geekhack
geekhack Community => Other Geeky Stuff => Topic started by: IBI on Fri, 22 May 2009, 17:54:28
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They're a lot more compact than normal keyboard keys, I'd imagine they're probably specially made for the device. You could certainly make one yourself with normal keys -although I wonder if the travel would be too long for a handheld device.
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I can't wait to see how good this works. I'm still looking for one to buy =]
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It looks great but seems rather expensive to me!
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You teeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeease!! @_@
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How does the white alps copies feel comparing to the real white alps?
How much was it again?
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How does the white alps copies feel comparing to the real white alps?
for the record, I for one oppose the designation 'real' and 'fake' for the various alps switches, as I feel the terms are misleading in a way (and unecessariliy make the later alps switches seem to be imposters of some kind - they're not, they're licensed/legal manufacturers).
I feel it would be like referring to unicomp as 'fake buckling springs' and ibm made ones as 'real buckling springs'. Doesnt seem right.
Sure, the 'later' alps switches vary in design and there were three or four major redesigns (after all we think unicomp uses lighter springs, dont we?), but they're all marketed under the alps umbrella and there's nothing 'fake' about them. They're redesigns.
So I prefer the terms 'original' and 'later'.
How do they feel? As with most questions like this, you'll get a range of responses since this is very subjective. I've tried pretty much all of them. My own opinion is that the 'original' alps is quite similar (in feel, tone, etc) to the 'later' switch that was sold as the "XM" switch (and which you find in most 'alps' keyboards out there today including filco and matias and ABS and so on. Actually the XM switch is probably the most common one out there today. So if you ask me, its pretty similar to the 'original' one.
You can still get your hands on the 'original' one pretty easily - just pick up an at101w on ebay for about $25 to $30 shipped, sometimes less. It has the 'original' 'bigfoot' alps.
Now some people will swear the newer XM is different from teh original bigfoot, but for me I find them more similar than not. Sure, they're slightly different, but not by much, if you ask me.
There are two remaining varieties of alps, both hard to find today. I actually forgot what one of them is. It wasnt any big shakes though. Now the other one, called 'real simplified' in the wiki - ah, thats my favorite alps switch. Quite different from the other alps designs and for my money much better than the rest. Unfortunately also virtually impossible to find anymore. Its a pity.
I came across it on the matias TP2 (old version - with the bum control card with the ghosting problems, so I couldnt use it anyway). But in terms of feel it was meaty, slightly heavier, clunkier and lower toned sound, and kept its resistance more consistently on the downstroke. (To be honest, it was like buckling springs, lol). But different enough to be neat.
Anyway, to answer your question, XM's are fairly similar to bigfoots, if you ask me. Alright, they're higher in tone when they click. But bigfoots are a bit high pitched to begin with too. Others will chime in with their views here anyway.
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I'm using a Dell AT101W right now but it feels like the keystrokes are getting heavier and heavier as I use it. I don't think I really like it as much as I did at first. But I am looking forward to seeing what ripster is going to put up tomorrow since I am quite interested in a numpad myself!
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Well, I am TOTALLY confused by all the Alps switches
lol so am I. The naming schemes in our wiki doesnt help with that. I tried re-orging it once but all the alps experts pounced on me and changed it back. :)
so I'm just going to post a picture and my patented RipOmeter results.
thats the important stuff
It's probably a XM switch from your description.
probably; i'm pretty sure its the only one thats still manufactured.
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I'm using a Dell AT101W right now but it feels like the keystrokes are getting heavier and heavier as I use it. I don't think I really like it as much as I did at first. But I am looking forward to seeing what ripster is going to put up tomorrow since I am quite interested in a numpad myself!
well the XM switch is probably a bit lighter and a bit higher toned. Not by much though. (Although also nowhere near as light as the blue cherry).
You may be able to try the XM switch in retail stores. I tried it out at the J&R in downtown manhattan, the latest matias Tactile Pro 2 has them. I dont know who else carries the TP2 though.
If the strokes are getting heavier, do you think you might prefer a switch that is lighter overall?
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well the XM switch is probably a bit lighter and a bit higher toned. Not by much though. (Although also nowhere near as light as the blue cherry).
You may be able to try the XM switch in retail stores. I tried it out at the J&R in downtown manhattan, the latest matias Tactile Pro 2 has them. I dont know who else carries the TP2 though.
If the strokes are getting heavier, do you think you might prefer a switch that is lighter overall?
