Twelve years ago, I found my first TI-30. Someone had left it in a lecture hall, and I stuck it in my bag thinking that i would take it to the lost and found... but alas I forgot. Several months later, I pulled it out in desperation, forgetting my TI-85 (or 82), while taking a test. To my surprise, it was a pleasure to use. No fumbling around through layers and layers of menus. Yes you can't do as much with it, but hey, if i need to do something that complicated, I've go excel. It does the quick calcs that i write on little post-it notes that are currently covering my desk.
I still use the one that I found, even thought I've gotten a more updated version.
My thoughts on calculators is to apply the KISS principle.
Oh, and Star for you Tick... Never new that the windows calculator had so much functionality.
Wes C.
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In the other thread on RPN v's DAL I wondered about whether there was an age-related split with RPN v's DAL users. I also wonder if there is a geographical divide - RPN favoured in North America and DAL in Europe perhaps? Or maybe the UK is the odd one out?
I dunno. I just never saw the great advantage to using RPN. If you try to enter equations as written with multiple parentheses, it's a mess with normal calculators, but no reason you can't work from the inside out using one.
I always thought it was an economic issue. Years ago the HP was clearly state of the art and the people I knew that had them were going to school with much better financial backing than me. Many of us doing it on a shoestring either couldn't or didn't want to pay $400 US which was the going price way back them. In my case I got used to the algebraic entry and have stuck with it, as many others probably did too. I think the first calculator I bought was a SR-40 by TI for about $100 US. But I'll have to check to make sure, I think it's in the same box as my slide rule.
During senior year in high school, the HP35 and HP45 were about 2 years old, TI came out with the SR51, which was $150 at the Emporium, while the HP35 was still $350+. When the HP25 came out at $150 during freshman year in college, it was a no brainer.
I use a Casio FX-602p. I bought one in circa 1981 to do my masters and used in for rudder loading calculations et al using up all the programming steps in the process. Now I only use it for simple calcs but it's still great; small cute with great buttons and excellent functions.
Recently a line of pixels started to go so I tried to get another. Shock horror ! Calculators from that period are now collectable with silly eBay prices. Finally got one that few others had noticed for a good price. Really pleased I did; like having an old friend back.
There are actually a number of HP calculator simulations, in addition to several generalized RPN calculators.
The HP sims are essentially worthless on a PDA, since the physical representation is shrunk to fit on the PDA display, making them prit-near useless, as far as i'm concerned.
For those fortunate, or unfortunate, to carry a PDA, there are built-in calculator programs. For Windows PDAs there are HP emulation and RPN calculator programs
Tmoose,
That is the coolest slide rule I've ever seen. It is a lot smoother and therefore more accurate than the high-dollar one I carried in Nuc School.
I have older models of the Casio fx 115w and the TI 30XA Solar that I normally keep and use the desk where my computer resides. I have have a laptop that for some unknown reason doesn't have the Microsoft Calculator installed. When I tried to use the Casio it wouldn't go and the Ti was iffy. It took a little while to figure out that the recently installed miniature fluorescent light bulbs will not power the calculators. They both work fine in natural or incandescent light.