5 ms·

I still have my 1980s-era HP-11C, but I've almost never used it since college. If I need a calculator, usually I'm at a computer, and bc, dc, or a spreadsheet i

I still have my 1980s-era HP-11C, but I've almost never used it since college. If I need a calculator, usually I'm at a computer, and bc, dc, or a spreadsheet is readily available. If I'm not at a keyboard, then the calculator app on my cell phone will do. Which just led me down the rabbit hole of Android RPN calculator apps. :o) Still, there's nothing quite like the tactile feel of a classic HP calculator keyboard from back when HP really was Hewlett-Packard.

auxym 6y ago
Any favorite, of the android RPN calculators? I've been using just free42 for a while.
- flyinghamster 6y ago
  That's what I ended up with as well... looks pretty nice. It'll be interesting to see how much of my 11C experience transfers over, at least, that which I remember in the first place. I've never lost RPN (mainly because of good old dc), but the programming is a different story.
- p_l 6y ago
  I've been using Droid48 for maybe a decade now, it's very robust. Recently started playing with Emu48 with hp50g skin as well.
  - zokier 6y ago
    Any significant improvement in emu48 vs droid48?
    - p_l 6y ago
      Main improvement seems to be ability to use more recent firmware, so no more trying to backport pretty much a complete OS from hp49 to hp48 :)
- opencl 6y ago
  I've been happy with realcalc, nice relatively basic scientific calculator. Or emu48 in 50g mode for when I need something more advanced.
- crb3 6y ago
  I'm using 11CSciCalc on my MotoG7power. It's good (at least for keyboard layout and key-function -- haven't had occasion to try out its programmability for compatibility), but without the tactile feedback of the real buttons I have to visually monitor what actually gets entered, so I can't drop fully into the problem domain, not like I can with my HP11C. It's my HP41CV that basically never gets used. Back when, I wrote a program on it, 'ampsr', to calculate ideals and then find the closest standard-value matches for a three-resistor attenuator network used as the gain-and-offset control of an opamp amplifier; it took 16 minutes for my HP41CV to arrive at the answer, and that was just selecting among the E24 "5%" standard-value array. My later Perl version, by comparison, is all but instantaneous even working with the E96 array and running on a 400MHz box. The HP41CV's programmability was great for its era; not so much, now.
- lscotte 6y ago
  I've used RealCalc for a few years. I paid a few bucks for the "plus" version. It hasn't been updated in years, but that's fine with me because it just plain works.
  - analog31 6y ago
    Same here. I have to sheepishly admit that I prefer infix notation, and RealCalc reminds me of the cheap Casio scientific calculators that I still use. The first thing I look for in a calculator is that you can enter numbers in scientific notation without hitting a Shift button.
- callahad 6y ago
  I'm very happy with CalcTastic, though it's not been updated since 2018 it still seems to work just fine. https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.shaytasticsoftware.calctasticfree https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.shaytastic...
- cagey 6y ago
  I've been using RpnCalc by Edward Falk on Android for many years without complaint. Last updated 2017.11.
RodgerTheGreat 6y ago
This is why I wrote a cell-phone-friendly frontend for my K interpreter: https://github.com/JohnEarnest/ok#mobile https://github.com/JohnEarnest/ok#mobile I agree, though- dedicated tactile buttons will always be nicer for a calculator.
- 7thaccount 6y ago
  I'd love to have APL or K on a small calculator like the HP-15c just for the cool factor. With an SD card slot it would make for a really cool portable programming computer.
  - FullyFunctional 6y ago
    The physical keys is why I still grab my 30ish year old HP-11C for quick experiments, however it's hard for me to phantom a good experience with K on a single line display. We'd probably be better off with a portrait form factor, roughly 1/3 display, 2/3 keyboard. Getting switches with the HP quality and feel is the biggest problem. EDIT: actually, porting oK to the DM41x might be the best option (putting stickers on remapped keys).
    - RodgerTheGreat 6y ago
      Closest I've come to that so far was getting oK running on a PocketCHIP. (Which is really just a matter of installing node and cloning the repo, thankfully.) The keyboard is less than stellar, but not too bad for trying little expressions.
      - FullyFunctional 6y ago
        I have an irrational reverence for my moderately modded PocketCHIP and pull it out every few months, but the keyboard is just truly awful. This is possibly a spiritual successor https://www.tindie.com/products/arturo182/keyboard-featherwing-qwerty-keyboard-26-lcd/ https://www.tindie.com/products/arturo182/keyboard-featherwi...
    - 6y ago

auxym 6y ago

Any favorite, of the android RPN calculators? I've been using just free42 for a while.