I might be heading to the city this weekend so I'll try to head out to J&R to check out the Matias Tactile Pro 2. I ordered the blank Filco Mini with blue cherries and I'm just waiting for it to come and surprise me with a lighter key feel. With your assurance, I think I made the right decision in buying this Filco Mini because I was looking for something that has the feel and sound of the Dell AT101W but with lighter key feel.
Thanks for your help Wellington!
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I might be heading to the city this weekend so I'll try to head out to J&R to check out the Matias Tactile Pro 2. I ordered the blank Filco Mini with blue cherries and I'm just waiting for it to come and surprise me with a lighter key feel. With your assurance, I think I made the right decision in buying this Filco Mini because I was looking for something that has the feel and sound of the Dell AT101W but with lighter key feel.
that sounds like a good plan. I dont know if you've been to the city before, you want the downtown location of J&R (near city hall). (J&R has another 'location' which is a mini-store within Macy's, they dont have keyboards there).
At the downtown store they used to have some interesting keyboards that I'd never seen anywhere else (including the TP2). And they lay them out for the public to get their hands on, which is nice.
Thanks for your help Wellington!
np :) Having been thru the trial-and-error process myself, its fun to pass on whatever I learned (and retained) ;) Though each journey is unique, grasshopper.
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thats a calculator i'd be proud to put on my desk :)
now if it had a usb cable that turned it into a numpad... altho in a way, its even cooler that it has alps-like switches and ISNT a numpad!
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I love calculators. I want one as well. But which color...
Did you buy it from the link in the first post?
My only wish would be RPN but no biggie.
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don't forget to add it to your sig!
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Nothing special here but you get bonus Retail Points if you know what the "MU" key stands for.
MU = Markup.
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KACHING! I had to look that one up on Wikipedia.
I didn't.
Full disclosure: I work in retail (Grocery).
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MU = Markup.
I was hoping it was refering to the coefficient of friction and giving you a handy way to tell how your Alps switches were getting stiffer over their lifetimes.
How do you find the long travel on the switches when using it as a calculator? It must be two or three times as long as a normal calculator and keyboard switches were designed to be used with the thumbs.
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Did you buy it from the link in the first post?
holy crap, $100! good thing your son paid for it ;)
it sure is sweet though.
where is the enter key? i guess you hit 'send' instead?
you're right its cooler as a standalone calc actually. we've seen clicky numpads before but i've never seen a clicky standalone calc before.
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All I pretty much use these days is Windows Calculator. I really like the Power Toy version of the calculator as well.
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I don't know why but I always thought Windows Calculator was poorly integrated with the keyboard.
For your autohotkey file: hit numlock to launch calculator, do your business, then hit numlock to close calculator. Modify the below at will.
;put this line up top in the autorun section of the autohotkey file:
setnumlockstate, on ;sets your numpad on when you boot up if you want, you can also do this in BIOS usually.
;====================================
;Down below put this:
numlock::
settitlematchmode, 3 ;exact match of window title required
ifwinexist, Calculator
{
winclose, Calculator
if !(was_up)
send {numlock}
}
else
{
run, "C:\WINDOWS\system32\calc.exe"
winwait, Calculator
winactivate
GetKeyState, state, NumLock, T ; D if numlock is ON or U otherwise.
if state = U ;numlock was off
{
send {numlock}
was_up := 0
}
else was_up := 1
}
settitlematchmode, 1 ;return to default match mode
return
;send backspace with numlock key and subtract key
numlock & numpadsub::sendinput, {backspace}
;send esc with numlock key and zero:
numlock & numpad0::sendinput, {esc}
;send true numlock with left win and numlock
lwin & numlock::send {numlock}
;====================================
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lprobably; i'm pretty sure its the only one thats still manufactured.
What about the Black ones used in the ABS M1?
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What does it give as the result of 1+2*3 ?
This is the first thing I try on any calculator, and if it says 9 I refuse to use it on principle.
Windows calculator fails of course!
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What about the Black ones used in the ABS M1?
Same manufacturer, different model. In other words, there are no other manufacturers other than "XM" making Alps (compatible) switches.
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Oh right. I thought XM refered to the white switch in particular. That would explain it...
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The japanese site (in english):
http://www.idea-in.com/en/idc_6.html
There's also a beige version.
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The japanese site (in english):
http://www.idea-in.com/en/idc_6.html
There's also a beige version.
while there i'd also pick up the caocao clock
http://www.idea-in.com/takumi/caocao/
and the 'cube timer' :)
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The calculator will randomly CRASH in the middle of your calculations.
