CASIO CLASSWIZ fx-991SP X Iberia

[jebem]

I apologize to open a new thread, but I didn't wanted to hijack the other one related to the English market model (EX variant).


This is the Iberia variant (SP X) of the English version Classwiz fx-991E X calculator.

It appeared in the shops this month in Portugal with a retail price of 27 Euro.

The calculator is sold inside a blister package and it has the battery installed from factory.
It includes a hard cover and the user guides in 3 of the Iberia languages.
3 years warranty in Iberia.

Made in China. 575 Functions.

Menu languages:
This Iberia model supports 3 of the spoken languages in Iberia: Castellano, Català and Português.

Power supply:
I removed the LR44 coin cell to check it: 1.584Volt under no load.
Made in China. Expiration date 09/16.

So, this calculator appeared this month in the shops and it has 3 years of warranty, meaning that it will be protected until 07/2018.
However, the included battery will expire much before, in 09/2016.
How strange is this?

The calculator works nicely without the battery installed as long as there is enough light conditions to power the integrated solar panel.




Good LCD featuring high resolution and easy reading.



Full contrast to show the indicators.



Single LR44 1.5Volt coin cell.
Six screws and the back cover pops out easily (no clamps).



One single integrated circuit a few resistors and capacitors.
One large 22uF/6.3V capacitor is visible in the center of the PCB, used to store energy for about 10 seconds with the calculator running without batteries and without enough light to feed the solar panel.
Six large sized plastic rivets are used to fix the PCB against the keyboard assembly.



The keyboard keys and membrane are visible here.
As usual, CASIO uses real good quality plastic keys.
This membrane/key engineering works nicely since more than 30 years ago.
It never miss to register a single key in this or another CASIO machine that I have tried.
It will not give us the satisfying mechanical and sound feedback like we get from the HP "clicking" keyboards, but for such a low cost calculator, CASIO did a excellent job IMHO.

[Tugdual]

Tanks for sharing This Jebem. A bit disappointed that it is made in China; had too many issues with China made products so for me it is now a no go. Also the screen doesn't look very impressive.

[jebem]

Looking into some Japanese and Chinese photos published one year ago in some other forums, I realized that this calculator can display the firmware version like their older siblings like the fx-991ES for instance.

I tried the older models self test procedure and it works here with a few differences.

Self test 1:
Power off the calculator.
Press "Shift" + "7" + "ON"
Press 9
Press "Shift" to scroll thru the different tests.
Press "ON" to reset.

My Iberia machine shows "CY-255 VerA".
I think this could be the firmware version for the SP X Iberia model.

Can anyone test the other variants and publish the results?




Self test2:
Power off the calculator.
Press "Shift" + "7" + "ON"
Press 8
Press the keys indicated by square brackets.
Press "ON" to reset.

[jebem]

(07-30-2015 06:11 PM)Tugdual Wrote:  A bit disappointed that it is made in China; had too many issues with China made products so for me it is now a no go. Also the screen doesn't look very impressive.

Yap, we have to deal with this winds of change commanded by the laws of demand and offer of the open markets.
Apparently China is the place where all the corporations go to get their products made.
Even Japanese companies were forced to do it!

The LCD screen is very readable, in black color, even in low light conditions, and so much better than the previous fx-991ES generation.
Sure, it can be improved, but keep in mind this is a low entry low cost calculator.
Just for comparison, the retail price for a HP-35S is about 2 times more expensive than this Classwiz, and the LCD screen is not better IMHO.

[Steve Simpkin]

(07-30-2015 06:11 PM)Tugdual Wrote:  Thanks for sharing This Jebem. A bit disappointed that it is made in China; had too many issues with China made products so for me it is now a no go. Also the screen doesn't look very impressive.

It is difficult to find any consumer electronics product that is not made in China. The trend to use the lowest cost labor available has been going on for decades. We have seen low-cost manufacturing shift from Japan to Hong Kong to Singapore and finally to China. That does not mean that all products manufactured in China are of low quality. There are many well made products produced there as well.

