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back to article Ten classic electronic calculators from the 1970s and 1980s

Until sometime in the early 1980s, when you reached secondary school you were handed a slim book full of numbers during a maths lesson and taught how to use log tables. Sines, cosines, tangents, square roots - they were all in there too. While it made a change from long division, it caused its own share of headaches. But, to a …

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  1. Hughb

    FX-451

    Ive used my trusty Casio FX-451 almost once every day since i bought it in the 80s. What tech from today will still be fully operational in another 30 years??

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  2. MHE

    Sharp PC-1201

    My first number cruncher was a 1978 Sharp PC-1201, an (as the brochure says, capitals included) "Computer-Like 10-Digit Scientific Calculator with 128-Step Programming". It featured a very readable blue-greenish VFD display and ran on either 2 AA-cells or the included rechargeable battery pack, retaining the 128-step program when turned off (it even included a backup coin cell).

    Such was its power that I astonished the guy who had to calculate the mortgage payments for my first house by having the results for the full 30-year period ready when he was still skipping through his "professional" paper tables ! I still have the machine, and the original brochure that was forwarded at my request straight from Sharp/Osaka.

    A few years later the PC-1500 blew its predecessors away, especially because it was so well documented (both its hardware and the machine language used "underneath" its very comprehensive Basic).

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  3. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    HP41CX

    Have two of them, and an HP41CX iPhone app so I don't have to risk the now very valuable Real Hardware.

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    1. lunatik96
      Reply Icon

      Re: HP41CX

      I use an emulator for any desktop work beyond simple addition/ multiplication

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  4. Shale

    On-Off weakness on my fx-100 too. I blobbed some solder across the switch so it's now permanently on (no problem, as it's auto power-off still works a treat) and I've had to gaffer tape the back as I've long since lost the battery cover. Been with me through GSE / A / Uni + jobs. Even with all this it's still on the original batteries!!

    Brought an fx-83GT Plus as I now teach maths, but I much prefer the fx-100. Where is my favourite X <--> Y button on these new improved versions?!

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    1. Zot
      Reply Icon

      I think my FX-100 still has the same batteries from the mid 1980s. Magical rejuvenating batteries, although I recently had to clean the dried up leakage on the contacts.

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  5. lunatik96

    28S

    My HP 28 got me through the worst of my Electrical Engineering and Physics classes in late 80's. I put new batteries in a few weeks ago and still works great. When I returned to school for a Math Degree, the TI 83/84 was standard. It is a great calc, but cant compare to RPN entry. My first calc, unsurprisingly not mentioned, was a National Semiconductor 4640 that had 4 level stack - perfect for rectangular to polar and vice versa as needed in Complex calculations. I think I loved that calc more than any other. I bought another when the first was stolen.

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