HP-16C
Casio fx81
I use only the HP once in a while for old times sake.
Ask HN: Do you still use physical calculators?
31–40 of 130 posts
Re: Ask HN: Do you still use physical calculators?
#32I still have my Casio FX-83MS which my mother purchased for me when I started secondary school 24 years ago. It still works, it usually sits on my desk, and I use it a couple of times per month.
Re: Ask HN: Do you still use physical calculators?
#33I have Sharp EL506T and it serves me well. I don't use it very often, mind, but it still happens semi-regularly. The biggest reason for me are physical buttons and the fact I know the layout and capabilities. I'm just faster on physical calculator than on Android app. But to tell the truth, usually I just use Speedcrunch on my computer. Or spreadsheeds. Or Python REPL.
Sharp DAL calculators don’t get enough love. I see HP this and Casio that, but I’ll say that Sharps are a treat to use too.
Re: Ask HN: Do you still use physical calculators?
#34There's a farm here in Zurich where we buy a lot of our groceries. The store is unmanned. You use their calculator (or your cellphone calculator) to add up what you're buying then use your phone to scan a QR code and pay.
+1, every time we hike up a mountain and there's a help-yourself-fridge/shelf, we take 5-10 items and it's too much to add up in ones head. I use the phone calculator and pay by QR code.
Re: Ask HN: Do you still use physical calculators?
#35I do. It just works, and it feels better than the on-screen versions. The Windows calculator is atrocious. Some of the emulators for iOS are good, but still feel clumsy in comparison to the real thing, especially for more than adding two short numbers.
The truth is: I like calculators, and I think almost everyone answering in the positive does too. Most people don't care about them, and see their phone as a god-given miracle, I guess, which makes calculators an expensive-ish burden.
Re: Ask HN: Do you still use physical calculators?
#36- I have a HP 16C, mainly for doing number conversions (DEC-HEX-BIN) and binary arithmetic. - I have a HP 15C to take with me all the time (due to its small form factor). - I have a HP 48 GX as main calculator, it is most feature complete and has a clock and alarms. I use it a lot for time calculations. - I have a HP 48 SX, but did not use it much any more after acquiring the 48 GX. - I have a HP 10bII+, which was a…
Neat collection!
Do you have advice on how to use those calculators with modern tooling? For example I remember there were cross-compilers for the hp48 [0], do you use any of that (and how do you transfer data to/from the calculators)?
[0] https://web.archive.org/web/20250124204959/https://sourcefor...
Re: Ask HN: Do you still use physical calculators?
#37I use a junky $5 calculator when I'm working with my mill and lathe. It's easier to have the little thing there at hand in the machine shop to do quick calculations than to have a whole computer.
Re: Ask HN: Do you still use physical calculators?
#38Yes. When accounting I use a cheap calculator to do quick sums. Easier than using a calculator on the computer desktop.
Re: Ask HN: Do you still use physical calculators?
#39I use a Casio HL-815L to manage my checkbook. I lost the ability to do this math in my head about 10 years ago. I am 77.
Re: Ask HN: Do you still use physical calculators?
#40The first time I went to China and spoke basically no Mandarin (just "want", "don't want", "this one", "that one", "how much money", "thank you") I took a cheap calculator when I went shopping for electronics and just let people type in the price they wanted. It was also useful for haggling too.