[xmehq]

I received an fx-991EX earlier this week that shows CY-235 VerB. From looking at the photos you've posted, it appears that the Iberia version has some functions not included in the EX. In fact, my somewhat older fx-115ES Plus has a larger function set than my new 991EX.

[jebem]

(08-01-2015 07:42 PM)xmehq Wrote:  I received an fx-991EX earlier this week that shows CY-235 VerB. From looking at the photos you've posted, it appears that the Iberia version has some functions not included in the EX.

Thanks for the feedback on the firmware version.

I'm not sure about on how many functions each variant have, but it is usual for CASIO to do this differentiation based on the target countries.
Perhaps this is related to the different schools requirements?

For instance, the German variant of this Classwiz announces 696 functions, well above all the other variants.

One nice touch from CASIO Classwiz is that they also have the keyboard localized.
For instance, the Iberia version has translated keys for the trigonometric functions (SEN instead of SIN).

[xmehq]

(08-04-2015 11:56 AM)jebem Wrote:  For instance, the German variant of this Classwiz announces 696 functions, well above all the other variants.

One nice touch from CASIO Classwiz is that they also have the keyboard localized.
For instance, the Iberia version has translated keys for the trigonometric functions (SEN instead of SIN).

I had wondered about the use of English language labels on calculators and how great a hindrance that was to users in countries where English is not the dominant language. It is nice that Casio has made the effort to rectify that. I have seen photos of the Classwiz with labels in several languages.

The prior models sold as the 991 series outside the US have been sold as the 115 series here which makes me wonder if Casio is planning to release another variant of the EX in the US as part of the 115 series.

I think the display is a great improvement and I like the constants and conversions being selectable from menus rather than by using a code number. If the 991 just included the functions I'm used to from the 115 I would be exceedingly pleased with it; until then, I'll just be happy with it.

[jebem]

Talking about localization.
Thanks to all that have sent f/w details from their machines.

Some guy have ordered the German version on eBay a month ago and was selling it here on OLX Portugal when he realized that the menus were in German language.
I have asked him to let me know about the f/w version and it is the same as reported by Gerald in the other post related to the international model.

So far, the localization and firmware listing goes like this:

Code:


Model        Locale             Firmware         Nb.Functions
-------------------------------------------------------------
fx-991EX   International      CY-235 VerB        552
fx-991DEX  Germany            CY-251 VerA        696
fx-991SPX  Iberia             CY-255 VerA        575
fx-991CNX  China              CY-239 VerA        498 
fx-991ARX  Arabia             ???????            ???   
fx-JP900  Japan               CY-243 VerA        ???
Fx-92 SC  France              ???????            ???

The China version details can be found on TI-Planet and on CNCALC.

The Japan model details are here.

Visually the SPX Iberia and the DEX German are identical, with the exception of the key labels that are translated to Iberian languages on the SPX.

The China and International models are the ones with less number of functions, while the German one sports the most.
That's why I'm planning to acquire a DEX as well to join my SPX.

The Casio French models typically uses a specific designation for that market, and with very specific sub-set of functions based on the International model to comply with the official schools constrains. Details here.
Official advert here.

[Pekis]

Casio Fx 991 High end models

International: fx-991-EX
Spain: fx-991-SPX
Germany: fx-991-DEX
Arabia: fx-991-ARX
China: fx-991-CNX
Japan: fx-JP900

Switching language to English
Only Arabia, China, Japan

Icons/Functions: See attachment below

Additional functions: See attachment below

Additional menus:
Only Japan has
Chemical periodic table

Japan has more conversions

For those who are wondering:
Ratios: See attachment below
Verificar: See attachment below
Chemical periodic table: See attachment below

[klesl]

The central european version exists. It is fx-991CE X and there are 4 languages - Czech, Slovakian, Polish and Hungarian.
This calc has periodic table also.
Compared to the other versions it has 668 functions, 47 scientific constants and 38 metric conversions.
Firmware is CY-294 VerA.

