Posted on 10/05/2022 5:20:34 PM PDT by DoodleBob
Whether you’re a middle schooler starting Algebra I, a college student enrolled in a calculus course, or a professional accountant, having a dedicated calculator is essential. Specifically designed for simple straightforward use, these user-friendly devices allow you to perform a wide range of calculations quickly, and powerful models can even tackle extremely complicated calculus equations. And yeah, when it comes to simple math, sure you can use your smartphone, but there’s something about the physical buttons and single-function design that still makes basic calculators useful to have around.
The Best Calculators
BEST OVERALL TI-84 Plus CE Graphing Calculator $129 TEXAS INSTRUMENTS
BEST FOR STUDENTS 16-Digit Scientific Calculator $25 SHARP
BEST VALUE FX-9750II Graphing Calculator $80 CASIO
BEST FOR ACCOUNTING 12c Financial Calculator $68 HP
BEST BUDGET LS-82Z Handheld Calculator $9 CANON
What to Consider
While calculators have all sorts of bells and whistles these days, there are really only two things (aside from price) with which you need to be concerned when shopping for one.
Capabilities
From graphing to scientific to more basic models, there are different types of calculators with different capabilities. Be sure to choose one that will serve your particular needs. Additionally, if you plan to use it for college entrance exams, make sure the model you are going to purchase is approved for use during testing.
Battery Life/Power Source
Speaking of college entrance exams, nothing could be worse than having your calculator run out of power on you before you finish. Calculators can be battery-powered, solar-powered, or a hybrid of both. Whatever type you choose, make sure you can rely on the model you've selected to stay charged for long stretches of time.
(Excerpt) Read more at popularmechanics.com ...
>> 41cv (with nav pac that supposedly belonged to some Hazelwood guy,
I don’t think I’d depend on that, but that’s just me . . .
I have a Canon HS-1200TS calculator.
I do the following:
The low number is 47 and the high is 120 which is 73 difference.
Take the amount of increase which is 73 and then divide by the low number of 47
That is 1.55 x 100 and you get 155% increase.
My Canon HS-1200TS calculator shows 155.3100
On my Samsung S10 I have an free app called CalculatorPlus that shows:
155.319148936
Which of the 3 is the correct answer?
Packing the stack make repetitive operations (like in an equation) much faster.
“>> 41cv (with nav pac that supposedly belonged to some Hazelwood guy,
I don’t think I’d depend on that, but that’s just me <<”
yeah I know, thank God our modern tech like GPS cannot be spoofed.
I was going to post swissmicros, but you beat me to it. They don’t just make mini versions; they have full-sized versions of the Voyager calcs (11,12,15 and one or two others I think) plus several of the regular form-factor ones including two different 41s.
#11 It’s Not as Good as Our German Gonculator”
https://youtu.be/_uT54vSgJd0?t=169
Me too
I used a TI-83 in Calc class. Had a great instructor - he WANTED us to use the calculator to make sure we got the right answer, but we had to show HOW we got the answer on the test. I don’t think any of his tests had more than 10 questions, you could fill half the page showing your work for a single question.
That is why they hires the raccoon
I have EE200 and EEPro on my TI-89. I have not seen another calculator that has Electrical Engineering programs. Many calculators have Biology, Chemistry, etc., but nothing I found that has anything geared towards Electrical Engineering, except for these programs for the TI-89. I did not major in electrical engineering - but am a geek and play around with electronics as a hobby. Are you saying people wrote their own custom programs for different classes they took?
Did yours have 4 slots on the end that you could plug in expansion modules? Inverse Polish notation? On mine, I used 2 of those expansion slots to add expanded memory, the third for a combined math/statistics module and the 4th port to add a card reader that inserted into the expansion slot then snapped onto the back of the calculator.
I got this calculator 1980 IIRC. I was a little over a year out of college and had outgrown the TI-59 that got me through the last few years of the STEM degrees.
My new HP calculator though, the company paid for. $1000 investment they made for me. Big $$$ HP enhancements plus one aftermarket math coprocessor that completely invalidated the warranty.
First the HP enhancements. HP had enhancement packs of programs that were available both for plugging into one of the 4 slots on the end or magnetic strip cards that were loaded via the card reader. I think the manuals you described in the 3-ring binder were documentation manuals for one or more expansion packs.
I had 3 or 4 expansion packs. I had a 3-ring binder with a plastic sleeve to hold strip cards containing lots of wicked programs and the manuals. For me, I was equipped with high end statistics, regression analysis and specialized engineering calculations.
Now, the aftermarket “bootleg” chip I bought sped up math functions about 3x. It came with several pages of install instruction and diagrams. Supposedly, it was a simple install, a caveman can do it. I read the documentation and got to part about soldering to the circuit board and power supply and hell no I'm not doing that!
We had at the facility an instrumentation and computer repair group. Computer wise, they worked on DEC minicomputers and IBM mainframes. Called them up and said I needed a computer worked on. They said fine and a tech would be right over to take it to the shop thinking it was file cabinet size. I said no thank you, I'll drop it off, which the computer guy was surprised at.
I get to the repair shop and hand over the calculater and box with the chip + instructions. I need this chip installed in this calculator. He said, we don't work on calculators. I said, this is a computer and I need a chip put in it. When I called the calculator a computer, it was a magic word and he said sure. My calculator and stuff went from me to him, they did their magic and it was ready in a few days. Perfect.
Function changes to the HP calculator were made. The charging port was snapped out and the its wiring capped off. In its place, a switch was added that turned the coprocessor on/off. The OEM rechargeable battery pack was snapped out and replaced with a OEM blank that held standard AA batteries. The calculator ate up batteries. I always had fresh batteries wherever I went. Used this calculator from about 1980 until I retired a few years ago.
sounds like it. I know the Ti-84 had better calc graphs but it worked well enough for me..
I honestly can’t remember the tests. I think we worked out the problems and could use our calculators. The late 70’s it was all on paper.
It was probably an HP-41CV with a card reader. I had one of those for a while, too, c. 1981.
Then I got an early IBM-PC in Spring of ‘82, and most of my serious number crunching happened there. One of the great things was taking a graduate level numerical methods class, and most everyone else was having to trot down to the computer center and use time share terminals on the CDC Cyber mainframe.
Me, I was using interpreted BASIC off of the motherboard ROM on the IBM-PC in my apartment. I’d write these programs to do numerical solutions for big nasty diff eqs, and some would take 5-6 hours to converge to a solution. But that was OK, I’d get things set up, do a test run to make sure it looked like all was well, that it was converging, fire it up for the final run, then go to bed! In the morning, I’d print the results on my Epson MX-80 dot matrix printer. Beat the heck out of having to go to the computer center!
Yep - it had the card reader and some other stuff. I’m a pack rat so that binder of instructions was difficult to throw out. (It had survived 20 years of previous clearing-outs of the clutter).
My ‘85 Corvette has more computing power than NASA sent to the moon.
For Heavy-Lifting: K&E Log Log Duplex Deci-Trig (10-inch or handy 5-inch). Or, maybe, a Deci-Lon
If graphing is needed, go with a HP-50g (can be set for RPN or that other stuff ...).
For those who deal in "Dimensional Analysis" ... K&E Analon.
I have used the HP 12-C and its predecessors for years. Still the best handheld, easy to learn/use out there.
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