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Which scientific calculator does it all for the beginner?

R

Robert Monsen

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

Another option is MuPAD. <http://research.mupad.de/>

There is a free version. It does symbolic and numerical calculations
math. I've been using it for about 6 months now, and I really like it.

The pro version is nicer, but it does cost somthing. You can download it
and use it for a month. It has a great tutorial.

--
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.
 
R

Rich Grise

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.

This is called "Algebraic Entry." I guess it shows that RPN really does
cause brain damage! ;-)

Cheers!
Rich
 
R

Rich Grise

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).

Well, I'll be! I just pulled out my old Casio, and it calls itself
"FX-115v SUPER-FX"

It's got stuff I don't even know how to use, which admittedly, isn't that
much of a stretch. ;-)

And, unfortunately, it only goes up to FFFFFFFF hex. And it doesn't have
an "off" button, which makes me uncomfortable. :)

It was about 10 bucks.

Cheers!
Rich
 
J

Jonathan Kirwan

Jan 1, 1970
0
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?

I had thought that my TI-92 and TI-86 handled 64 bits, but when I just tested
them it's just that they display negative numbers with that many bits. It looks
like they only calculate at 32 bits total. (I did fudge up my own 128-bit 'alu'
calculator under DOS. It handles expressions, square root, and the basic
operations and the division result provides both quotient and remainder and the
multiplication provides 256 bit results. If it's of any interest, I'd be happy
to provide it.)

Jon
 
B

Bob Masta

Jan 1, 1970
0
I had thought that my TI-92 and TI-86 handled 64 bits, but when I just tested
them it's just that they display negative numbers with that many bits. It looks
like they only calculate at 32 bits total. (I did fudge up my own 128-bit 'alu'
calculator under DOS. It handles expressions, square root, and the basic
operations and the division result provides both quotient and remainder and the
multiplication provides 256 bit results. If it's of any interest, I'd be happy
to provide it.)

Jon, it would be of great interest! I still use DOS every day,
so that's not an issue at all. (My favorite programming editor
is a DOS version, so I am writing Windows apps using DOS.
How's that for strange?)

Thanks for your generous offer.


Bob Masta
dqatechATdaqartaDOTcom

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

David L. Jones

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

For electronics work you can't beat the Casio FX-61F, it is
specifically designed for electronics. Every calculator should have a
parallel key!
Baring that, any general casio will be more than what you need for most
general work.

The casio CFX-400 was of course the ducks guts, a complete scientific
calculator with base conversion on your wrist!
A sad day when the discontinued that one.

Dave :)
 
J

Jonathan Kirwan

Jan 1, 1970
0
Jon, it would be of great interest! I still use DOS every day,
so that's not an issue at all. (My favorite programming editor
is a DOS version, so I am writing Windows apps using DOS.
How's that for strange?)

Thanks for your generous offer.

Shall I just email the EXE in ZIP form?

Jon
 
D

Dave

Jan 1, 1970
0
Rich Grise said:
john 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

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.

This is called "Algebraic Entry." I guess it shows that RPN really does
cause brain damage! ;-)

Cheers!
Rich

Please, which method does the TI-89 Titanium use? (I expect Algebraic Entry,
but you never know. I've been out of the flow for too many years.) Wife
just bought one for me and it is in storage until 12/25, but I would like to
know.

Thanks much,

Dave
[email protected]
 
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