[Gerald H]

On Tenerife I just got a

CASIO fx-991 SP X II Iberia

Firmware CY-269 Ver A

[Chasfield]

The FX991 EX has recently become an official UK import from Casio following a need for its functionality in support our post-16 Mathematics curricula. It has been a grey import from practically everywhere else in the world for years.

The Casio UK web site official price is 40 GBP!

The street price set by less cynical suppliers is usually in the 25-30 GBP range. We can also get them from India for 20 GBP. One UK eBay dealer has shifted 1200+ over the last few weeks. I don't think Casio will sell many off their web site though.

[Gerald H]

This

https://www.dynatech.de/casio-fx-991de-x...chner.html

is available at a nice price.

[Gerson W. Barbosa]

(08-04-2015 11:56 AM)jebem Wrote:  One nice touch from CASIO Classwiz is that they also have the keyboard localized.
For instance, the Iberia version has translated keys for the trigonometric functions (SEN instead of SIN).

On the Latin America version, DECIMAL-POINT IS COMMA as it should be. On the other hand, perhaps because one of the three language options is English (the other two are Español and Português), the sine key is still labeled sin. Well, nothing is perfect...

[math7]

The model FX-JP900 has more than 700 functions and it is on Amazon

[Massimo Gnerucci]

(11-22-2017 11:27 PM)Gerson W. Barbosa Wrote:  DECIMAL-POINT IS COMMA

Fond memories... :)

[jebem]

(11-22-2017 11:27 PM)Gerson W. Barbosa Wrote:  On the Latin America version, DECIMAL-POINT IS COMMA as it should be. On the other hand, perhaps because one of the three language options is English (the other two are Español and Português), the sine key is still labeled sin. Well, nothing is perfect...

Good point.

Agree, in Portugal we use comma as well, like the Germans do.

That LA X version looks similar to the DE X German version, using comma and international names for the trig functions in the keys labels.

But the SP X is the Iberian version, meaning that the vast majority of the buyers would be Spanish's ones. I wonder if nuestros hermanos neighbors in fact use the dot instead, like the EN versions. However traditionally Spain translates almost all of the foreign terms to Castelhano, hence the terms "sen".

[david sanz]

OK, here I go with my rant:

So, they subtitute sen for sin, but....

they keep OPTN, SOLVE, RESET, UNDO ....

Also, the SP X denomination seems a little bit wrong for an "Iberian" version. Unless what we thing is Portuguese is in fact Galician. Would be funny to see a machine with Basque menus if not keyboard. I am not keeping my breath, but I would not be surprised if it happened in a few years. Just wait till the Basque politicians learn there is a Catalan option but no Basque...

The whole thing seems pretty pointless to me. I would prefer a universal machine rather than local versions.

But Casio is so hegemonic that I suppose they will do whatever they want.

[david sanz]

(11-23-2017 08:25 AM)jebem Wrote:  

(11-22-2017 11:27 PM)Gerson W. Barbosa Wrote:  On the Latin America version, DECIMAL-POINT IS COMMA as it should be. On the other hand, perhaps because one of the three language options is English (the other two are Español and Português), the sine key is still labeled sin. Well, nothing is perfect...

Good point.

Agree, in Portugal we use comma as well, like the Germans do.

That LA X version looks similar to the DE X German version, using comma and international names for the trig functions in the keys labels.

But the SP X is the Iberian version, meaning that the vast majority of the buyers would be Spanish's ones. I wonder if nuestros hermanos neighbors in fact use the dot instead, like the EN versions. However traditionally Spain translates almost all of the foreign terms to Castelhano, hence the terms "sen".

Being Spanish, I think I can answer your question,

We use comma to separate decimals. Which is a nightmare every time you prepare a document in English or (sometimes) try to use Excel or any other data processing software.

Now that I look more carefully, I notice they also substituted arcsen for sin-1.
While we are at it, turns out that according to Wikipedia Catalans use "sinus" and "cosinus" to denominate the trigonometric functions:
https://ca.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trigonometria

Seems that making an Iberian version is harder a task than Casio may think.


Any body knows how many functions has got the LA X version?