Sold, on principle. That's awesome.
Tangental stray thought: I used to get "Why do you do your live recordings on a minidisc instead of a laptop?" and answer "Minidisc recorders never crash." Then of course, in the middle of an all-day outdoor summer event, my MZ-R3 overheated (do not operate in direct sunlight)and crashed and rebooted in the middle of a set.
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What does it give as the result of 1+2*3 ?
This is the first thing I try on any calculator, and if it says 9 I refuse to use it on principle.
Windows calculator fails of course!
That is funny. My Mac Calculator says 7, the calc on my WinMo 6.5 phone says 9. I love it.
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Windows calculator fails of course!
Not here (Win2k calc, says 7). Writing a calculator seems to be a popular exercise for stacks in C lectures, so it should be pretty common knowledge among programmers how to do it correctly.
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Vista says 9.
However, this shouldn't be a problem if you know your calculator and some rules. If you enter 1+2*3 into an RPN calculator you keep track of entries and operators as well:
1
enter
2
+
3
*
result: 9
But you know you have to type it for ex. like this:
1
enter
2
enter
3
*
+
result: 7
or to save a keypress:
2
enter
3
*
1
+
result: 7
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I love RPN. I had an HP 48GX (I think) graphing caluclator in high school and college. It was the greatest. RPN is so much easier to do long calculations on. I wish I hadn't left the batteries in it for so long. They exploded in the calculator.
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My wife just lost her old Casio divers watch because of that.
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Ouch. I better go look through my "vintage electronics" collection. Hope I haven't lost anything.
I was really disappointed. I never even thought about taking the batteries out. I love that calculator. You could type in whole equations, and it would solve them for you. It was fantastic. I was right about the model number I had the 48GX:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HP-48
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I just checked out HP's site. They still make the 48 series calculator (with updated looks), and now they have a 50 series. I wish I was still in school, so I would have a reason to get another one. I do like the Power Toy calculator for Windows. It's RPN, too.
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I wish I hadn't left the batteries in it for so long. They exploded in the calculator.
AAA cells may leak (heavy duty / carbon zinc stuff is quite prone to this, but alkalines also do when empty) - but outright explode? No way. That's limited to lithium based rechargeables, and even then mostly when overcharging (which is why overchanging protection is mandatory in either the battery pack or the device itself).
And yes, it tends to be a good idea to check low-duty batteries for leakage once in a while. One of the worse cases I read about was a receiver which had its memory backup battery compartment right next to the FM frontend. The batteries leaked badly and the stuff ate away part of the PCB traces in the frontend, thereby trashing it...
Leakage is not at all an uncommon sight among battery-operated gadgets. Back in the olden days when radios took D size carbon zinc cells, many a designer put some extra thought into how to prevent leakage from damaging the contacts and other components... (That is one reason why battery compartments tended to be at the very bottom, center of gravity aside.)
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AAA cells may leak (heavy duty / carbon zinc stuff is quite prone to this, but alkalines also do when empty) - but outright explode?
Not literally; they leaked. I was trying to be dramatic.
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I had an ancient Casio calculator with a fluorescent display, I'd hoped to keep it forever, the bluey-green display was beautiful compared to a crappy LCD. But when I tried it recently it wouldn't power up, so I had to bin it. :Cry: :rip:
Here's the one: http://www.vintagecalculators.com/html/casio_al-8___family_models.html
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But when I tried it recently it wouldn't power up, so I had to bin it. :Cry: :rip:
You folks give up way too soon. If it just sat unused for years, no batteries in, chances are all it would have needed was some new electrolytics. (There isn't much else to go bad all by itself really, provided things are stored in a normal environment. The internal pics on the linked page clearly show 5 pieces.) OK, the repair might still have become fussy, but... Next time better consult a repair wizard.
I can never throw away something I'm attached to. Collector's Disease, I guess.
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Got mine today and like it, especially the glossy appearance. Only complaints would be the rather basic calculator and the missing enter key but what can you do with that number of keys.
And in case you wondered, 1+2*3 gives 9.
If you're in Germany, these guys have it on sale (red only):
http://www.design-3000.de/design+schnaeppchen/25+prozent+nachlass/taschenrechner+10+key+rot.html?listtype=search&searchparam=taschenrechner
Thanks ripster, for the good review.
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And in case you wondered, 1+2*3 gives 9.
I think my dear Aunt Sally just got excused.
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LOL, on this calc I meant. :smile:
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I thought I had tried it in Excel and got an equal sign inside a cell. Can't try it again before monday.
