tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3933619678696660447.post4456012276622648267..comments2023-11-16T11:27:20.675+00:00Comments on Electronics Design Blog: Difficult CalculationsMikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02330775285331342432noreply@blogger.comBlogger12125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3933619678696660447.post-37304808144379337222018-05-22T08:35:03.789+01:002018-05-22T08:35:03.789+01:00When I started my chemical engineering studies I u...When I started my chemical engineering studies I used a CASIO fx-850P with additional 8k RAM and that was really good computer in that era (1994). After my studies I have started work chemical analysis in a lab and after two year work I started another studies as mechanical engineer - with a HP32SII. When I bought this HP after that I never used any other manufacturer machine. In the university I bought a 48SX and a 15C and these three unit was good enough to solve any engineering problem.<br /><br />In my work as mechanical engineer I have became a calculator collector and I frequently use CASIOs again (my favourite two is a little 50F and a very capable 4000P), but I think the HP is the recommended calculator if you want to make serious engineering work.<br />ZilogRhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08264141488435451883noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3933619678696660447.post-76917674465770705612011-12-08T07:11:15.665+00:002011-12-08T07:11:15.665+00:00Nice work! You're speaking for a lot of us th...Nice work! You're speaking for a lot of us that liked to use AND program our calculators. My hats off too, to Casio for trying, but they obviously lost their old core development staff. It seems the pinnacle of their programming line (for me) was the FX-4500P to FX-5800P line. You can still buy lots of FX-5800P's on eBay but only from Korea...odd.<br /><br />The best programming feature for me was the retention of the value of the variables in static memory even after power off. Turn it on..start your program..and your "standard" responses are right there where you left them. You could use a prompt string--easily--to explain whatever you want for input.<br /><br />Man, you had one 12 Character Alpha-numeric Line and One 10 digit Mantissa + 2 Digit exponent Line. Sexy. And small. That's all you need.<br /><br />So, for all the new color screen real estate, memory and firmware we gained, we lost equally as much control over the programming of our calculators.<br /><br />We need static memory! We need String handling! Array Variables! Date Handling! Fractions! We need to FORMAT THE DANG OUTPUT!!!<br />Change it's color! Make it Flash! Move it around the screen! Add some graphics! Sheesh!<br /><br />Man...all that power and no way to tap into it. Frustrating...I need a moment..lolAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3933619678696660447.post-45016698215048664482011-06-16T18:13:52.621+01:002011-06-16T18:13:52.621+01:00Got my HP 48G in university 17 years ago and I won...Got my HP 48G in university 17 years ago and I won't be getting rid of it anytime soon. Hardly ever use the graphing capability but it cost so much I won't replace it until it dies!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3933619678696660447.post-62768180795108018162011-06-16T08:22:32.332+01:002011-06-16T08:22:32.332+01:00Nice post! I would say you should just check ebay ...Nice post! I would say you should just check ebay for a 25 year old HP 48SX. I still us mine today and it seems to have everything you're looking for in a calculator... except it is not NEW. Pooy on NEW! All the new calculators do look like toys or phones.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3933619678696660447.post-76275332998104928542011-06-14T20:09:25.211+01:002011-06-14T20:09:25.211+01:00What always confused me is that while processors g...What always confused me is that while processors get more powerful, calculators are getting slower and slower. I bought a casio fx-991ES for university, which is so slow that I can actually type faster than it can display the numbers I'm typing (even when I switch off the "math mode" where the term appears like it would be when written by hand). This is seriously annoying because it doesn't seem to have a buffer, so digits will get lost (imagine typing 1000 very fast and getting 100). Also, the user interface isn't very well thought out. When I want to use an arcsin, I would think typing "arc" followed by "sin" would be the logical thing to do. Not so with the casio. After typing "arc", a menu shows up on the screen, allowing to select between sin, cos, tan with the number keys 1 to 3. Very annoying in my opinion.