Casio FX-991EX ClassWiz Scientific Calculator

[Technobabble_]

(This is my opinion. Your mileage may vary).

The buttons are incredibly shallow and mushy and don't inspire confidence. I tried using it for an hour and I couldn't get used to the feel. Were all Casio's like this? On the other hand, the black matte textured front feels nice.

For kicks and giggles, I opened it up. Image attached.

[Specmaster]

(This is my opinion. Your mileage may vary).

The buttons are incredibly shallow and mushy and don't inspire confidence. I tried using it for an hour and I couldn't get used to the feel. Were all Casio's like this? On the other hand, the black matte textured front feels nice.

For kicks and giggles, I opened it up. Image attached.

Yes I think all Casios had the same button feel which I quite like TBH

[EEVblog]

[Mortymore]

I have both of those models at home.
The latest EX I gave it to my wife and like Dave it was ordered from some indian Ebay seller when I first saw the Classwiz, and now it's my wife favourite calculator. The EX is much faster that any other calculator I have. Later I bought an fx-82ex for my daughter as an upgrade from an HP 10s.
About the keyboard... they seem all pretty much alike this days as far as I can tell, but I miss my FX-5000f with it's rubber keys, that I used when I started to learn electronics. I just lost the track of that calculator 

The Classwiz calculators may feel a bit like cheap plastic, but they are great calculators, and for sure some of the fastest in what they do. (if not the fastest)

[bd139]

The 991ex is pretty good IMHO but I had a button failure on mine. Amazon replaced it instantly so not a big deal. I don’t use it TBH because my daily driver is an HP35s which is waaaay more powerful.

This line of calculators is standard issue in UK schools at the moment and you don’t get any complaints.

[Shock]

The best Casio keys in my opinion were the hard plastic ones of the 80s. The newer models always seem to have a couple of design flaws that affect usability.

[voltsandjolts]

TI-85 eats Casio toys for lunch 

[bd139]

TI-85 eats Casio toys for lunch 

Horrid screen. Fixed in TI-86

[gildasd]

TI-85 eats Casio toys for lunch 

Horrid screen. Fixed in TI-86

Cough, Ti-89/92, cough.

[bd139]

If we’re going down that route, HP50G 

[Mortymore]

TI-85 eats Casio toys for lunch 

Horrid screen. Fixed in TI-86

Cough, Ti-89/92, cough.

Casio FX-991EX ClassWiz is a Scientific Calculator not a graphing calculator.

Like multimeters and oscilloscopes, both measure voltage, but you wouldn't mixed em up, right? 

[2N3055]

TI-85 eats Casio toys for lunch 

Horrid screen. Fixed in TI-86

Cough, Ti-89/92, cough.

Casio FX-991EX ClassWiz is a Scientific Calculator not a graphing calculator.

Like multimeters and oscilloscopes, both measure voltage, but you wouldn't mixed em up, right? 

And also Casio is 20 USD.  Best price performance there is.

You bet your ass Porsche is nicer than Clio Sport. But in reality they are equally fast point A to point B. Road conditions, traffic and average persons driving skills will take care of that.

[bd139]

Like multimeters and oscilloscopes, both measure voltage, but you wouldn't mixed em up, right? 

[Mortymore]

Very funny of you, but I'm sure you know what I mean.

PS: TO-126... TO-3 understood 

[rsjsouza]

The best Casio keys in my opinion were the hard plastic ones of the 80s. The newer models always seem to have a couple of design flaws that affect usability.

I have a few late 1970s and early 1980s Casios with the same buttons and their resistive membrane becomes very brittle and breaks, turning the calculator into a brick. I personally don't see many being sold in the used market anymore when compared to TIs and HPs, perhaps suggesting these models didn't age well.

TI-85 eats Casio toys for lunch 

Horrid screen. Fixed in TI-86

Cough, Ti-89/92, cough.

Casio FX-991EX ClassWiz is a Scientific Calculator not a graphing calculator.

Like multimeters and oscilloscopes, both measure voltage, but you wouldn't mixed em up, right? 

And also Casio is 20 USD.  Best price performance there is.

You bet your ass Porsche is nicer than Clio Sport. But in reality they are equally fast point A to point B. Road conditions, traffic and average persons driving skills will take care of that.

At this level of scientific calculator, I find them all pretty much the same, both in display and in tactile fell - the HP35S, which I find well above average in terms of keypress feel and quality, is my daily driver. However I don't use it for scientific but base conversion instead

I disliked the low contrast display of my former TI89 Platinum, even when compared to the graphical HP48SX/GX. The Casios and HPs are much better.

[2N3055]

My FX-61 is still going strong. One thing that shows time passage is plastic etui. Calculator itself not really. It's 198-something vintage so quite old.

[Technobabble_]

Yes I think all Casios had the same button feel which I quite like TBH

Ah well  . My fx-9750G-II isn't winning any rewards, but at least the button feel is acceptable.

Is there a new scientific calculator with non-mushy keys that anyone recommends? My TI-30x is great, but I don't like the single line display. Anybody can comment on the keys for the TI-36X pro?

[bd139]

HP35s

And yes it has a normal entry mode for lamers

[rrinker]

 My favorite is still my Radio Shack rebrand of the Casio FX-451m, with the scientific and engineering constants built in plus all the programming features like base conversion and logical operations, it was absolutely perfect for what I did. I used that the last 2 or 3 years of college, and then I kept using it as my go-to calculator right up until somewhere around 1994 when my older son who was about 3 at the time managed to get hold of it and 'hid' it - inside a bedside lamp with a 100 watt bulb in it. Melted right through the foldable side and destroyed all the keys on that side.

[Specmaster]

Out of all the calculators I own, here is my outstanding favourite, Commodore SR4912 which I used during my college days and is still in daily use and working perfectly after 54 years, never failed once during that or had a battery leak, buttons are nicely sprung and silent, not at all clunky some are especially the HP ones of that era and it uses a 9v battery whereas the HP ones and many other use AA cells and all the HP AA powered calculators I have and know of have all at some point suffered from leaking batteries.

[rrinker]

I did not think I was actually very OCD at all, but those tilted buttons...ack!

[rsjsouza]

I did not think I was actually very OCD at all, but those tilted buttons...ack!

Funny you mentioned that... That put me off as well.

[Specmaster]

I did not think I was actually very OCD at all, but those tilted buttons...ack!

Haha, well to be fair it's had about 46 years of wear and tear and its still going strong (I was wrong about it being 54 years old) so I don't think it doing bad at all in that case.

[Mortymore]

Haha, well to be fair it's had about 46 years of wear and tear and its still going strong (I was wrong about it being 54 years old) so I don't think it doing bad at all in that case.

I think the first pocket calculator hit the market around 1971.

EDIT: Commodore SR4912