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Rarely does ART meet FUNCTION.
Usually, it just ends up as FART.
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Hey I ... never mind.
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Since others are posting vintage calculators, here's a "toy" that I used to play with before I knew what purpose it actually served. I just loved the numbers and tactility of the keys. They click a little, like a muted mouse click, not like mush. :)
(http://geekhack.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=2775&d=1245591542)
The calculator in all its glory. The instruction booklet is actually less instruction and more calculation samples. It's hard to see, but you can just make out shadows in the keys. The symbols are engraved or molded into the keys and filled with either white or black colour. Yes, that's an AC adaptor plugged into it. You've heard of keyboards pulling 100-300mA .. Well, the plate on the back of this claims 300mA from a 9V battery (or adapter). :)
(http://geekhack.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=2776&d=1245591553)
The display has seen better days. It still works but the calculator itself doesn't seem to be functioning properly. I recall it being more uniform too.
(http://geekhack.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=2777&d=1245591562)
Dual red lines. Yummy. I love these displays.
(http://geekhack.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=2778&d=1245591569)
The fewer numbers that are being displayed, the brighter the display.
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Good, now I know my typewriter thing is OK. I'm not the only one into something weirder than keyboards.
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300 mA from a 9 V block? Oh dear. (9 V blocks are typically made up from AAAA cells. Yes, 4 As. You can guess what kind of current those can handle.) Good to have the AC adapter. ;)
Looks like it's got its share of weak electrolytics and possibly contact problems though.
All I can offer in terms of vintage calculators is a late-'80s Sharp with some digit problems... possibly an issue with conductive rubber as noted for the Gameboys (whose displays can apparently be revived with a good bit of contact cleaner). We used to have a yet older one from the early '80s or so, no idea whether it's still there.
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I just checked out HP's site. They still make the 48 series calculator (with updated looks), and now they have a 50 series. I wish I was still in school, so I would have a reason to get another one. I do like the Power Toy calculator for Windows. It's RPN, too.
HP hadn't made anything really worthy in the calculator department since the 48gx. They created a 48Gii, and the 49 series, and even the 50g, but they're all weird, unreliable, cheap plastic toys. They came close to "reimagining" their vintage products with the HP 35s, but it's still a cheap imposter compared to the models it was intended to succeed.
Seeing how calculators have gone from serious scientific/engineering tools to cheap commodity devices in the past twenty years, it's hard to debate the business logic with them, but still, as a calculator aficionado (my favorites: the HP 15c (http://www.hpmuseum.org/hp15.htm) and 16c (http://www.hpmuseum.org/hp16.htm)) it does bring a wistful tear to my eye.
Sigh.
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Are we all becoming our parents? "Ya know sonny, things just ain't made today like they was when I was yer age" soon will whistle through our toothless grins ...
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Are we all becoming our parents? "Ya know sonny, things just ain't made today like they was when I was yer age" soon will whistle through our toothless grins ...
But ... in our case it's true!
EDIT: I'm trying to be sarcastic, in case that's not obvious. I reckon that's why people insert smiley-faces and stuff.
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I checked it with a keycode scanner. Should be your standard issue ENTER.
Tried it again and it is like you said. Don't know why it showed up as = in Excel. Happened on a friend's machine/spreadsheet.
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HP hadn't made anything really worthy in the calculator department since the 48gx. They created a 48Gii, and the 49 series, and even the 50g, but they're all weird, unreliable, cheap plastic toys. They came close to "reimagining" their vintage products with the HP 35s, but it's still a cheap imposter compared to the models it was intended to succeed.
The 35s looks like a fairly nice calculator. I bought a 33s a while ago hoping it would replace the 32SII I use on a day to day basis (2 line stack vs the 1 line of the 32SII), unfortunately they decided to use weird slanted keys for no reason, which makes it really hard to use. I ended up sticking with the 32SII. I'd love to get my hands on a 42S, but they seem to sell for $3-400 on ebay.
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The 35s looks like a fairly nice calculator. I bought a 33s a while ago hoping it would replace the 32SII I use on a day to day basis (2 line stack vs the 1 line of the 32SII), unfortunately they decided to use weird slanted keys for no reason, which makes it really hard to use. I ended up sticking with the 32SII. I'd love to get my hands on a 42S, but they seem to sell for $3-400 on ebay.
Insofar as modern scientific calculators go, the 35s is pretty darn good. It's supposed to be the spiritual successor of the 32s line. In terms of functionality, it's pretty reasonable, and for the price you can do a lot worse. But w/r/t build quality, user experience, etc., it's still not the same.