<br /><br />I have since gone back to using the fx-115s, my first scientific calculator, which also has much nicer keys than the fx-991ES.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3933619678696660447.post-33293415812216277782011-06-14T16:56:41.597+01:002011-06-14T16:56:41.597+01:00I'm an A Level Maths/Further Maths student at ...I'm an A Level Maths/Further Maths student at the minute, and whilst I'm not a calculator connoisseur like yourself, I do have to say I like my Casio fx9750gii rather a lot - I've upgraded the firmware to that of the fx9860gii, which gives me the very useful 'math' display mode with surds and pretty matrices etc as well as pointless spreadsheet and 'e-activity' functions.<br />It's programmable, and I've made a few useful programs (one that transforms the unit square by and 2x2 matrix and another that finds quark compositions of hadrons given their characteristics, among other things).<br />Perhaps not up to your standards, but I recommend it!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3933619678696660447.post-38095312898707275592011-06-14T16:08:46.583+01:002011-06-14T16:08:46.583+01:00All the calculators made today are rubbish. I sti...All the calculators made today are rubbish. I still use my HP 28S (from around 1991), I have a few 32s II's which I love, but my favorite is an 11C that I inherited in my lab drawer many years ago. I'm partial to RPN, but HP only makes a few now, and they don't have the feel of the old ones.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3933619678696660447.post-43325169486025831492011-06-14T10:09:40.718+01:002011-06-14T10:09:40.718+01:00The calculator is one of the few gadgets that does...The calculator is one of the few gadgets that does not change. Nice example is the HP 12C. It is the longest ever produced electronic gadget, and you can still buy it today. 30 years already the time stands still.<br />Same with the smaller calculators. The chip for the simplest credit card calculators never changed since the seventies.<br />Some exotic models aside, calculators are the least changing gadgets there are.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3933619678696660447.post-39434045412725038632011-06-14T09:02:01.931+01:002011-06-14T09:02:01.931+01:00We had Programmable Sinclair Scientific calculator...We had Programmable Sinclair Scientific calculators by '79. My dad first brought a regular 4-function calculator home in about '73. I had a Rockwell Scientific when I went to university in '76.<br /><br />http://www.vintagecalculators.com/html/sinclair___the_pocket_calculat.htmlkerensahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14248572089791883877noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3933619678696660447.post-85153967035982942562011-06-14T05:23:44.939+01:002011-06-14T05:23:44.939+01:00Excellent article. It probably underlines what mos...Excellent article. It probably underlines what most scientific calculator users think of the current market.<br /><br />Vintage HP28, 41 and 15 fetch record prices on eBay. In the days of dirt cheap computing power and chinese factories it is unclear to me why HP does not bring back something like the HP15C given that they already revived the same form factor.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3933619678696660447.post-44998310791707065162011-06-13T23:48:09.100+01:002011-06-13T23:48:09.100+01:00Excellent article. I stopped upgrading after the H...Excellent article. I stopped upgrading after the HP24S because I found the new fangled HP graphical calculators were frustratingly slow (for data entry, not program execution). <br /><br />I'm mightily impressed by the 42S emulator for IOS but still use the hardware version due to it's "instant on" as you point out.Tomhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12628148837728384835noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3933619678696660447.post-41217786002280976712011-06-13T23:39:51.659+01:002011-06-13T23:39:51.659+01:00I went through engineering school on an HP-15C...s...I went through engineering school on an HP-15C...still the best calculator I've ever owned. I still have it and it works great!.<br /><br />However, I recently bought the HP-35s for everyday work. It's OK. The keys are nothing like the HP-15C, but it works fine and I haven't had any problems with it. I don't like the vertical profile of the 35s. The horizontal 15c is perfect, IMHO. I also called HP to get a free hard copy of their manual and they sent it free of charge.<br /><br />I'd love HP to remake the HP-15C as it was. It's a fine machine and is the perfect size for carrying around and doing quick calculations. HP, are you listening?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com