flyinghamster 6y ago
That's what I ended up with as well... looks pretty nice. It'll be interesting to see how much of my 11C experience transfers over, at least, that which I remember in the first place. I've never lost RPN (mainly because of good old dc), but the programming is a different story.
p_l 6y ago
I've been using Droid48 for maybe a decade now, it's very robust. Recently started playing with Emu48 with hp50g skin as well.
- zokier 6y ago
  Any significant improvement in emu48 vs droid48?
  - p_l 6y ago
    Main improvement seems to be ability to use more recent firmware, so no more trying to backport pretty much a complete OS from hp49 to hp48 :)
opencl 6y ago
I've been happy with realcalc, nice relatively basic scientific calculator. Or emu48 in 50g mode for when I need something more advanced.
crb3 6y ago
I'm using 11CSciCalc on my MotoG7power. It's good (at least for keyboard layout and key-function -- haven't had occasion to try out its programmability for compatibility), but without the tactile feedback of the real buttons I have to visually monitor what actually gets entered, so I can't drop fully into the problem domain, not like I can with my HP11C. It's my HP41CV that basically never gets used. Back when, I wrote a program on it, 'ampsr', to calculate ideals and then find the closest standard-value matches for a three-resistor attenuator network used as the gain-and-offset control of an opamp amplifier; it took 16 minutes for my HP41CV to arrive at the answer, and that was just selecting among the E24 "5%" standard-value array. My later Perl version, by comparison, is all but instantaneous even working with the E96 array and running on a 400MHz box. The HP41CV's programmability was great for its era; not so much, now.
lscotte 6y ago
I've used RealCalc for a few years. I paid a few bucks for the "plus" version. It hasn't been updated in years, but that's fine with me because it just plain works.
- analog31 6y ago
  Same here. I have to sheepishly admit that I prefer infix notation, and RealCalc reminds me of the cheap Casio scientific calculators that I still use. The first thing I look for in a calculator is that you can enter numbers in scientific notation without hitting a Shift button.
callahad 6y ago
I'm very happy with CalcTastic, though it's not been updated since 2018 it still seems to work just fine. https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.shaytasticsoftware.calctasticfree https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.shaytastic...
cagey 6y ago
I've been using RpnCalc by Edward Falk on Android for many years without complaint. Last updated 2017.11.

RodgerTheGreat 6y ago

This is why I wrote a cell-phone-friendly frontend for my K interpreter: https://github.com/JohnEarnest/ok#mobile https://github.com/JohnEarnest/ok#mobile I agree, though- dedicated tactile buttons will always be nicer for a calculator.

7thaccount 6y ago
I'd love to have APL or K on a small calculator like the HP-15c just for the cool factor. With an SD card slot it would make for a really cool portable programming computer.
- FullyFunctional 6y ago
  The physical keys is why I still grab my 30ish year old HP-11C for quick experiments, however it's hard for me to phantom a good experience with K on a single line display. We'd probably be better off with a portrait form factor, roughly 1/3 display, 2/3 keyboard. Getting switches with the HP quality and feel is the biggest problem. EDIT: actually, porting oK to the DM41x might be the best option (putting stickers on remapped keys).
  - RodgerTheGreat 6y ago
    Closest I've come to that so far was getting oK running on a PocketCHIP. (Which is really just a matter of installing node and cloning the repo, thankfully.) The keyboard is less than stellar, but not too bad for trying little expressions.
    - FullyFunctional 6y ago
      I have an irrational reverence for my moderately modded PocketCHIP and pull it out every few months, but the keyboard is just truly awful. This is possibly a spiritual successor https://www.tindie.com/products/arturo182/keyboard-featherwing-qwerty-keyboard-26-lcd/ https://www.tindie.com/products/arturo182/keyboard-featherwi...
  - 6y ago