And yeah, that 33s was a travesty. You said, "they decided to use weird slanted keys for no reason", but unfortunately they did have a reason: they wanted it to appeal to the younger crowd by having it resemble a mobile phone. How many hairy-eared engineers are going to flock to that?
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The new generation of engineers who use these :
(http://geekhack.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=2829&stc=1&d=1245715502)
Instead of these :
(http://geekhack.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=2830&stc=1&d=1245715510)
Grow up to design keyboards that look like this :
(http://geekhack.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=2831&stc=1&d=1245715521)
Instead of this :
(http://geekhack.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=2832&stc=1&d=1245715538)
=P
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33s? 42s? What's wrong with you people?
You just ought to use a 41C.
(http://mycalcdb.free.fr/galerie/HP/HP-41C.3.jpg)
-huha
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The 41C reminds me of the TI-57 I had. Happy days, programming a calculator in assembler type language. Sigh. I'm welling up. :Cry:
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Bah Calculators! Real men use these:
(http://www.sciencemusings.com/blog/images/sliderule.jpg)
Truth be told, that's not my hand. I don't think I've ever even handled a slide rule before.
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I actually have one. (I'm only using bog standard scientific calculators though, plus PC software if need be.)
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I have a small collection of about eight slide rules (all Pickett). They're extremely fun. It's pretty amazing how just a sliding piece of metal and a plastic cursor can allow you to perform some complex mathematical operations with reasonable accuracy. It feels much more real than merely typing numbers into an electronic oracle.
Slide rules also have an interesting (dare I say, "manly") aspect that you don't see with calculators: operation is a skill -- a skill that must be acquired and honed -- and the more skilled you are, the better your results will be. For some it's even a competitive sport (http://www.slideruleguy.com/sr-comp.htm).
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I have a small collection of about eight slide rules (all Pickett). They're extremely fun. It's pretty amazing how just a sliding piece of metal and a plastic cursor can allow you to perform some complex mathematical operations with reasonable accuracy. It feels much more real than merely typing numbers into an electronic oracle.
Slide rules also have an interesting (dare I say, "manly") aspect that you don't see with calculators: operation is a skill -- a skill that must be acquired and honed -- and the more skilled you are, the better your results will be. For some it's even a competitive sport (http://www.slideruleguy.com/sr-comp.htm).
And it makes for a great pickup line
"Hey baby, wanna see my slide rule huhuhuhuhuh"
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And it makes for a great pickup line
"Hey baby, wanna see my slide rule huhuhuhuhuh"
Napier's Bones might be better for that? Giggety giggety. :eyebrows:
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And it makes for a great pickup line
"Hey baby, wanna see my slide rule huhuhuhuhuh"
"Aw yeah ... and this is the twelve-inch, extra-wide version."
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I think someone should make a calculator with MX Blues x]!
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I think someone should make a calculator with MX Blues x]!
ione (scorpius) does. see this thread:
http://geekhack.org/showthread.php?t=5646&highlight=mechanical+keypad
I dont know the model number though, but there may be some info in that thread.
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Ah, the 3700. Brilliant.
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Supremely cool. I would love to see a scientific calculator equivalent. (I know, it would be the size of a HHKB, but that's part of the awesomeness. Having something like that on my desk would be très chic.)
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Supremely cool. I would love to see a scientific calculator equivalent. (I know, it would be the size of a HHKB, but that's part of the awesomeness. Having something like that on my desk would be très chic.)
A clickey version of the TI-92 would be a neat mod.
(http://www.geocities.com/SiliconValley/Lakes/5081/TI-92.gif)
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About the 1+2*3 test:
The Windows calculator isn't half as dumb as one may think. If you set it to standard mode, it'll give out 9 (basically emulating a stupid cheap calculator). In scientic mode, however, you'll get 7. (Same on 2000 and Vista.)
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A bit OT but my Facit searches led me to This (http://www.slideshare.net/Christiansandstrom/is-facit-a-failure) slideshow, with a abundance of nice calculater pics. Slide No 54 shows a Commodore calculater just for mention one.
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About the 1+2*3 test:
The Windows calculator isn't half as dumb as one may think. If you set it to standard mode, it'll give out 9 (basically emulating a stupid cheap calculator). In scientic mode, however, you'll get 7. (Same on 2000 and Vista.)
:O I never even knew it had a scientific mode, lol.
