Ask HN: Do you still use a hand held/desktop calculator?

I like to have a calculator on my desk as a kind of ‘burst capacity’ for when I’m busy keeping an important mental process running. It’s like having a dedicated chip (with its own private chunk of RAM) optimised for simple arithmetic operations, when such a need arises mid-flow, always available to use without pausing to reallocate any memory elsewhere when everything is running at capacity trying to make some complex decision. And by ‘memory’ here, I mean the combined scratchpad made up of my brain’s thought loop and the windows arranged on my desktop. If I’m at capacity, just changing the focus of windows on the desktop (eg. to bring up a software calculator overlay) can break my train of thought, meaning the spinning plates start to wobble and fall down, and then I have to start over on the wider task, all because I got stuck on something silly like 14*2.5. With a pocket calculator on my desk, I can safely turn my head to it for a moment, do the sum with almost zero effort, and turn back to the monitor, and the plates are all still spinning.

Yes, I have a desktop calculator primarily because I like using RPN, and there are very few software RPN calculators _that aren't just HP emulators._ In a pinch I will use PCalc in RPN mode on iPadOS, and Droid48 on Android, but those just can't beat the tactile sensation of real buttons.

I bought a SwissMicros DM42: the build quality is great, the e-ink display works really nice for a calculator, and it sips power compared to more recent graphing calculators. (I've had this thing for over a year and it's still showing a full charge on the CR2032 battery it shipped with. My HP 50g used to demolish a set of like 3 or 4x AAA batteries every 2-3 months.) My only complaint is the rubber feet have exposed my office desk as not being a truly flat surface.[1] (I also have access to an HP-15C (both the original and a clone), but I like being able to see the whole stack in XYZT mode. I have no mind's eye, so seeing only the one register is torture for me.)

[1]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ji41DzipIU

An RPN calculator is a must for almost everything I do, from real engineering, to startup finances and expenses, to making/3D printing, to home/landscape improvement. I keep a real HP emulator* pinned to the taskbar at all times, ready to be launched and used with just a touch (and yes the touchscreen works great with the emulators, if you upsize them a bit. Plus, an actual HP-41cv on my physical desktop, for the heavy lifting not easily handled by the emulators. (Anything that can't be done on the HPs is going to need some code written, anyway...)

*Three, actually - an HP-15C Scientific pinned to the taskbar, and the default install links to the HP-12C Financial, and HP-16C Hex/Binary emulators in the apps menu. All are official exact HP emulations for Windows published by HP France some time ago. Alas, the link I had is dead, so I'm not sure where you can get them anymore...

On the terminal, I use `qalc`[1]. It's a nice natural language calculator that does arithmetic, solves quadratic equations/linear systems, does unit conversions and even a bit of calculus. Combine it with a cli graphing tool and you can do pretty cool things.

Anything more complicated I'm probably ok with latency, so I open up wolframalpha and enter it there, again, in natural language.

[1] https://qalculate.github.io/

I do.

Casio fx-991ES - for the sole reason I was an engineering student a couple of lives ago.

About two years ago I started doing projects in real-space, as opposed to software-space, and would you believe it - I do sometimes need some trigonometry! But in most cases it's easier to add a bunch of measurements on a device I can literally put on the thing I'm working on and focus on measuring (and not the simple arithmetic). And then getting the center points/lines is three button presses.

Also, this device has stats mode with table input and I do use it too! Getting basic mean and std. dev. when checking CO2 levels in the greenhouse etc.

But! I also bought RealCalc (or whatever's the name...) for Android to have... a spare proper calculator, really. I still prefer a dedicated physical device.

Another tool in the toolbox.

Yes! I have this one on my desk and use it very often: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07L68RQCX/ref=pe_27063361_48562...

It is cheap, never needs batteries, and I find it much easier to use than my computer or my phone.

Physical one, no. Apps, all the time for any napkin math. Unfortunately most calculator apps are no match for dedicated calculators - they can't be trusted and most devs don't give a shit to the balance between mental load and quick input. Most apps don't even have ultra basic stuff like binary operator repeat, making it pointless to use.

I consider RPN obsolete - yes it's faster for longer calculations but the input clarity is also lost compared to algebraic, and if I need longer calculations I'll just take a proper CAS or scripting language instead of mental juggling.

