Question
What is the best financial services calculator?
I ask this because I realised that it was not just my skills that had gone a bit rusty but my trusty old calculator had too : killed by a leaking battery. I liked this calculator because it would compound up easily for me (eg: 1.04 * 10000 = 10400 and every time "=" was pressed it compounded it up. I tried my other very old basic caculators and found that unfortunately they did not respond to further "=" signs being pressed. So time to buy a new one
The question of the BIDMAS problem is also relevant in the choice of a new instrument. When I mentioned this to friends they scoffed maintaining that the basic structure of maths had been the same for centuries and that any equations would be unaffected.However when I emailed the problem "48/2(9+3)= " it was agreed that there was an ambiguity. So it was time to try a solar calculator from the early 1990s (a Texas Instruments TI-36X Solar) . Unfortunately its display would not accept the equation. So basically I am looking around for a calculator that compounds up easily with a display that will accept equations like the one above. Will this be easy to find with or without a solar option? Are calculators still used by the financial services industry?Answer
I'm afraid I'm probably not the best person to ask, as I've long since ditched my scientific calculator in favour of using a spreadsheet on my computer or the calculators I've built on this site.
If you have a spreadsheet program on your computer I'd strongly urge you to give that a go (if you haven't already) as I find it a lot easier to use than a tiny calculator screen. If you don't have a spreadsheet then there are a number of free options available, including Open Office Calc and IBM Lotus Symphony.
But if you prefer the convenience of a hand held calculator then the Casio FX-83GT Plus could be worth a look - it seems to have a screen that facilitates entering equations and retails for around £10 or less. However, I haven't used one so can't vouch for whether pressing the '=' button compounds (strange if modern calculators don't, as I remember pretty much all calculators doing this when I was a kid).
As for the question of whether the financial services industry still uses calculators, I'm sure some do but I think the majority tend to use spreadsheets or their employer's custom built software (or don't bother with maths at all, which is worrying...).
What is the best financial services calculator?
I ask this because I realised that it was not just my skills that had gone a bit rusty but my trusty old calculator had too : killed by a leaking battery. I liked this calculator because it would compound up easily for me (eg: 1.04 * 10000 = 10400 and every time "=" was pressed it compounded it up. I tried my other very old basic caculators and found that unfortunately they did not respond to further "=" signs being pressed. So time to buy a new one
The question of the BIDMAS problem is also relevant in the choice of a new instrument. When I mentioned this to friends they scoffed maintaining that the basic structure of maths had been the same for centuries and that any equations would be unaffected.However when I emailed the problem "48/2(9+3)= " it was agreed that there was an ambiguity. So it was time to try a solar calculator from the early 1990s (a Texas Instruments TI-36X Solar) . Unfortunately its display would not accept the equation. So basically I am looking around for a calculator that compounds up easily with a display that will accept equations like the one above. Will this be easy to find with or without a solar option? Are calculators still used by the financial services industry?Answer
I'm afraid I'm probably not the best person to ask, as I've long since ditched my scientific calculator in favour of using a spreadsheet on my computer or the calculators I've built on this site.
If you have a spreadsheet program on your computer I'd strongly urge you to give that a go (if you haven't already) as I find it a lot easier to use than a tiny calculator screen. If you don't have a spreadsheet then there are a number of free options available, including Open Office Calc and IBM Lotus Symphony.
But if you prefer the convenience of a hand held calculator then the Casio FX-83GT Plus could be worth a look - it seems to have a screen that facilitates entering equations and retails for around £10 or less. However, I haven't used one so can't vouch for whether pressing the '=' button compounds (strange if modern calculators don't, as I remember pretty much all calculators doing this when I was a kid).
As for the question of whether the financial services industry still uses calculators, I'm sure some do but I think the majority tend to use spreadsheets or their employer's custom built software (or don't bother with maths at all, which is worrying...).
Read this Q and A at http://www.candidmoney.com/questions/question506.aspx
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