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Which scientific calculator does it all for the beginner?

N

NewzHound777

Jan 1, 1970
0
Which scientific calculator does it all for the beginner? Thanks in advance.
 
A

Al Borowski

Jan 1, 1970
0
NewzHound777 said:
Which scientific calculator does it all for the beginner? Thanks in advance.

I don't think it really matters... just use a Casio cheapie.

cheers,

Al
 
T

The Phantom

Jan 1, 1970
0
Which scientific calculator does it all for the beginner? Thanks in advance.

If you like HP calculators, get the HP49G+.

If TI is your favorite, get the TI89.

They both "do it all", and you'll pay for that capability.
 
R

Robert Monsen

Jan 1, 1970
0
NewzHound777 said:
Which scientific calculator does it all for the beginner? Thanks in advance.

I use a casio fx-115MS, which cost about $20 US. I'm pretty impressed
with it. It solves simple equations numerically, and does complex
arithmetic, hex, octal, binary, etc, in addition to all of the stuff you
generally get. It'll compute derivatives and integrals numerically. It
does fractions (and keeps them in fractional form). It's solar powered,
for the most part (it has a solar panel, but it also has a battery; I
guess they keep the battery charged up, but also recommend you change
the battery after a few years).

--
Regards,
Robert Monsen

"Your Highness, I have no need of this hypothesis."
- Pierre Laplace (1749-1827), to Napoleon,
on why his works on celestial mechanics make no mention of God.
 
D

Dr. Anton T. Squeegee

Jan 1, 1970
0
Which scientific calculator does it all for the beginner? Thanks in advance.

The best possible scientific calculator you can ever own is the
one sitting on top of your shoulders.

You should really learn enough math to at least deal with the
basics of electronics. Not doing so can (and probably will) cause
numerous problems down the road, no matter if you're just a hobbyist or
make a career out of it (take it from one who found that out the hard
way!)

I'm sure your local community college can help. Happy hunting.


--
Dr. Anton T. Squeegee, Director, Dutch Surrealist Plumbing Institute.
(Known to some as Bruce Lane, ARS KC7GR,
kyrrin (a/t) bluefeathertech[d=o=t]calm -- www.bluefeathertech.com
"If Salvador Dali had owned a computer, would it have been equipped
with surreal ports?"
 
J

john jardine

Jan 1, 1970
0
NewzHound777 said:
Which scientific calculator does it all for the beginner? Thanks in advance.
Any will do. They all have Engineering notation, Sin, Cos, Tan, Log, Lin,
Sqrt, Reciprocal. Buy the cheapest.
I've used a Casio Fx-80 and Fx451m for what seems like forever. Keep buying
new ones to try, then throwing them away when I find the bloody things use
"VPAM".

What I really, really want is a scientific calculator that's ...

Size and weight of a big book so it stays where its put.
Able to enter a number in and *then* press Sin.
A Printing mechanism to see where I've been.
*Big* buttons that click, that I can see and press easily.
A seperate button for every function.
Big, *bright* LED or plasma display.
Direct entry of p,n,u,m,k,M,G,T.

And while I'm at it, please, please Santa, a simple, non-menued mobile
phone, fitted with man sized buttons.

regards
john
 
S

Steve Evans

Jan 1, 1970
0
I use a casio fx-115MS, which cost about $20 US. I'm pretty impressed
with it. It solves simple equations numerically, and does complex
arithmetic, hex, octal, binary, etc, in addition to all of the stuff you
generally get. It'll compute derivatives and integrals numerically. It
does fractions (and keeps them in fractional form). It's solar powered,
for the most part (it has a solar panel, but it also has a battery; I
guess they keep the battery charged up, but also recommend you change
the battery after a few years).

Sounds very much like mine. I've had Casio's fx-3400P for 12 years
(second battery now) and there's nothing around all these years later
that can touch it. Plus it's programmable, too. And it's taken a *lot*
of use over those years. I'd thoroughly recommend it to anyone. Only
cost about 20 dollars when new, too.
 
J

Jim Douglas

Jan 1, 1970
0
You are 100% with the Direct entry of p,n,u,m,k,M,G,T. I have been looking
for a calculator that does just that without have perform multiple key
strokes!
 
C

Chaos Master

Jan 1, 1970
0
Isn't NewzHound777 missing?
Which scientific calculator does it all for the beginner? Thanks in advance.

I would get an HP49G+ [1].

