Retro Review: Radio Shack EC-4027
Quick Facts:
Company: Radio Shack
Year Introduced: 1993
Type: Scientific, Formula Programming
Memory: 40 steps
Operating System: Algebraic
Memory Registers: 7, A through F, M
Batteries: 2 x LR44 (357)
Equivalent Of: Sharp EL-5020
Background
From the 1970s to about the 1990s (maybe early 2000s), Radio Shack sold OEM equivalents of calculators from Sharp, Casio, and Texas Instruments, and the EC-4027 is no exception. One advantage to buying Radio Shack is that the price tends to be cheaper but with equivalent quality of the original.
An Update to the Sharp EL-5100
The EC-4027 (and the Sharp EL-5020) is a scientific calculator which holds multi-step formulas. There are no switches, everything is keys this time. The following modes offered are:
* Normal: Computational mode
* AER: Program and store formulas
* ∫dx: Integral Mode
* STAT 1: Single-variable statistics mode
* STAT 2: Linear Regression, y = a+bx
Base conversions and fractions are added.
Like the EL-5100, expressions are entered algebraically as you would write it down. A frustrating part is that the entire expression is not shown on the screen, regulating functions to the sides of the screen, which makes editing expressions difficult if not impossible.
Integration and Loops but With Less Memory
The memory of the EC-4027 is half of the EL-5100:
* 40 steps instead of 80
* Only two formulas can be stored instead of five
We do get comparisons against the M register, all six comparisons (<, ≤, =, >, ≥, ≠). If the condition is met, the formula is starts over from the beginning, creating a loop.
There is a separate mode for integration. Either formula 1 or 2 can be called, and Simpson's Rule is used. Any function that can be integrated is in terms of M.
I wish the memory wasn't halved but instead increased. Also, expand the ALPHA characters to include the entire alphabet. But, the EC-4027 serves it's purpose.
Sources:
Toth, Viktor T. "Radio Shack EC-4027" 2000-2018. https://www.rskey.org/ec4027 Last accessed April 9, 2021
Voidware. "Sharp EL-5020" http://www.voidware.com/calcs/el5020.htm Last accessed April 9, 2021.
Eddie
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