Calculators?

[Nuke]

Collecting is addictive.  I visit all the thrift shops in my area about 27,000 times a week and buy every remotely interesting or valuable calculator I can get my hands on.  Some I plan to keep, and others I've been planning to put on eBay for a while.  Most of the 4 function calculators aren't worth much more than $10 unless they're from the reeeeely early 70's or a unique design. They're just neat relics for both their technology and design.  Any scientific calculator from the 70's and even into the early 80's seems to be pretty desirable (from my nosing around on eBay), especially the older HP models.  Funny thing is, I don't even love math that much.

My collection, 1972-present:

Shot at 2010-10-29

[ricercar]

RPN for the win!

• HP32S, my main man.
• HP12C, the only RPN HP that has never stopped production. I found this one for $10 at a garage sale and couldn't leave without it.
• Pickett N-500-ES LogLog, saw me through college.

[Soarer]

Casio fx-790P


Programmable in Basic... and a bizarre simulated assembly language!!


I upgraded its RAM in 1987 - up to a massive 16kb!


Hasn't seen any use for nearly 20 years now I guess, but it's nice that it still works :-)

[ricercar]

Looks like a super hack. Is that a custom job, or did Casio invent that wiring?

[Soarer]

Looks like a super hack. Is that a custom job, or did Casio invent that wiring?

I did it - even Casio wouldn't do something that messy lol!
The space was designed for a RAM module though.

[ricercar]

I love ambitious projects that win. I did that kind of unsupported hack to a Zenith MinisPort laptop, but without the point-to-point wiring. Said that it maxxed out at 1MB, but there was a row of pads on the PCB that hosted another 1MB SIPP. $100 for a 1MB SIPP was way more than I should have afforded, but My hands were steady and my heat sinks finally put to use. 2MB for DOS was like 2GB is for XP--totally spacious; I could run GEOS from RAM disk d: and DOS from ROM (disk c:) and leave the external floppy drive at home.

[Soarer]

Nice one - that gave you about three times the memory to play with! (Man, I'm glad we don't have to deal with loading drivers into high memory with QEMM etc. these days).

Talking of memory... I'd completely forgotten that I'd modded it, or that I even still had it. Seeing another Casio in a similar case made me think of it, so I dug it out and found some batteries to see if it still worked. It wasn't until I removed the back and saw those wires that I remembered modding it - took me right back there!

[maxlugar]

RPN for the win!

Show Image

• HP32S, my main man.
• HP12C, the only RPN HP that has never stopped production. I found this one for $10 at a garage sale and couldn't leave without it.
• Pickett N-500-ES LogLog, saw me through college.

Yeah Baby! Go HP!  Give me RPN or nothing.  I hate people who hand me their stupid algebraic calculators to use in meetings.

**** the = sign key.  Give me memory stacks and rolls any day.

I'm a CPA who despises 10 key roll tape adding machines.  I prefer to add numbers on my HP 12-C or using my Realforce 23UB connected to my PC running Excel.  

I'll have to dig out the PINK Sharp calculator they gave me when I took the uniform CPA exam almost 20 years ago.  Hmm, what is the current market value of a 20 year old pink CPA calculator?   Probably nada.

(although it might look nice next to a pink Filco keyboard)

[Sam]

Yeah Baby! Go HP!  Give me RPN or nothing.  I hate people who hand me their stupid algebraic calculators to use in meetings.

OTOH, I love people who want to borrow my HP calculator and watch their face.  Usually after a few minutes they give up and ask me where the Equal key is.  Sometimes they just sheepishly hand it back to me without having the nerve to ask how to use it.  Love it.

[mike]

Just resurrected this :-



with some new batteries. Despite being stashed for years it now works fine. And was free.

Not quite as nifty as my other HP :-



But I like the form factor better.

[nathanscribe]

Nice.  I just fished out my old Casio FX-7000G but the batteries (3xCR2032) lasted less than a day, from new.  Yipes!  Back in the cupboard...

[mike]

And for those with tired eyes, a calculator on an Android slate :-



(with the HP11C for scale)

And something a little more historic ... an FX-702P :-

[romevi]

Here's my collection so far.




Planning on adding an HP 12C and some TI-84 model later this year.

[tp4tissue]

Here's my collection so far.

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Planning on adding an HP 12C and some TI-84 model later this year.

This is the (archival) thread ,  Below is the new calculator thread.

https://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=99594.msg2748660#new

[ideus]

Come on guys: No true calc HPs?

[SpAmRaY]

Had to swap out my old HP35s for a new one, a few buttons are failing.

The new one seems much heavier and the buttons almost click compared to the old one.

Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk

[Altis]

(From the other calculator thread, here's the ones I use):

The tools of the engineering student, the Casio fx-991MS and the fx-991EX (Classwiz).

I've been thinking of doing a post on all my mechanical pencils and pens sometime as the collection has grown quite a bit.

[ideus]

Had to swap out my old HP35s for a new one, a few buttons are failing.

The new one seems much heavier and the buttons almost click compared to the old one.

Show Image

Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk

That sounds not HP quality like. The calc in my avi has been working for more than 30 years so far. No failures of any kind. The legends of its double shot keys are yellowed though.

[Sintpinty]

Current calculator is some Basics one from school 

[Altis]

Does anyone know of any desk calculators that are scientific (and possibly RPN)?

Seems like desk calculators are only for accountants or something.

[Olumin]

They still work like the day they were built. German engineering... and well, Lichtenstein I guess. Same anyway...















And one "modern" one. No idea why its not upright, my file is...

[ideus]

Does anyone know of any desk calculators that are scientific (and possibly RPN)?

Seems like desk calculators are only for accountants or something.

There is a version of a desktop HP scientific calculator. But it is discontinued.

[Altis]

Does anyone know of any desk calculators that are scientific (and possibly RPN)?

Seems like desk calculators are only for accountants or something.

There is a version of a desktop HP scientific calculator. But it is discontinued.

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Seems like those very rare and old ones are the only ones around (and quite rare at that).

I'm tempted to make one, actually, as it could be a fun project and I think somewhat useful.

[ideus]

Does anyone know of any desk calculators that are scientific (and possibly RPN)?

Seems like desk calculators are only for accountants or something.

There is a version of a desktop HP scientific calculator. But it is discontinued.

Show Image

Seems like those very rare and old ones are the only ones around (and quite rare at that).

I'm tempted to make one, actually, as it could be a fun project and I think somewhat useful.

I am sure that some old guys and girls  may be interested in buying one desktop RPN calculator.

[Altis]

Seems like those very rare and old ones are the only ones around (and quite rare at that).

I'm tempted to make one, actually, as it could be a fun project and I think somewhat useful.

I am sure that some old guys and girls  may be interested in buying one desktop RPN calculator.

I'm thinking more along the lines of making whatever I come up with open source so anybody would be able to build it.

[nelamvr6]

HP 42S

[ideus]

Seems like those very rare and old ones are the only ones around (and quite rare at that).

I'm tempted to make one, actually, as it could be a fun project and I think somewhat useful.

I am sure that some old guys and girls  may be interested in buying one desktop RPN calculator.

I'm thinking more along the lines of making whatever I come up with open source so anybody would be able to build it.

Yeah. I have seen a few open source projects for handheld RPN calcs around. A desktop would add nicely.

[ideus]

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HP 42S

I sold mine to someone in Germany like ten years ago. Also my HP41CX went on sale several years ago.

[nelamvr6]

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HP 42S

I sold mine to someone in Germany like ten years ago. Also my HP41CX went on sale several years ago.

I should probably sell mine, I'm not using it, it's just sitting there, gaining value...

[JP]

A couple of mine. Haven't used them in ages. I keep the batteries out of course. I remember buying the TI-86 for $1 at a yard sale. It was a bit different to use as all my high school math books had instructions using the classic TI-83.

[ideus]

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HP 42S

I sold mine to someone in Germany like ten years ago. Also my HP41CX went on sale several years ago.

I should probably sell mine, I'm not using it, it's just sitting there, gaining value...

It may sell pretty quickly at the right price. Most other HP models take forever to sell, but the 32sii, 42s, 15c and 41cx.

[tp4tissue]

It may sell pretty quickly at the right price. Most other HP models take forever to sell, but the 32sii, 42s, 15c and 41cx.

Selling a calculator is sick..  Only alley addicts need't sink so low..

[Shapey Fiend]

My dad brought home a slide rule a while ago and started enthusiastically extolling its virtues.

20 minutes later he'd cast it aside saying he'd forgotten what a gigantic pain in the arse they were.

[fohat.digs]

My dad brought home a slide rule a while ago and started enthusiastically extolling its virtues.

20 minutes later he'd cast it aside saying he'd forgotten what a gigantic pain in the arse they were.

I was taught how to use a slide rule in school, and was halfway through college when modern calculators came out. They cost $350 and couldn't take a square root.

They are surprisingly accurate (more so at one end of the scale than the other, of course) but since they ignore orders of magnitude, you have to be very careful.

PS - I have used variations of the Texas Instruments TI-30 almost exclusively since the early 1980s.