Totally programmable -- and there's programs for almost anything at
www.hpcalc.org.

[1] Actually, even a 48GX or 49G would do. But since the new models are
updated, they're worth it.

[]s
 
R

Robert Monsen

Jan 1, 1970
0
john said:
Any will do. They all have Engineering notation, Sin, Cos, Tan, Log, Lin,
Sqrt, Reciprocal. Buy the cheapest.
I've used a Casio Fx-80 and Fx451m for what seems like forever. Keep buying
new ones to try, then throwing them away when I find the bloody things use
"VPAM".

What I really, really want is a scientific calculator that's ...

Size and weight of a big book so it stays where its put.
Able to enter a number in and *then* press Sin.
A Printing mechanism to see where I've been.
*Big* buttons that click, that I can see and press easily.
A seperate button for every function.
Big, *bright* LED or plasma display.
Direct entry of p,n,u,m,k,M,G,T.

And while I'm at it, please, please Santa, a simple, non-menued mobile
phone, fitted with man sized buttons.

regards
john

It took a bit for me to get used to VPAM, or "Visually Perfect Algebraic
Method", but now I like it. I guess that ruins me for other
calculators.... it just tries to make the buttons follow the order one
would read the entry on paper, so instead of typing [1] [0] [ln] to
compute the natual log of 10, you type [ln] [1] [0] [=]. It is also nice
to be able to reedit prior expressions.

--
Regards,
Robert Monsen

"Your Highness, I have no need of this hypothesis."
- Pierre Laplace (1749-1827), to Napoleon,
on why his works on celestial mechanics make no mention of God.
 
J

Jonathan Kirwan

Jan 1, 1970
0
What I really, really want is a scientific calculator that's ...

Size and weight of a big book so it stays where its put.

Which later features you mention below may mandate!
Able to enter a number in and *then* press Sin.

Sounds like HP RPN, except that I guess you don't want to bring in RPN at the
same time.
A Printing mechanism to see where I've been.

On a scientific calculator? Wow! I could use it. What I do now is use a
calculator program I wrote for myself that handles physics units as well as
mensuration support. I can then print out the page on the printer.
*Big* buttons that click, that I can see and press easily.

Yup. Make them hall effect or else reed relay keys, too?
A seperate button for every function.

Ah! Now, that would be very handy. I see why it is a big desktop thing, now.
Big, *bright* LED or plasma display.

Hehe. Looks like it's going to be an AC thing, all right!
Direct entry of p,n,u,m,k,M,G,T.

On this narrow point, the very cheap Casio fx-115MS does it. I have access to
f, p, n, u, m, k, M, G, and T during entry of numbers. I believe I paid
slightly more than US$10 for one.

Jon
 
J

john jardine

Jan 1, 1970
0
Robert Monsen said:
[clip]

It took a bit for me to get used to VPAM, or "Visually Perfect Algebraic
Method", but now I like it. I guess that ruins me for other
calculators.... it just tries to make the buttons follow the order one
would read the entry on paper, so instead of typing [1] [0] [ln] to
compute the natual log of 10, you type [ln] [1] [0] [=]. It is also nice
to be able to reedit prior expressions.

--
Regards,
Robert Monsen

"Your Highness, I have no need of this hypothesis."
- Pierre Laplace (1749-1827), to Napoleon,
on why his works on celestial mechanics make no mention of God.
Nice thing about newsgroups is coming across people with similar interests
who've already been there, seen it and done it.
It's now worth my buying another calc with VPAM and persevering for a while
:).
regards
john
 
J

john jardine

Jan 1, 1970
0
Jonathan Kirwan said:
Which later features you mention below may mandate!


Sounds like HP RPN, except that I guess you don't want to bring in RPN at the
same time.


On a scientific calculator? Wow! I could use it. What I do now is use a
calculator program I wrote for myself that handles physics units as well as
mensuration support. I can then print out the page on the printer.


Yup. Make them hall effect or else reed relay keys, too?


Ah! Now, that would be very handy. I see why it is a big desktop thing, now.

Hehe. Looks like it's going to be an AC thing, all right!


On this narrow point, the very cheap Casio fx-115MS does it. I have access to
f, p, n, u, m, k, M, G, and T during entry of numbers. I believe I paid
slightly more than US$10 for one.