On Android, I've found HiPER Calc and Segitiga.Pro to be the only non-emulated calculators worth using. Both apps are clearly made by enthusiasts with attention to detail and correctness. On Windows/Linux/MacOS, I haven't found a single app worth using.

Calculators have a razor thin niche, and most "advanced" calculator apps like SpeedCrunch fail to stay in it, due to the feature creep or otherwise. Most often they are trying to reinvent a REPL instead of using proper algebraic calculator input, and overload it with functions that belong in more serious software. All that lowers the input and iteration speed, and makes the calculator too clunky to use for napkin math and/or bloated and slow to start (Qalculate). At this point you can take any scripting/functional REPL instead of this app.

No, I use a Python interpreter that is always open in tmux on the first tab. I have a bunch of predefined functions that I use a lot: https://github.com/orlp/dotfiles/blob/master/pcalc/pcalc

The killer pre-defined functions? copy(x) and paste(). You can guess what they do.

Yes. There are some things that just work better with a dedicated tool. Sure, my computer has a calculator app, but it's fiddly, the keyboard doesn't physically have buttons for all the operations, so I have to go and click on things. If I need to compute something and copy data to/from other windows, I have to deal with moving windows around to make room.

I do use the calculator on my computer. Quite a lot, in fact. But it's just annoying enough that I keep a pocket calculator on my desk at all times.

It's really great for when I'm doing calculations in my head and need to quickly do some operations. It's just ever so slightly easier to slide over my physical calculator and punch some buttons. It helps me stay in flow and keep all the numbers in my head. The calculator app is just a little bit too annoying and the physical calculator is just a little bit more functional.

As for model, no idea. Some Casio scientific calculator. I bought it because it advertised it could operate with hex or binary representation, but I never figured out how to make that work.

I would prefer a TI-84 or one of its decendants any day. I used to use a TI Nspire, it was really good. It even did 3D graphing and calculus.

Nice TI-30X solar calculator in the detached garage. End up using it pretty much every time I'm out there. It's cheap and tough, with a hard shell cover to keep the 50 different kinds of liquids off the keys.

TI-82 at my desk, which I never use because I have multiple other ways to calculate stuff at my desk.

Sharp EL-506D I've had since probably before 1990 in a bed stand with the manual. Small and elegant device. The small calculators around today are all limited adding/multiply/divide, whereas the Sharp is a "scientific" calculator.

The thing I do most basic calculation with, however, is SpeQ Mathematics 3.4, which was developed by Jos de Jong and hasn't been updated since 2010. That is a truly beautiful bit of code.

I used a HP-35s for a long time in a previous job where I had to do quite a bit of arithmetic. It's the "35th anniversary edition" of the "classic" HP-35 RPN calculator (IIRC the 35s can do infix as well, but I never used it). It's a really nice calculator, but I no longer have it (when I moved to New Zealand I had to get rid of a lot of stuff).

These days, opening a new terminal or whatnot is just as fast, allows copy/paste from my computer, and unlike that job I'm not stuck on a Windows machine so I have some more flexibility.

In zsh I have this:

  autoload -U zcalc                     # Get quick results for "zc 6 * 6", or just use "zc" to get zcalc
  alias zc >/dev/null && unalias zc
  zc() { if (( $# )); then zcalc -e ${(j: :)argv}; else zcalc; fi }
  alias zc='noglob zc'

No RPN though; I still really like RPN, but context switching between infix and RPN is hard.

On the computer, I use Emacs' Calc [0]. Having such a powerful calculator right there and built into my editor is compelling.

On the go, I use Droid48 [1]. As much as I love my real HP-48G, I find that it's similar to the saying about cameras: "the best camera^H^H^H^H^H^Hcalculator is the one that's with you."

(And in case you can't tell, I like RPN.)

[0] https://www.gnu.org/software/emacs/manual/html_node/calc/ind...

[1] https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.ab.x48

I use a Casio fx-991ES PLUS every day. Its only obvious advantage over the much more common fx-85GT (?) is that it has hex, binary, and octal conversion modes.

I did buy a TI calculator after hearing Americans rave about them on the Internet, mine is a TI-83 Plus. It was more expensive than the Casio, even secondhand, but it sucks so I don't use it. The Casio is way easier to use, and the Casio gives the answer as a fraction when it is rational, instead of always formatting it with decimal places.

