Ask HN: Do you still use physical calculators?

No. Droid48 has replaced it.

Oi! You forgot adding machines. Big buttons, +/- features, auto-tax. And! Inexplicably none of the pre-installed calculators emulate them—bizarre.

And yes, I do use an adding machine, Sharp EL-1750

I use a SwissMicros DM16L (a HP16C clone) because I like RPN and prefer physical buttons over a touchscreen.

I still have them, also a slide rule, but no, I don't use them. It is essential to have these for when the grid breaks like it currently has in Mississippi for over a week. I also have multi-decade-storage batteries for them.

Yep. College requires a TI-83 and I use a DM-16L for accounting homework.

Nope, spotlight search handles basic calculations, python repl the rest of them.

tl;dr: RPN - ride or die. ;)

Sometimes, for vintage reminiscing, a real HP48GX.* It got me through AP Calculus BC, SAT-I, and EE/CS. And doubled as a learning TV remote & TV-B-Gone. I also have a virtual HP48 on my phone, tablets, and computers.

In middle school, I had an HP 32SII. I remember being able to hear** either the processor clock or data line(s) of each of the 32 and 48 because one or more components acted as inadvertent audio oscillators that would make noises during computation (and during idle on the 48 because it had to keep redrawing the clock).

I've used R, MATLAB, pspice, and Mathematica in the past.

I'm a fan of Xcas and Wolfram Alpha now.

* I also have a collection of HP 48[GS]X cards, the printer, and the overhead projector adapter. In lieu of the overpriced official HP 48G to computer RS-232 interface cable, one can be easily made from a Sony CD-ROM audio cable.

** With my much younger ear pressed up to it.

I still regularly use a TI-35, and / or an old slide rule (I have three), and / or rough mental order of magnitude guesstimates.

Otherwise I use domain software for other tasks.

Yes, I use one all the time. I have a small collection of them, depending on the task.

As for why I use them?

- They are tactile.

- They are forgiving, pushing a button doesn't accidentally swipe to some random app or screen or slide down notifications.

- The physical calculator doesn't interrupt my work with a notification or popup.

I realize it makes me a boomer, but using modern smartphone interfaces, especially post-home button iOS, feels like interacting with a UI sitting on top of a banana peel. Buttons now require more precise and well-timed touches to activate their actions (eg: the buttons on the lock screen). I frequently find myself accidentally swiping between apps or navigating to new views.

I really wish I could go back to the old way of having a singular app be the focus, and having a home button or something I can press to switch between app contexts, without all the easily triggered and hidden gestures.

Button feedback, reduced chance of fat fingered mistype. Doesn’t tie up phone holding numbers on screen.

I use a Casio HL-815L to manage my checkbook. I lost the ability to do this math in my head about 10 years ago. I am 77.

I keep my TI-84 at my desk and reach for it maybe once a week. Usually for money reasons though, not so much for work stuff.

> I’ve noticed that most physical scientific and graphing calculators are easily outdone in terms of performance, capability and ease of use by the likes of Desmos and the default calculators on OS’es like the iOS, Android, and Windows.

Citation needed. They are pretty clunky, unless you have a numpad typing on them takes way longer. Graphing and fast access to mathematical functions is way worse.

I mean I do substituted my calculator with the computer, but the replacement is Python and GeoGebra, not the built in calculator. And the reason is mostly convenience of not replacing batteries. I do use the standalone calculator while the batteries are full.

Haven't used one since the day I finished school. I still have it though. It's like an artifact from another time...

I use it while learning mathacademy

Does Windows Calc.exe count as well? :-))

I actually own one, a Casio. Simple reason, I'm a ham radio operator and you need one for the exams.

I have Casio FX-991MS on my desk

I do. It just works, and it feels better than the on-screen versions. The Windows calculator is atrocious. Some of the emulators for iOS are good, but still feel clumsy in comparison to the real thing, especially for more than adding two short numbers.

The truth is: I like calculators, and I think almost everyone answering in the positive does too. Most people don't care about them, and see their phone as a god-given miracle, I guess, which makes calculators an expensive-ish burden.

TL;DR: school/tests/exams don't allow phones.

Here in NL - Casio FX-82NL is allowed during test/exams for middle/high school, and actually for Radio Amateur/HAM licence exam - they even hand you one of their FX-82NLs.

Other more advanced (graphing, with memory/Python/etc) are also allowed in some places, but they need to be set to exam mode that disables memory/python/etc.

I’m too used to using a ti-83+

I would, but one of the main keys stopped working. It is a very old solar scientific calculator and large for a calculator.

If I could open up the case without cracking it I would attempt a repair, but I know I would end up breaking it :(

Now, I mainly use bc(1).

My kids often use their hands, I sometimes use paper and pencil

Mines are stored, but I use the hp48 emulator regularly.

HP-16C

Casio fx81

I use only the HP once in a while for old times sake.

no, python is all my need^_^

[dead]

"Do you still physical calculators?"

Well, no. My calculators don't bounce around so I have no reason to "still" them. /s

I have a calculator app that I use 99.9% of the time. I have a physical calculator around here somewhere. I used to use it when I'd have to tabulate physical items or when I'd been doing calculations for a long time. Short bursts on my phone are fine, but over hours is kinda troublesome.