HP 15c re-release, Anyone still using calculators 19

[Celt83]

For those looking for an updated RPN calculator there is a new version of the HP 15c that was released recently that looks to fix some bugs and significantly increase computation speed.
Link

Anyone still using handheld calculators beyond just punching in numbers these days?

I went on a bit of a “calculator” history detour a year or so back that had me using a slide rule for a bit, fascinating tools, and then transitioned to a keystroke programmable HP 11c and decided to treat myself recently and purchased one of the Swissmicros DM42.

 

[BAretired]

Looks just like my HP 11C. I once knew how to use the programmable features, but it's all a bit hazy, so now I just punch numbers.

 

[emmgjld]

I am still looking for a HP-35 replacement

 

[SWComposites]

Yep, have a old Ti-36 SOLAR here on my desk that still gets used. Bunch of slide rules in a box somewhere in a closet.

 

[bugbus]

I have a Casio fx-991ES PLUS, which I love. I would buy another one if this one ever dies.

The numerical integration & summation and equation solving features have come in handy a few times when I'm without a computer. It does a bunch of other stuff that I don't need but is handy to have, including complex numbers, matrix calculations, etc.

 

[civeng80]

Gone away from HP quite a few years ago. My goto calculator now is Ti- 36X Pro.

 

[wrantler]

I have a casio fx-991 type. Had it for prob 10 years now.
Just use it to punch in numbers. who puts programs into their calcs? I use excel for that.

 

[JAE]

I bought an HP-11C app for my iPhone for $10. Works great.

 

[dik]

I just looked it up... it's a lovely calculator... Have they done any studies to show RPN is faster for inputting data? With the original calculators RPB was faster because it replicated the stack architecture of the processors. I'm not trying to discredit RPN... I just don't know. I also used to program in Forth because with early processors, and it was like RPN. It was noticeably faster.

My two calculators I currently use are a TI nspire CXII and a HP 48GX... mostly use the TI, but don't get confused.

-----*****-----
So strange to see the singularity approaching while the entire planet is rapidly turning into a hellscape. -John Coates

-Dik

 

[Ingenuity]

I have the i41CX+ app by Antonio Lagana for my Apple products - fantastic app with all the pacs included. This app was $24.99 - the only app I have ever puchased - but it is worth the $.

I purchased the Swiss Micros DM41X a few years ago - great calculator, very well made.

I have been RPN since 1982, with my first HP-41CV.

My daily RPN calculator is the HP-35s.

 

[dik]

and from the manual...

-----*****-----
So strange to see the singularity approaching while the entire planet is rapidly turning into a hellscape. -John Coates

-Dik

 

[Canuck65]

I am still using my original HP-15C that I purchased in high school in the early 1980's, however it has been relegated to home office use. It has been a spectacular tool for work although I no longer use the programmable functions. The feel of the buttons is excellent. I do have a newer HP at the office but I don't like the buttons anywhere near as much. Dik, once you get the hang of RPN, in my opinion, you will never want to go back to the traditional input method. (and I still get great a good laugh handing it over to another engineer and asking them to punch in a few numbers on a problem we are working through together and seeing their bewilderment ... "where's the '=' button".

 

[dig1]

I still use an HP11c and HP-41CX daily. Not for programming but I have used them since the mid-1980s. The 11C and 15C are actually great to take in the field because they fit easily in a shirt pocket and you can always run a quick number. Almost all of our field work is in industrial plants and there can be limited cell/wireless access among the steel/concrete/piping so being able to do pad/paper calcs in the field is a benefit. In dirty environments I keep the calculator in a small ziplock bag to protect it. I have the 15C app on my phone too and use that as well. I agree w/ Canuck65 about RPN; I think it is much faster once you get used to it (opinion/preference on my part).

 

[Tomfh]

Casio fx82 and fx100 for day to day work. The standard Casio algebraic notation. I tried RPN for a while. I wanted to be RPN guy as well, but it went about as well as my guitar playing career.

Also a TI-89 which was so useful at University. It would solve matrices etc, which was great during structural analysis and finite element exams. Can’t say I’ve use those advanced features much since then.

 

[XR250]

Interesting. I use the 11C daily and the 15C app on my phone for field use.
Can't imagine using anything but RPN.

 

[Brad805]

I use the emulators, but it is not the same. My old 50G is still working, but I would like a 48SX.

 

[RPGs]

I use my TI-84 plus that I've had since middle school--mostly because I am fast at entering things after using it for 2 decades. I still use it every day for quick arithmetic and an occasional matrix, but not much else.

 

[cliff234]

I use an HP-20S. I think I bought it about 20 years ago. I like it so much that I bought 3 more (realizing that some day they would no longer be sold). They were not expensive and I love the positive feel of the buttons on all HP calculators. I used to go to a dentist who collected slide rules. He had about 20 of them mounted on the walls of his office!

 

[BridgeSmith]

I still use a HP-48G pretty much every day. I still have the one I bought my 2nd year of college over 30 years ago, but the one I'm using I picked up from Facebook marketplace about 10 years ago.

 

[Celt83]

I used a TI 89 from High School up until about three months before taking the SE exam then used a Casio FX-115ES plus which for the money is a fine calculator. Then I learned about HP calculators and their RPN input and decided to give it a try, got myself an 11c off of ebay. It took a bit to get used to but RPN and in tandem the keystroke programming just clicked with me. Then I found a 48g for $10 on ebay and jumped into RPL for awhile but found a lot of the advanced features of the 48 were going unused and it was a bit slow so decided to find a nice modern scientific RPN which the DM42 fit the mold nicely. Right now I have a few simple solver routines for area of steel for a concrete beam and masonry wall and a quick program for some retaining wall loading.

My little computing history detour also turned me into a bit of a slide rule collector, only have three more that would be fun to have but they are well beyond my hobby price range. I carry a slide rule with me daily and actually find it really handy when I need to scale some print documents that were printed at an arbitrary size, just figure out the ratio once set the slide then it becomes a convenient look up table for measurements.