The TI doesn't have mathematical formatting of the input, so you have to remember how your parentheses line up manually. It does have the advantage of having a larger display and showing a short history on it. I just got it out to try and remember what I hated about it, and I can't remember. Maybe it's just the lack of rational output.

I use an HP-35s as a first stop for calculations. I also use Emacs Calc as my PC calculator. However, I still find it difficult to memorise seldom-used commands there, so I use my HP-35s more often.

Two notes: 1) I definitely prefer RPN, 2) the power management of the HP-35s is so bad that I use too many batteries for it. A good reason to overcome the memorisation problem with Emacs Calc.

Nah, I rarely need to do calculations, and if I do I'll use cmd+space on Mac, Spotlight can do simple calculations, or Google.

For longer calculations I used to use Soulver, but I haven't needed to do that in a while. I recall last time I used it, it was for something in eve online. It's a bit more suitable for that kind of calculation because you can write down your thinking and name variables while doing stuff.

That said, I remember once upon a time we had an old desktop calculator, plugged in, chunky buttons, illuminated display (blue segment display), that thing was pretty cool, if I had the desk space I wouldn't mind a somewhat oversized calculator like that.

I still use an HP-12C financial calculator, although somewhat sporadically now. It used to be an extremely useful companion when I worked with loan processing systems some years ago.

Yes, from time to time. Mostly when doing math "homework". ("homework" as I'm not in a class, but I do a bit of Algebra or Precalc or Calc or whatever every other day or so for a refresher). I have a fairly substantial collection of handheld calculators, from my old Sharp EL506A that I bought in high-school, a couple of Casio models, a couple of HP's, a TI-85, and a few TI-86 / TI-84 / TI-89 ones, to my latest addition, a TI NSpire CAS.

What I reach for most often is a TI-89 Titanium. I'll occasionally also pull out my TI-85 (with the OS/2 sticker on the cover!) just out of nostalgia.

~~

Moving beyond the original question as posed, and just getting into the more general topic of "calculating tools" and what not...

If I'm on my laptop and I need to do some quick calculating, I generally just fire up R, Octave, Maxima, or Python in a terminal session, or use bc, depending on what I need to do. As a convenience, I have a script in ~/bin named "bc" that looks like this:

    #!/bin/bash
    echo "scale=5;"$1 | /bin/bc -l

So I can easily do calculations like this:

    $> bc 3+4
    7

If I actually want an interactive bc session, I have an alias defined like

    alias bci='/bin/bc -i'

And then I usually have a Wolfram Alpha tab open as well, if I'm doing "math stuff". I actually just broke down and signed up for a paid Alpha subscription. Not something I thought I'd ever do, but it's useful enough that I finally bit the bullet.

As of 2017, Casio FX-9860GII. Overkill for actual usage, but cheap -- so why not?

Before that, TI-30XS from 2013 and the TI-36X from 2011. The 36X is still in my laptop bag. Can't remember what I had before 2011 -- some old "programmer's calculator" from the 90s.

My wife (and various colleagues) thinks I'm crazy, but it's actually easier to grab the calculator from the desk and do a quick calculation than to open/use the calculator app.

Casio fx-991ES iirc - I haven't found it since moving, and that has reaffirmed how useful I find it to have one, I've reached for it numerous times and been annoyed not to have it. (In lieu of it, I used bc for a while, and now python. Still hope it turns up soon though - this submission's probably going to make me have a look for it again...)

I have my TI 89 in my office by rarely use it.

I wear a Casio calculator watch as my daily driver because i like the style and actually use the calculator function more often than you'd expect.

I also have and learned to use a nice Japanese desk abacus, because it was fun. And finally I own a giant novelty calculator for those big calculations. Again, I never use them.

In grad school I learned how to use a slide rule mostly to scare undergrads, but once I got used to it I absolutely loved it. I picked up a really cool brass one from a bookstore in Paris a few years later, and ever since then I've used it for any problem with few enough digits.

I have a handheld calculator but it's in a drawer. An HP 35, the first scientific calculator ever made, the first run. Found it in the Black Hole for $5 years ago.

See my brother had pre-ordered one but it was delayed because the US federal government acquired all the first run, for use at Los Alamos National Labs. That's where the Black Hole was, a surplus store for lab equipment. \ The faceplate has the key symbols silkscreened on it, instead of on the keys. That's how I know it's one of the first run. Kind of historic, if you're into tech history.

Anyway, the NiCad battery pack gave up years ago.

