Time for another Mini Mail - and this one is long overdue. Enjoy!
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By Fran

14 thoughts on “Mini mail #2 – vintage calculator collection!”
  1. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars Adam Chess says:

    That was so enjoyable to watch, there must be something wrong with me.

  2. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars Douglas2 Lee says:

    Zebra strips…..(in SOME cases).

  3. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars BerkeleyGang says:

    Interesting that there were so few "Scientific" calculators. I guess Engineers and Quality Assurance Specialists had more mundane computational tasks, even back then, and even on something as advanced as the Apollo program. Probably needed to have big stacks of 17" wide tractor fed computer printouts, just as I had to turn in for my college computer classes during the 80s. (My FORTRAN class was the first at my school to transition from punch cards to teletypes).

  4. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars Martin Schultz says:

    I was hunting for something else and found my TI programmable 58C I got senior year of high school. Plugged in the charger and got random segments. Popped out the NiCd battery pack and it had leaked badly. Good thing was most of the salt had stayed in the plastic case for the pack, only a little had wicked out through the contacts onto the circuit board. Was able to clean it and no tracks were eaten away. It won't run on the charger without a battery, but I found that an electrolytic cap can simulate a battery well enough to get it to work. And it seems to function properly so yay! I forgot how cool looking those old LEDs with the very thin segments were. I also forgot how dim those were, bright LED lights on the bench swamp out the calculator display. Battery pack was welded plastic so had to cut it in half so I could put the back of the calculator back on without the leaky cells. Maybe I'll design and 3D print a holder for some NiMH batts so it can be used normally again.

  5. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars Azrael says:

    I see, my dad used to use calculators with VFD display, never knew until now, remembering it feels so nostalgic

  6. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars Roger H Werner says:

    Looking at that TI calculator brought back memories of my first calculator. My mother bought me a TI scientific calculator when I was at university, must have been 1970. It had a red plastic lens, with a cream colored main body and a darker top around the LCD display. To think that today my tablet has a thousand times or more power of my first 1983 desk top computer (CPM operating system, single sided single density floppies with no hard drive), which had a lot more memory and power than my 1981 HP typewriter with 24 kb of memory. I still used that old TI in the early 80s and yes the LCD display was drying out. Not sure what happened to it but it's long gone. My mobile phone has a calculator these days! Nice video as always!!

  7. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars Lynnette Li says:

    Absolutely enjoyed this video. With every unboxing, there is a thrill of what’s inside and what condition the calculator is in. Thank you for sharing this movement.

  8. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars Bill Cosgrave says:

    I probably have over a dozen calculators. Always looking for the perfect one

  9. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars David White says:

    Fran your odd in lovely way.

  10. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars cafar yukeri says:

    If you like vintage calculator. You can find real-looking emulators of various calculators from 1970s to 2020s on my Youtube channel and download them for free.

  11. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars saturnSeven says:

    Omg i wish i had these …

  12. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars TopTen says:

    Hi, yes, as I have seen vintage calculator collection, I have two HP Hewlett Packard 45 and HP 65, if you are interested?

  13. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars Nero Gaming says:

    Nice video 😎😎

  14. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars Carl Lewis says:

    Our secutary whom has been with us for over 40 years threatened to quit when her day 1 vintage calculator finally gave up. I went online and found a new old stock one! Now, her day 1 chair that has been reupholstered twice is falling apart.

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