I downloaded PowerToy Calc, Allercalc, and Calc98 for nothing!
Still, now I can be like NASA. Do my calculations four times on different "machines", and accept the answer that comes up most.
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Yes, as a calculator it's beyond cool.
Thanks for taking the time to answer my question more thorough than I could have ever wished :)
The parts look 100% identical to the XMs in my Filco, and the bad feel is the same, too. The switching metal plate in the Filco XMs do look a bit different though. Here's the pic from the corresponding thread (http://geekhack.org/showthread.php?t=7028):
(http://geekhack.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=4276&stc=1&d=1252083159)
Even your XM switch does not look absolutely identical to the simplified-II switches on Sandy's page (http://sandy55.fc2web.com/keyboard/alps_sw2.html#simplified II). Seems the smallest common denominator is the narrow click leaf and then there's a multitude of differently shaped switching metal plates. ALPS is fun :)
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Double checked and noticed that the slot for the switching plate in the upper case looks different in the Filco XMs, too:
(http://geekhack.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=4277&stc=1&d=1252083159)
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Nice, I like it.
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I look forward to doing this mod myself. Thanks for the pics.
That black thing in the reset tube, does it fall out easily? I don't remember having seen something roll away but I may have missed it.
The other thing I'd like to improve is that the calculator won't take rolls like press key1, press key2, release key1, release key2. Didn't really look into that yet though.
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The switch swap won't change the finger roll thing. I think they don't make calculators that way.
I wasn't thinking of the switch swap. Maybe adding diodes would help. I guess it's either or with the controller. If the controller blocks the second key because of ghosting issues then the diodes may help.
The black thing WILL disappear if you don't watch it. There are two parts - the plastic and rubber dome with conductive disc.
Looks like it's gone then. Or was never there in the first place. Next remote control that dies will become a rubber dome donor.
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Did you use the dampened sliders with the complicateds?
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It only has 9 wires to connect the 23 button matrix. I wonder how that works. The wires are labelled Gnd, A0-A3, B0-B3.
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Converted to blue Alps. Much better now.
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I've already got an ALPS calculator, except it has a keyboard built into it.
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Only problem with it is the LCD controller's broke. Oh well.
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Would guess it's a plain ol' contact problem. Some of these displays apparently use conductive rubber sheets to connect stuff, and the contact points oxidise or something like that. (See CCRadio problems.) In case of Gameboys with display issues like bad lines, things can apparently be fixed with a heathy dose of contact cleaner.
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I thought I was going to pass this one up, but after giving it some thought I've decided to snag a white one. The red is striking but just isn't my color. I've also had this burning desire to type on some white ALPS switches but don't want to buy another keyboard just to try them out.
I'll leave the XM switches in as long as they don't totally suck.
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Sorry to revive an old thread, but an important caveat was missed:
You did not mention that the ALPSulator does not auto-repeat. I recently got a black Takumi, and the lack of auto-repeat means it cannot be used for games, mouskeys, or whenever you want to use it for navigation or other situations where you expect keys to autorepeat when held down.
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You do?
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I don't regret getting it, it is a great clicky calculator!
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I don't think there's a calculator in the world that would make your ping poll relevant.
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It seems like enabling char repetition only in PC mode would be a great addition for that KC.
For the sake of the awesome calculators in this thread, I should look for an old and very used TI Programmable 59 that belongs to my father, it has been collecting dust for a decade. A RipOmeter is yet to be invented for such small and hard buttons.
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FWIW the takumi calculator pings a lot! Very fitting to tally ping polls with it :-)
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If I still had my GHSS with XM alps, I'd try removing the tactile leaves to produce linear switches with a reduced actuation force. It works on black complicated ALPS (http://geekhack.org/showthread.php?20649-eBay-US-Wang-724-20-shipping-NIB&p=400220&viewfull=1#post400220) and IIRC can be done with XMs too.
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I don't think there's a calculator in the world that would make your ping poll relevant.
Yeah, Ripster's polls were always boring and irrelevant. Mine are much better!
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Lolwut?
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The ABS M1 I tried for 30 seconds before selling it on ebay was the king of ping.
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It's still the worlds coolest calculator.
Is it liquid cooled ?
I use it all the time to help KL interpret ping poll results.
Is it otaku ?
:party:
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,
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So ..... It's a Ten Key adapter with an LCD but no USB ... interesting.
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IN41 when they make a scientific version. Great on the go with a Poker.
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http://www.watchismo.com/click-keypad-watch.aspx
next best thing?