Yes - a Casio fx991ES PLUS.

Have owned it since school, and I vastly prefer it for quick maths to a phone or a computer-based calculator.

I keep looking for something similarly basic and affordable that has a backlit display, so far no hits!

HP-35S here, rpn mode. I got into it in my first job back in 2011. All the engineers I was working with used them. We'd standardized on rpn long ago, after one senior engineer attempted to use a colleague's new algebraic calculator under time pressure and threw it against the wall in frustration.

For context my line of work back then was electrical high-power testing for some big customers. Lots of thinking on your feet, hence the need for fewer keystrokes.

I still often use a TI-89 I bought in 1999. I also bought my daughter a used TI-86 and she uses it daily. Both are way nicer to use than the calculators on our phones.

No. I have a RealCalc app on my phone, though: works quite similarly as a physical one, and I keep using it daily.

Despite my dislike for skeuomorphism, the "scientific calculator" UX is still great when packaged into an app.

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=uk.co.nickfine...

Only recently I bought a TI 84 Python Edition and I love it. Good user interface, good functionality. I prefer to have separate calculators with me when reading and thinking (I also use the Python functionality for little helper scripts, e.g. a simple math trainer for my kids). On the PC, I have a lot of appreciation for qalculate (sometimes in combination with the generic Cantor interface, a KDE software)

I don't have much need for a calculator what I'm doing currently, but I have the same TI-84 from when I was a teenager, and when I had a desk I kept it on it. I find myself using the phone app calculator for most things "around the house" or for craft projects lately, but I am so irritated by it, it's not as easy to see the history if you made an error, and if you don't hit the enter key you get an answer but it doesn't commit that answer to history, meaning you need to do the whole calculation over again if you forgot to copy your answer or hit enter. And the reason I don't hit enter is because I still want to see my input operation, and hitting enter makes the output a new input more or less. On the TI-84 I can see everything conveniently laid out and more easily chose from my last outputs for new inputs. Never doing anything complicated, mostly just scaling ratios (how much material do I need for x size item), but it's irritating to have to do everything twice on a cell phone.

I use my HP-16C several times every week while debugging Notecard firmware. Yes, math is integrated into IAR EWARM and there's always Hex Calc on my iPhone. But there is something comforting about grabbing this same little artifact that has been on my desk since the days when I was debugging Lotus Notes using symdeb.

It may be highly likely that I'm in some kind of out-of-touch techno bubble, but I don't see that much of a point of real physical hand-held calculators anymore. I feel like they got stuck between a rock and a hard place, i.e.:

1. With everything being so mega-project and planned-ahead nowadays, you rarely need that "oh lemme just calculate it for you right now" on-the-stop calculating. If a piece of work needs that, in my eyes somebody has already failed upstream.

2. For simple calculations, a normal computer will work fine (and you're likely using one anyway in jobs that need calculating).

3. For complex calculations, you will likely be writing a script in some programming language in order for the calculation to be easily repeatable, etc.

I can just imagine there are loads of people in jobs that do need real physical hand-held calculators every day, and are shaking their fist at me right now :P

Use the Python interactive CLI most of the time. I still have a TI30x around for the few times I don't have my laptop around, like when doing electronics or wood working. I could use my phone for that, but I really prefer using a proper keyboard than a touchscreen for that task.

Yep! Casio FX-82AU Plus that I got in high school. Nice and quick to do quick sums and reasonably capable for more complex calculations. I also have an older Casio graphing calc but having never used one at school I just don’t have the muscle memory for it.

No. I use GNU Units, because it will alert me if I screw up with units in my calculations. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GNU_Units

I love the idea of a physical calculator. I mean, they seem really cool if you're a nerd, who wouldn't want an nSpire?

But math is pretty tightly tied to screens for me. I'm usually finding a resistor value I will then enter in a schematic capture app, or looking up the dimensions of something online and making something fit in CAD, or pricing out a project by looking up parts.

90% of the time, if I'm doing math, I'm on a tablet or computer anyway. I'd like a physical calculator for the other 10%, but I think I might never use it, because... It would probably be farther away than my phone and laziness and habit would take over.

I don't, I occasionally use my phone but it usually takes too long to get it out, figure out where the calculator app is, rotate to go to scientific...

Mostly I use bc or python. Julia is potentially a better choice but it's not in my muscle memory.

Yes, Casio FX-100, and have had it about 40 years.

