Calculators are an integral part of any engineering student. Without a calculator an engineer is like Indian Cricket without Sachin Tendulkar. I mean, such is the dependence of we people on engineering calculators. They are necessary for us, day in day out. Actually there were times when bringing a calculator to the classroom was a taboo. I remember those days when I stealthily used to go up to my father’s table and take his calculator out and do some addition-subtraction and be amazed. But there is no question whatsoever here. In an engineering college (atleast in our college) students are not allowed into the class if they fail to bring a calculator.
And I feel there is nothing wrong in their viewpoint too. See, you have Physics, Maths, and Mechanics which desparately need calculators. In the syllabus, there is not a single book that doesn’t have problems and come problems, you need a calculator. Therefore calculators have become an ultimate necessity for anybody who is pursuing an engineering course.
Thinking of buying an engineering calculator? You are wrong here. You should always think of buying a Casio, because Casio indirectly means an engineering calculator. Well, I might be confusing a few out here, let me clear it. By this I mean that Casio has so overwhelmingly established itself in this field of Calculators and Digital Diaries that you don’t get to even think of any other company other than Casio in India. The major reason for its success is the user friendly nature of the calculators. One such master product from Casio is the calculator I am going to introduce to you. This is a Casio fx-85 W, which is a high-end engineering calculator that is equipped with so many functions that leaves one awestruck. Let me put in some more of this product.
The Casio fx-85 W comes with a design that is so very similar to that of the Casio fx-82 TL. The only difference lies in the arrangement of keys. The placement of keys is different out here. Made with a strong durable fiber plastic, the calci comes with a scratch proof case. The plastic keys are neatly designed and are case sensitive. What is more impressive is the Replay mode which displays the previously done problem. On the whole the design of the calculator is wonderful and hence it is light and easy to carry around.
The calculator has some seriously remarkable functions. Firstly the calculator like any others, can perform the basic mathematical operations like addition, division etc. Then, the calculator is capable of performing the following functions with aplomb.
Trigonometric calculations
Hyperbolic functions
Engineering power dispersion
Squares, cubes, square roots and cube roots.
Representation of angles in degrees, grads and radians.
Inverse trigonometric functions
Co-ordinate conversions.
Fractions, logarithmic and exponential calculations.
Standard deviation
Linear Regression(with 6 modes)
If you thought that was it then maybe you should think again. The reason why this calculator is preferred to fx-82 TL is that this calculator has the Logical operators. Yes, this calculator is capable of performing Base-n calculations. It converts and displays numbers in four forms namely, Decimal, Octal, Binary and Hexadecimal. This proves to be really useful when we go for studying the basic electronics subject. Then there are binary logic too incorporated using which we can calculate the AND, OR, XOR logics.
The most bright part of this calculator is that it has a formula memory. Many times, in lab experiments we would use the same formula again and again for different values. Using this calculator, you can as well store a formula at a time and keep giving it different values to get your answers quickly. This gives you an added advantage. So the calculator is capable of performing more functions and hence definitely is superior to fx-82 TL.
The memory of the calculator is more or less the same as that of Casio fx-82TL. With a 9-number memory, I feel it’ll satisfy the needs of an average engineering student. The processing speed is definitely awesome. One can certainly rely on the speed of this calculator and so this would enable us to do calculations all the more quicker. I would say, the processing is definitely quicker than that in fx-82 TL.
The reason I am comparing the Casio fx-85W to fx-82TL is because both the calculators fall under the same category. Yet, this calculator has an edge over the later. Therefore, if one is left to choose between the two, I would have preferred fx-85W. But, I own fx-82 TL and I am sentimental about it. Certainly it is inferior to the model in discussion and so it is better to go for the better one. So if you are in a quandry and are unable to decide on which to buy, I would strongly recommend the Casio fx-85W because this is one calculator that’ll comprehensively satisfy an engineering student’s needs. So go for it.