$7 Scientific Calculator
erco
Posts: 20,259
http://www.frys.com/product/3067899;jsessionid=nnlw-fZta8oVhoWISymwDA__.node1?site=sr:SEARCH:MAIN_RSLT_PG
Grab one from a Fry's near you (or only $4 to ship one). 10 digit, 2-line display. Much better than fumbling with that silly smartphone app on your bench. I may need two.
Grab one from a Fry's near you (or only $4 to ship one). 10 digit, 2-line display. Much better than fumbling with that silly smartphone app on your bench. I may need two.
Comments
-Phil
I myself just use the one built in to Windows 7 Calculator. Either that, or if it is too complicated I use the Internet!!!!
My favourite is ConsoleCalc, an extended precision model, with a nice Text editor interface.
http://www.zoesoft.com/console-calculator/
and I've used wolfram alpha for things like Egyptian fractions.
('Paid way more than $7, though, back when.)
-Phil
Look at all it can do: (even computer math and logic operations)
Scientific Calculator features 272 functions, 10 x 2 line display, Multi-Line Playback to make scientific equations easier for students to solve. Ideal for students studying general math, algebra, geometry, and trigonometry. Advanced Direct Algebraic Logic simplifies entry equations by allowing students to input equations exactly as shown. Features nine independent memories, last answer recall, last-digit correction, continuous calculation, 10 parenthesis levels, log (and inverse), percent, fraction calculation, trigonometry functions, statistics functions including two variable, standard deviation, six regression types and factorials, and computer math, such as logic operators.
Actually, I had an HP11C which I bought in 1981 and I was heartbroken when it died. The HP15 was the "upgrade" which was probably a bit over-ambitious; doing matrices and complex numbers on a single-line display is a bit awkward. But RPN rocks for complex formulas, and it was a blast in college to see the look on someone's face when they ask to borrow your calculator and you say "Surrrre..." and watch as they search in vain for the = key.
Just man up and get one; Fry's is clearing them out. Just like those Itomic eReaders, when dey gone, dey gone! Don't say erco dint warn ya!
http://www.frys.com/search?search_type=regular&sqxts=1&query_string=mouse+calculator&submit.x=0&submit.y=0&cat=0
The Windows 7 calculator is a great disappointment to me. I use it occasionally for quick hex/dec conversions, but i keep forgetting to switch to another mode for floating point results like in mm/inch conversions. Having to swap modes is a PITA.
Back in the day we studied all of that in school to age 15 and never needed a calculator, Never mind that for most of that time there were no such things for my generation. Then a couple of years more in technical college and the another 3 years at university. No calculator required. After all most of the time you are dealing with symols and equations, hardly a number to be seen. Questions were set in such a way that things worked out very simply numerically and your end result would often be an equation. Not only did we not need a calculator it's hard to see how one would help in presenting a proof or such.
So why is it that over the years I have read so many times about school kids or students and the problems they have with calculators. Apparently the types of calculators you can take into examinations is very controlled. But why do they need one anyway?
You can change base simply with the function keys.
I too, am from the pre-calculator generation and had experiences similar to yours. My early working days were spent without a programmer's calculator and many a late night OS dump was busted with scribbles of octal calculation out in the margins. Calculators are wonderful tools but they are just that and you still need to understand the underlying mechanics and be able to understand the input and results in my book...and much to her chagrin in our daughter's education, also!!
But my general question still stands, why do kids in school and students need a calculator so much when studying maths? Why are they even allowed into examinations?
After all you start out learning numbers and arithmetic, any questions there you should be solving in your head otherwise you are not learnig anything. Soon after that everything is pretty much symbolic. The numeric results are not the important thing but your working is.
<SARCASM>
Um, so they can use a cash register when they have topped out in their career and don't embarrass the average customer by calculating change in their heads?
</SARCASM>
I marvel at the times I've told a clerk/cashier how much change I should be getting back and they look at me in wonder like I've performed some sort of ancient magic! Well, I guess doing subtraction in your head is some sort of ancient magic now days!
I'd even trade it for a slide rule, or an HP RPM calculator.
Does anyone really bother to do number cruching outside of a spreadsheet anymore?
Oh that fully featured scientific calculator app which retains state, has configurable keys, has history list, optional RPN mode, screen readable in low light, can be upgraded, always to hand, free?
That's the one!
I've still got my 41CX, but I'm afraid to use it since I don't want it to break. It's still my favorite calculator - fit very nicely in the hand among other things.
These days, I usually turn to an RPN calculator on my phone or an HP 35s.
Every two or three days I has a new project to prepare quantity takeoffs and bids.
Years earlier, I did takeoff estimating with an adding machine and a slide rule for multiplication (and the mechanical multiply feature was way too slow.)
Everything changed with Visicalc and a good hard disk.
I have an HP 50g now, sitting right here on my desk - but it isn't as nice as the HP 41CV. The graphics and other features make it over the top complex. I don't need the graphics, but RPN makes possible living without a paper tape for verification.
Some people absolutely refuse to learn RPN and are quite loyal to TI calculators. Once you master RPN, it is difficult to bother with the 'conventional' tedium. And you can actually begin to learn Forth.
HP is laying off 29,000 employees now. I really am beginning to think the digital age is coming to an end. The world is seeking a new paradigm for economic growth and people are beginning to grow weary of their gadgets not giving them economic security.
Of course, an abacus won't help if you don't know how to work the problem (twice problems got past me because I didn't know what the formulas were to calculate the answers).
But, it was fun, and proved an abacus *could* beat pen and paper. In fact, I got to the point where I could do rather complex math in my head, (like multiplying multiple 4+ digit numbers) simply by picturing an abacus in my head, and working out the problems on it mentally moving the beads around until I had the answer. Of course, I'm out of practice, and can't do that anymore, but it sure was a nice trick during math class in highschool.
(showing work was always a problem for me because of that) heh.
If you want, send me a mailing address in a private message and I will send you my abacus. They work as good as any modern calculator and don't require batteries.
I am just surprised at how technology has retired so many excellent tools.
And, after that, I wasn't confused by it anymore.
I'm sure that wasn't the true intent of the thing, but it sure did make things easier for me translating between decimal and hex after that.