I still have the `HP 32SII` on the desk and use it for quick calculations without leaving the focus of the workspace. Batteries last about forever.

But also I use `free42` on the smartphone, which is a similar experience.

As you can see, I just like RPN.

Yep, I've had the same TI83 on my desk for decades. I use it for one off calculations and napkin math.

If it's something I need to type up in a report, or copy-paste into a config file. I'll usually fiddle around with bc or python.

Yes, I have a Numworks calculator, that I still frequently use.

While programming but also when sketching algorithms, or when working on 3D models.

When I don't have it around, or when I need to work on large numbers, I use the Ruby or Python interpreters.

Yup, Casio fx-991ES Plus, since undergrad.

It frees your computer screen to keep the code or spreadsheet open.

Smartphone apps brings too many distractions, so it's a win.

Nowadays I just use for simple stuff, but I did used before for LinAlg, and similar stuff!

Nope.

Graphing calculators are abusively priced and regular calculators lack visual history or GOOD recall. The best "calculator" I own is Excel, then whatever device I happen to be on except the iPad which doesn't have a real one in 2024 because some dead guy said it was a bad idea in 2009.

The Windows 11 calculator is a notable downgrade from its predecessor. Randomly takes forever to load, sometimes even spawning an update window instead, and never spawns on the same monitor as my mouse cursor. All for what? To add a bunch of "converters" that are still worse than Google let alone any LLM.

No, but I never learned to use one well, even through calculus. I've always done my math leaving in the fractions/radicals/irrational numbers, so being confined to decimal output messes with me. I find I'm never sure if it's right. If someone needs a decimal answer from me, I can always just use a software app to convert my final answer to a decimal.

I don't have to do a lot of math in my daily life, but I'm more proficient working with fractions and doing arithmetic in my head than I am doing it on a calculator.

Yes I do. I'm a bit of a collector in no serious sense.

For "real work" I still use computer calculator (Qaculate or SpreedCrunch).

But if I can I prefer one of my Casio fx-85gt.

I have a Casio 115ES (I think) which has a solder jumper bridged to enable more features I've had this for over a decade I think.

A sharp graphing programmable that has a few functions programmed in I occasionally use.

If I'm doing something for fun I'd probably use some of the log tables I've made, sometimes the slide rules.

Thanks for letting me talk about the topic I'm always trying to bring up...

I have one on my desk right now. But I never use it anymore.

I either use python in a terminal to do calculations (when I'm using my PC or laptop) or I use my phone's calculator app when I'm not.

I'm very rarely, I'm mostly using qalc on the commandline, but I do have a TI-30 from between 1976 and 1978 (the LED version) on my desk that I sometimes do basic calculations on.

Yes, a Swiss micro DM42 https://www.swissmicros.com/product/dm42

I've a TI-89 emulator on my phone. Also a nice RPN calculator app (RealCalc) for most simpler calculations (no dimensional analysis needed). And Orpie for a CLi calculator.

Funny, yesterday I got out my TI-89 Titanium to go over some linear algebra, and explore some ideas regarding exterior algebra and deep neural networks.

The big lesson is: my linear algebra is pretty rusty.

Texas Instruments "Programmer II" [0] which dates back to the 1980's (bought new sometime back then). Sits on the desk for the days when I need to convert back and forth between hex and decimal.

Edit: mine predates the one in the link, date code C-0185 meaning January 1985, serial number 47674.

[0] http://www.datamath.org/Sci/Slanted/Programmer-II.htm

I like doing 6502 assembly on my Apple II+ (clone), and just assembled a PX 16C kit, which is a clone of the HP 16C calculator. Really great for hex and binary, and all sorts of bit manipulations. One day I may buy an actual HP 16C, but I couldn't get myself to spend the money on one just yet. I have the PX sitting next to my Apple II and it's great.

I also have an HP-41C, a 48S, and a Sharp PC-1500, because I'm a nerd.

I pull out a TI-83 once a year to check my math on paper tax forms. The history display is nice to have.

But that's it. Otherwise, it's either the built-in app on my phone or Spotlight on macOS.

Yes, quite frequently. A cheap[1] Casio fx-85GT Plus - one kicking around my desk, the other in my laptop bag. I'm not doing anything mathematically sophisticated, so usually it does everything I need and is so much easier than switching context to use my phone or an online calculator - and I appreciate the small element of physicality. Battery/solar so it lasts for ever, too.

