Well, those of you who have read one of my earlier reviews would surely know that I own a Casio calculator and definitely it is the best around. But before owning that masterpiece, I had an Indian Calci. Yes, I had an Orpat fx-100D and well, it stayed with me for just 6 months. Now, I would like to look into this calculator's features and share some experiences and help you decide on this. So read on.
When I joined my Engineering course, my seniors said that calculators are a must and so I went to the market and that shopkeeper foxed me really. He said that Orpat was the best brand around and somehow he made me buy Orpat fx-100D. Aha!! There started my journey with this Calci.
First of all the features looked really lucrative. I was drawn into it really.
10 digit LCD display for number and designated function.
Storage of 6 operations and parenthesis up to 15 continuous levels.
8 digit mantissa and 2 digit exponent with signs.
Independent accumulating memory.
Binary, Octal and hexadecimal calculations.
Mutual Conversion and calculation in arithmetic among binary, octal, decimal and hexadecimal.
Complex number calculations.
Logarithmic conversions.
Squares and square roots.
Auto power off after 7-8 minutes.
Now anybody would say that these features are really good. But in fact, they aren't.
The so-called 10 digit LCD display is unfortunately common for both input and output. So you are caught off-guard when you commit an error in manipulation. The basic fault lies in the fact that the Calculator doesn’t have a 2-tier display of both input and output. Coming to the 15 level parentheses, it is rather confusing for us to remember the number of brackets used because they are not displayed. A big let down. Well, the mantissa and exponent signs are very confusing. They might well lead you in the wrong direction.
Memory capacity is very poor. You can in no way store 4 or 5 numbers simultaneously. I don't know, what it means by independent accumulating memory. Above all, the poorest aspect of this calculator, is the binary, octal and hexadecimal conversional calculations. Never have I found the correct conversion. Somehow, the usage of keys for manipulation in unconventional. Mutual conversions like polar to rectangular are not possible directly. This is rather irritating.
Though this calculator has more functions like complex numbers up its sleeve, it looses on many a count. The keys, are very fragile and easily breakable. More so, they are not case sensitive. Definitely, they'll let you down in crunch situations. Here I should share an experience of mine.
It was my Physics Test and I had to carry Orpat for calculations. Man, I had a bad time. I am just not getting the correct answers in powers. And when I try to store multiple numbers, it just won’t store. Hmm, thank goodness, there was my friend who had a Casio. I was saved.
So, the keys are not good. Memory is very much insufficient. Functions are not lucrative performance wise. The display is the poorest you can find. You might ask as to what else it can lack. Well here we go again.
The calculator doesn’t convince me in standard deviation calculations. And the calculator case!! My goodness. It is pathetic. You drop the Calci once and yeah! You should forget it. Such is the fragility.
Working on a AA size batty, this calculator is not worthy at all. It is better if it occupies the comforts of a shopkeeper's showcase rather than with you. Well, if you still can’t believe me, I can always give mine to you and you'll find the difference. While the Casio fx-82TL is an Engineering student's dream, the Orpat fx-100D is his worst nightmare. Hence, I don’t recommend this product to anybody, come what may.
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