Retro Review: Radio Shack EC-4018
HAPPY NEW YEAR!
Quick Facts:
Company: Radio Shack
Model: EC-4018
Equivalent of: Casio fx-470
Type: Scientific
Years: Late 1980's
Display: 10 digits
Batteries: Solar
Memory Registers: 1
Keyboard
The keyboard of the EC-4018 is a folding landscape. The top half has the screen and 18 gray keys (scientific) to the right side, and two solar panel strips to the left. The bottom half has 15 large black keys (arithmetic). I really like the large keys on this calculator. The keys are really easy to press and operated, and they also have a nice feel to them.
Features
* Trigonometric functions, logarithms, powers, rots
* Convert to and from degrees-minutes-seconds
* Four base conversions: binary, decimal, octal, hexadecimal
* Boolean Algebra: AND, OR, XOR, NEG
* Fractions, combinations, permutations, reciprocal, factorials of integers
Physical Constants
INV 1: Speed of Light in a Vacuum: c = 299792458 m/s
INV 2: Planck's Constant: h = 6.626176 * 10^-34 J s
INV 3: Universal Gravitational Constant: G = 6.672 * 10^-11 N m^2/kg^2
INV 4: Elementary Charge: e = 1.6021892 * 10^-19 C
INV 5: Electron Rest Mass: me = 9.109534 * 10^-31 kg
INV 6: Atomic Mass Unit: u = 1.6605655 * 10^-27 kg
INV 7: Avogadro's Constant: Na = 6.022045 * 10^23/mol
INV 8: Boltzmann Constant: k = 1.308662 * 10^-23 J/K
INV 9: Molar Volume of Ideal Gas: Vm = 0.02241383 m^3/mol
According to the Casio fx-650 manual, these values are based on 1978 Japan Industrial Standards.
The nice thing is that the units are stated next to the symbol.
Verdict
I am really like the keyboard and the contrast of the font colors. The bright orange and gold really stand out against the black keyboard. The screen's digits are really nice and big. As I mentioned before, the keys have a nice feel.
If you like a folding scientific calculator, you are going to have to search for a vintage calculator. The good thing about Radio Shack is that their calculators tend to be less expensive than Casio.
Sources:
"Electronic Calculators" epocalc.net Last Updated April 25, 2013. http://www.epocalc.net/pages/mes_calcs_03.htm Retrieved December 12, 2020.
Casio fx-650 Operation Manual
Eddie
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