[1] £10ish from a supermarket. Lost one, bought another, then inevitably found the first one.

I do not make so many calculations nowadays. When a computer is on, I have a xonsh and all the calculation power of Python. When not, the simple calculator app that came with the cellphone is most of the time sufficient.

But I think when doing lots of or at least frequently scientific calculations, a good physical calculator has superior characteristics. Typing a 'sin'-Button is way faster than typing 's' 'i' 'n' on a keyboard, e.g.

I have a Sharp EL-1750V [1] on my desk.

I barely ever use it, but I think it looks fantastic, and the sound when it’s printing my calculations on it’s roll of paper are so satisfying.

[1]: https://i5.walmartimages.com/asr/2873f5b4-76bf-42a9-9ebd-c93...

I've got an HP40gs laying around from my physics days, I should really get some batteries for it. Picked up the cheapest scientific calculator I could for the geology degree, a Sharp EL-501w (The casio fx260 is near and dear to my heart but it doesn't have a second line/history which is very handy) and I still pick that up pretty frequently, my phone has rpncalc, which is great and all but it doesn't come to hand as easily.

While some find it weird, I only use Google (search bar) for all my calculations. I never liked those hand held ones, super slow and error prone I find.

I'm in the desktop calculator crowd. There's a shortcut in the exact top right of my keyboard, just over the numpad. It'd be rude not to.

Yes, although not as much. But I still keep my TI Nspire CX CAS charged for when I need it (needed it during my CS studies for adjacent topics). Specifically the CAS version is nice because it can simplify algebra for you, and even solve/rewrite an expression for a specific variable. There’s probably something I can use on my computer, I do like the ergonomics of the calculator though

No.

But last week I decided it's time to revive my old calculator and I ordered spare batteries for it.

The reason was that I was building some cupboards and needed some simple measurements calculated.

Every time I took out my phone to substract or divide a number, some attractive push notification distracted me. Pulling me into some hole of chats, social media, a game, whatever. At least dragging me out of the flow of woodworking.

Yes, because you can use it when working through ideas with someone. Turning away from them to use the computer is a conversation killer.

I have a TI89 emulator on my phone, which I use often. It's a slightly outdated interface in the smartphone era, but for me it's still the most usable for certain things, particularly unit conversions, 2- or 3-variable RREF calculations, and small CAS calculations. I can do all those things in python, with more overhead, iff I'm at a computer.

Until recently I did use the CASIO one where you can put an entire equation in.

Nowadays I've bound SpeedCrunch to one of my unused keys (Pause / Break) so I just tap it once and have a large screen calculator with comfortable keyboard interface and infinite precision.

I'd certainly use the handheld calc in other scenarios though where the computer is not available.

No, I use mostly this function, based on bc: https://github.com/adamrights/settings/blob/f0337925391b5ea0...

I am currently trying, however, to fix a broken TI-84 Plus I found on the street.

I have a physical HP-15C in my desk and I use the HP-15C emulator on my phone. As you can probably tell, I used that calc in college engineering classes until mine got stolen. I replaced it with an HP-28S that I used for quite a while. I bought the physical 15C a few years ago - 30 years after my original was stolen.

I use a calculator so rarely, I've found I mostly just type the equation into the closest browser address bar to see the result. Works great for most PEMDAS operations. For 90% of the time, I have my answer quicker than I would be able to open another app.

For anything more complex, I usually open a spreadsheet or drop into a python shell.

I still have a TI-86 on my desk that I've had since the late 90s. I use it from time to time for calculations.

Numi on MacOS: https://numi.app/

SpeedCrunch on Windows: https://heldercorreia.bitbucket.io/speedcrunch/

I use whatever scientific caluclator it was that I bought for highschool back in the 90s

It still works

And does more than I've ever needed it to

Yes, I also use Excel or Numbers or my phone's calculator or the Calculator app on my desktop ... but there are times when it's just way simpler to use a dedicated device

No, it used to be a TI-84 Plus but that has been replaced by a phone app for basic stuff and mathematica, jupyter etc. for more complicated calculations.

Having actual, tactile buttons is nice, but not nice enough to compensate for the bad display, complicated menus and fiddly input for longer calculations.

