Saturday, March 24, 2018

Favorite Solar Calculators – Six Years Later


Favorite Solar Calculators – Six Years Later

Favorite Solar Calculators – Reading that Blog Entry Today

On June 10, 2012, I listed some of my favorite solar calculators of all time: 

I still love the TI-25X Solar, I wish the screens weren’t so damn fragile!  I went through two of them. 

I have two fx-115 ES Plus calculators, one gray and one black.  The black looks much better!

Maybe one day I’ll get the BA 35 Solar again from eBay.  Maybe I will give the Casio FC-200V a second shot. 

As of March 2018, Casio fx-3650pII is the current edition of the fx-3650P.  The fx-3650PII is in the shape of the fx-115ES/991ES/300ES/82ES Plus.  That’s about it from what I can get from research:  still four program areas with 360 steps and 7 variables.


No, Casio still currently sells the fx-3650PII only outside the United States, which means for us Americans, we have to order online.  An open invite to Casio to stock the office stores and university stores with this model in the States is extended. 

The current Sharp EL-W516 edition, the EL-516WT, eliminated the formula storage, eliminated the catalog, and reduced the definable keys from 4 to 3, I am not happy about that.




Three More Inductees

I have three more to add to the list I posted in 2012:




Casio fx-991EX Classwiz – 2015 – Present

The Classwiz model is the next step in Casio solar powered calculators.  They have an icon menu, like their graphing calculators, and there is an [OPTN] key that allows users to specific mode-specific functions.  Modes includes computation (COMP), complex numbers (arithmetic, polar/rectangular conversions), base integers, matrices up to 4 x 4, vectors, statistics, distributions, basic spreadsheets up to 5 x 45, equation solving, inequalities and ratios.  The newest feature is the QR function that will take a screen shot of the calculator, or in some cases, statistical graphs, which can be retrieved from the Casio QR Website or app.


I can only hope the next iteration the Classwiz and the fx-3650P or fx-50FII merge so programming will be included.



TI-30 SLR+ – 1987 – 1990s

This is a bigger version of the TI-25X Solar (TI-30X Solar internationality).  This calculator completely runs on solar and light power.  What I look about this better than the TI-25X are the keys and the fact the display isn’t so fragile.  See my detailed blog of it here:  https://edspi31415.blogspot.com/2014/09/ti-30-slr-and-memories-of-school.html




Casio fx-260 Solar II (we can included the Casio fx-260 Solar, fx-82 Solar, fx- 82 Solar II)
Original fx-260 Solar/fx-82 Solar:  2000s – present
Current fx-260 Solar II/fx-82 Solar II: 2017 – present

I don’t know what I was thinking when I skipped this model last time.  The fx-260 offers a wide variety of functions:  trigonometry, logarithms, fractions, degrees and degrees-minute-second conversions, polar/rectangular conversions, and one variable statistics.  This is great calculator for those who want a small, compact, calculator that attacks the basics.  The fx-260 series is completely solar powered.  Pictured is the newer fx-260 Solar II, which the mode markers have been mode to the back of the calculator case.  Can’t beat the classics. 



Eddie

This blog is property of Edward Shore, 2018.