Flush and recessed displays of hp 27s calculator.

[Dave Britten]

(06-12-2024 04:41 PM)bxparks Wrote:  

(06-12-2024 03:57 PM)Dave Britten Wrote:  $55 USD is a good price for a great calculator. The 27S might not be "programmable" in the traditional sense, but there are many use cases where the solver is quicker, easier, more intuitive, and more memory efficient than writing an RPN program.

The 27S is an algebraic calculator that's 35 years old. Besides nostalgia, I'm curious why someone would prefer the 27S over a modern algebraic calculator, for example, the Casio fx-9750GIII, which now sells for about $30 new. The 9750GIII handles everything that the 27S does, plus far more:

The fx-9750GIII (and most all Casio graphers) are lousy at storing a library of equations, particularly if you want descriptive, multi-character variable names. The fx-5800P is a bit better at it, but you can only save equations with two-character variable names, and those can only be evaluated - if you want to run them through the numeric solver, you can only use the basic A-Z variables. The older fx-4850P also only lets you use single-letter variables, but you can at least give them descriptive labels that display when you select them with the cursor. Of course, it's nearly impossible to find an fx-4850P...

Also, none of the Casios can be used as an alarm clock.

If your needs fit within the 27S capabilities, then it's very, very good at it.