Who has a sinclair scientific programmable?

[Steve Simpkin]

(07-09-2018 06:46 PM)Thomas Okken Wrote:  

(07-06-2018 05:11 PM)Steve Simpkin Wrote:  Well to be fair, the Sinclair Scientific Programmable should really be compared to the HP-25 which sold for £119 in Sept 1975. Even so, the HP-25 was 4 times the price of the Sinclair (and well worth the premium if you could afford it).

My first calculator was a Sinclair Scientific (non-Programmable). It was very limited and not very accurate, but nonetheless it was better than a slide rule. Also, the manual, short as it was, showed several examples of practical engineering calculations, which gave me a first glimpse of what those mysterious trigs and logs could do (I was in 5th or 6th grade at the time!), and sparked an interest in mathematics that has stayed with me ever since.

About two years later, my dad bought me an HP-25, and oh yes, that was unbelievably cool and powerful by comparison.

Very cool! I still have my HP-25 which I bought in June 1977 for $116 USD. I used it through high school, four years of college and the first two years of my first job. It still works great!

My first RPN calculator was a Novus Mathematician (it was free). It was a bit more functional and accurate than the Sinclair Scientific but it had no provision for entering or displaying scientific notation, which was a big drawback for engineering use. Still it introduced me to RPN so it wasn't all bad The HP-25 Owner's Handbook is what really got me hooked on RPN. I still have fun reading it.