Jon

Just looked up the Fx115ms on Google. F**k! F**k!. It's one of those I
bought and threw away after 20 secs use, just cos of the VPAM thing :-(
I'm buying another :)
regards
john
 
B

Bob Masta

Jan 1, 1970
0
Which scientific calculator does it all for the beginner? Thanks in advance.

And while we're at it, which ones allow *big* Hex calculations,
like multiplying two 32-bit numbers together. This would
be really nice for programming use, but the calculators I've
seen only handle what fits in the (limited) number of display
digits. I wouldn't mind scrolling or something to see both
ends of the value, if needed. This comes up so often in
programming that I imagine *somebody* must make one.
Or is there something like the Windows calculator app that
handles big hex?

Thanks!


Bob Masta
dqatechATdaqartaDOTcom

D A Q A R T A
Data AcQuisition And Real-Time Analysis
www.daqarta.com
 
W

Watson A.Name - \Watt Sun, the Dark Remover\

Jan 1, 1970
0
Robert Monsen said:
I use a casio fx-115MS, which cost about $20 US. I'm pretty impressed
with it. It solves simple equations numerically, and does complex
arithmetic, hex, octal, binary, etc, in addition to all of the stuff you
generally get.

Casio (and others such as Sharp, etc.) have such limited hex - bin -
octal conversions that they're nearly useless. Try converting 2CC hex
to binary, then try converting 1011001100 bin to hex. Don't be
surprised of you get an error! And worse, you'll get some fonky number
such as FFFFFEC, which is clearly an error. :-(

[snip]
 
W

Watson A.Name - \Watt Sun, the Dark Remover\

Jan 1, 1970
0
Dr. Anton T. Squeegee said:
advance.

The best possible scientific calculator you can ever own is the
one sitting on top of your shoulders.

You should really learn enough math to at least deal with the
basics of electronics. Not doing so can (and probably will) cause
numerous problems down the road, no matter if you're just a hobbyist or
make a career out of it (take it from one who found that out the hard
way!)

I'm sure your local community college can help. Happy hunting.

Sadly, mine (rsccd.org/sac.edu) can't any more. Last summer they closed
down the electronics tech program. This month we got word that one of
the electronics instructors that retired last year died. :-(
 
W

Watson A.Name - \Watt Sun, the Dark Remover\

Jan 1, 1970
0
john jardine said:
Any will do. They all have Engineering notation, Sin, Cos, Tan, Log, Lin,
Sqrt, Reciprocal. Buy the cheapest.
I've used a Casio Fx-80 and Fx451m for what seems like forever. Keep buying
new ones to try, then throwing them away when I find the bloody things use
"VPAM".

What I really, really want is a scientific calculator that's ...

Size and weight of a big book so it stays where its put.
Able to enter a number in and *then* press Sin.
A Printing mechanism to see where I've been.
*Big* buttons that click, that I can see and press easily.
A seperate button for every function.
Big, *bright* LED or plasma display.
Direct entry of p,n,u,m,k,M,G,T.

Sounds like maybe you should use Windoze Calculator or an enhanced copy
of it that has more features.
 
R

Robert Monsen

Jan 1, 1970
0
Watson said:
advance.

I use a casio fx-115MS, which cost about $20 US. I'm pretty impressed
with it. It solves simple equations numerically, and does complex
arithmetic, hex, octal, binary, etc, in addition to all of the stuff
you

generally get.


Casio (and others such as Sharp, etc.) have such limited hex - bin -
octal conversions that they're nearly useless. Try converting 2CC hex
to binary, then try converting 1011001100 bin to hex. Don't be
surprised of you get an error! And worse, you'll get some fonky number
such as FFFFFEC, which is clearly an error. :-(

[snip]

It's sign extending. However, if you need hex, the windows calculator
does it. Unfortunately, it doesn't do complex arithmetic, which is why I
bought the casio one.

--
Regards,
Robert Monsen

"Your Highness, I have no need of this hypothesis."
- Pierre Laplace (1749-1827), to Napoleon,
on why his works on celestial mechanics make no mention of God.
 
G

Greg Neill

Jan 1, 1970
0
Watson A.Name - "Watt Sun said:
Sounds like maybe you should use Windoze Calculator or an enhanced copy
of it that has more features.

Try to obtain a copy of Mathcad. There are student
editions for almost reasonable prices.
 
C

Clarence

Jan 1, 1970
0
Greg Neill said:
Try to obtain a copy of Mathcad. There are student
editions for almost reasonable prices.

See BSE for SCI-Calc
 
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