Nope. I have a Mac with a calculator app and I have an extended keyboard with a numpad. If I'm doing anything more advanced I usually pull up a spreadsheet. For what its worth, I really don't do anything scientific, mostly statistics on performance, ratios of things, etc.

I own one, but almost never use it. For quick, few-steps calculations I’ll use the iPhone’s calculator app. When I have more complex calculations, I almost always find myself needing to remember and label different values, so I’ll just type “python3” in the terminal and get to work ;)

Not anymore. Using the Windows Calculator for normal stuff and Casio keisan (https://keisan.casio.com/calculator) if I need high precision, which happens but not very often.

I bought a cheap casio one while reading through a book on basic financial hygiene for entrepreneurs. Over time, an excel sheet has replaced it.

For quick and dirty calculations, I launch a repl in my terminal. So,

Excel > REPL > Physical desktop calculator > calculator application on my computer.

Another vote for my Casio FX82. Ease and speed of use are why I prefer it to any calc apps.

Though I'll admit that I have a bias towards physical, single purpose devices. I use a physical (digital) timer in the kitchen, and a physical mechanical metronome when playing music.

Yes, I use mine HP Prime daily, not only the physical one, but also the emulator on Windows and Android. Mainly for quick and dirty math when developing new research ideas, too heavy for just typing in PowerShell, but not enough for me to bother launching Matlab.

I use PowerShell for simple arithmetic. I can process CSVs, JSON, and XML. It can save temporaries to variables, and has basic sort and filter capabilities.

For anything past the most basic arithmetic, I use Mathematica, which feels like using a 500 ton press to crack a walnut.

HP 35s on desk, CalcTastic app[1] on mobile.

[1] https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.shaytastic...

Casio fx-JP900

All virtual calculator (phone app) 's UX suck balls so I end up bought the most advanced physical one.

It can do spreadsheets, solving linear equations, 4x4 matrix, unit convertion, stats, integrals, derivatives, etc. Absurdly powerful for a physical calculator.

Yes. But I’m afraid my nerd cred will suffer… I have a CVS (as in the drugstore) scientific calculator on my desk. I think I paid $6 for it when I had to take a test 15 or so years ago.

Like a book, sometimes I find it less distracting to use a more simple device.

For simple arithmetic, no. I just use my phone or the MacOS app.

For graphs, Desmos.

For anything more complex, Wolfram Alpha.

Everyday

I firmly believe the Casio FX82* is the most usable design for any calculator, ever

I've seen it on desks from nuclear physics R&D labs all the way to automotive mechanics'

Calculators like the TI-84 are jam packed with far too many features to the detriment of speed

The only time I had one on my desk on a regular basis (outside of school / university work) is when I was coding in assembly. Converting between various numeric bases was what I used it most, and it beat using a calculator program.

No, but I do dedicate a hardware button on my phone to launching a calculator app.

From the places I've worked at it seems to be profession based. IT for example is a no, but someone in finance or a person in upper management who works with a lot of figures seem to still find them useful.

Yes.

A Casio FX-81 (1981 vintage). An HP-16C (1996 vintage), but very rarely. My firmware days are long over.

Pcalc42 in my phone.

Have to comment on the build quality. The Casio lost its battery cover within 5 years. The HP is build like a tank.

Depends. For simple math I just have a SpeedCrunch window open somewhere, but for more complex equations or if I need to graph something (which is rare for me nowadays) my school Numworks is still on my desk

I use a handheld calculator on my _computer_ desktop:

https://nonpareil.brouhaha.com/

The HP-41C is awesome!

I keep a TI-86 on my desk which I use modestly. Usually for a longer calculation.

I also have a calculator button on my keyboard right above the number pad which is very useful. I use it for quick maths every day.

My favourite tool for math is https://numbr.dev

no (are these comments a self-selecting population of desk calculator users?)

I use "bc" actually. I should probably figure out a better solution, but it has worked for quick calculations for me.

RealCalc on Android, specifically because it's a close match to the calculators I'm used to from school and that frustratingly I can't find after this many years.

Yes, a Swiss Micros DM42. Why? Mostly because I like it, but I justified it to myself by using it in the lab, where having a more expensive screen is not wise.

They are also useful for teaching.

I use an old HP48sx. I used to teach a class on how to use it, to engineering students, as a side gig. As a result, I think in RPN easier than algebraic calculator mode.

I have a TI-84 Plus. However, I mostly use eva [0] and python.

