slow. I far prefer the traditional old style of calculator where you press a key and something happens, which fortunately you can buy very cheaply these days.

HP 50G (probably 48G as well) allows symbolic expressions to be manipulated on the RPN stack. Once in a long while, it is incredibly useful.

[olsenn]

Pretty Print is, in my opinion, a requirement for CAS! The HP 50g has a equation editor which is sort-of decent, but beyond that, it sucks. The TI-89 (titanium) is the best CAS calculator out there, but even on that only simple equations can be integrated/transformed etc.