[0] https://github.com/nerdypepper/eva

I love the form factor of the TI Voyage 200. One still sits on my desk at work. It gets used for small problems, usually via the home screen or its little spreadsheet.

Despite having a single dedicated key on my keyboard that opens speedcrunch, I will always reach for my trusty Casio calculator that I bought 20 years ago in school.

I'd like a recommendation for a programmers calculator, specifically one which can do a full 64 bit binary or hex calculation without truncating the result.

Yes (I have a programmable TI-92 calculator), although when I am at the computer, I can just use the computer instead (using dc and other programs).

HP12C and HP15C. I also have a 15C emulator on my desktop.

Actually mostly use the Python REPL to do math in, it works pretty well. But I'm not really a person who needs to do a lot of advanced math at my job.

Absolutely! Depending what I’m doing an HP-12C (financial stuff) or a Casio fx-82 solar II (most other stuff). I have one of each at home and in the office.

Used an HP 48GX for years until realizing that was great in college but had become overkill. Sold it and bought an HP 35s that I still use.

I use a Casio FX82 on my desk sometimes, for my phone I use the HiPER Calc Pro and on my laptop I have the app SpeedCrunch installed

When I was in secondary school (UK), Casio's were readily available so they are what I have, the newest being an fx-85GT PLUS.

I keep one in the kitchen. On my desk, I have an abacus, mostly for keeping my mind sharp. Same reason I have a rubiks cube, too.

Constantly, its a TI office calculator.

I do circuit design/trouble shooting and very often scribble stuff down on paper and solve with a basic calc.

I’ll often use quick launch on the Mac for simple calculations. But I gave pcalc on my phone which gives me a handheld calculator.

'Galculator' because I often use hex calculations.

I found my hardware calculator the other day and I seriously considered throwing it out.

I have a nice $10 Casio Solar I got at CVS, it does Degrees, Minutes, Seconds so it came in quite handy in my gear making days.

TI-30Xa, I use it regularly. I do find myself opening an interactive Python interpreter for more complex things though.

I use Droid48 on my phone, and on my computer I fire up Guile to use as a forward Polish notation calculator.

No, but I do use a full size keyboard as the numpad is the main thing that enables me not to use a calculator still

I’m in bookkeeping and keep a Sharp adding machine at my desk. It’s convenient in many situations.

I have an HP PrimeG2 and I adore it.

There has been a perfect simulator of Casio fx series on android for several years.

I use a TI SR-40 given to me by my grandpa. I put a 9V battery in it and use it at work.

No, I use iex (interactive Elixir), Numbers, and Wolfram Alpha depending on the problem.

Not so often any more, in preference to iPython, bc -l, or pCalc on the phone.

But when I do: an old HP-32Sii

I still use y trusty TI-89 from college nearly every day. I use excel sometimes too

yeah, I keep and use a TI-85 and an HP financial calculator. I was trained in the use of both (one in college and the other a job) so it is easier for me to just grab one of those than look up the calculator app.

EDIT sorry it is an 83 not 85

Not a physical one but I do a lot of basic calculations through Spotlight.

I have mapped F8 on my keyboard to launch a terminal with IPython open

Yes, Casio fx-991ES

I have a TI-84 too, but it's useless compared to the casio.

No. I either use the Google search bar or I open a python shell.

Yep, CASIO fx-86 PLUS - always in hand reach for some quick math

No; instead, I use Maxima on Android (and on desktop Linux too).

I can not recall the last time I held a physical calculator.

No, I just use Powershell as I usually have that open anyway.

Yes they are easier for quick calculations than softwares.

hp48gx (as emu48on Android) is so much quicker to program than Scilab, that the slower machine gets me answers faster.

no, alt tab is enough (at least on Mac Os X or KDE)

if I want more I need either wolfram-alpha or chatgpt - and not a standard calculator

mostly I open python in a terminal or use spotlight for simple math.

I haven't owned a calculator (dedicated) since I was a child.

HP48, of course.

Yep. A Casio, FX something something

I use Microsoft PowerCalc on Windows

Yes. Just bought a HP-15c reissue.

no, and for years. I use only my phone calculator, ipython and if I feel masochistic, excel

Sharp EL-361D

i use google (for one off calculations) or excel (for bigger chunks) most of the times

I just use python for that now

What’s wrong with a TI-84?

Any one using an abacus?

HP-35s in RPN mode

I use a Curta.