Heft
#1

I have been working with Joerg Woerner on an SR-52 issue and visited the SR-52 site in his DataMath Museum. Among other things I found statements such as

Quote:
If you call the SR-52 a pocket calculator you need really huge pockets.

By the way, the SR-52 was the thickest calculator ever with a whooping 1.8".

If you are interested in "huge pocket calculators" you should view the Canon Palmtronic F-7.


While looking through my collection for other large pocket calculators I stumbled on the the Sanyo ICC 807D which has about the same volume as the SR-52 but which feels much heavier in my hand. There have been frequent threads in this forum discussing things such as form factors, how the calculator feels in one's hand, etc., but I don't recall any that addressed the density of the calculator which is, I think, what heft is all about. So here is my challenge:

The Sanyo ICC 807D has a weight of about 15 ounces and a volume of about 23 cubic inches yielding a density of about 0.652 ounces per cubic inch. Does anyone know of a more dense handheld calculator?

Later in this thread Katie noted that my weight seemed low and asked if my unit had batteries installed. Oops!

Edited: 20 Nov 2009, 1:02 a.m. after one or more responses were posted

#2

Good morning!

Quote:
Does anyone know of a more dense handheld calculator?

I have no scales and rulers that measure in "oz." an "in." (and have so far been unable to figure out how the "units" function of the HP48 works), therefore I cannot provide any numbers for comparison, but I can offer a few candidates.

This little no-name titanium coloured currency converter must be the most dense calculator in my collection:

Subjectively, it feels like a piece of matter ejected from a neutron star. Mass and dimensions (the thickness is difficult to measure because it has an airfoil shape) are 200g 11,5 x 4,7 x 0,8 cm^3. This results in a density of 4,65 g/cm^3 which is almost equal to that of the titanium that it mimicks.

Two other calculators with above-average density are the Aristo M27 (one of my three top favorites, it is bareley larger than the five AA batteries that it holds and feels very solid, but figures from the internet give a density of only 1,5 g/cm^3) and the silver-plated Sinclair Sovereign.

And the most likely candidate from HP would be the HP-01 although I do not want to immerge mine in water to determine its volume.

Greetings, Max

#3

The ICC-807D and it's identical cousin the ICC-810 sure have a lot of heft. Although I haven't calculated it, I'll bet that the Sinclair Sovereigns come close in density. The Canon Pocketronic is no slouch in this area either. If you want to talk "big" and "heavy" battery powered monsters (no pocket I know will hold them) what about all the Compucorp/Monroe 300 series beasts. I think that the only possible candidate from HP would be the '01' watch.

-Katie

#4

Hi!

I'm on standby today and have the time to take some measurements...

Quote:
I'll bet that the Sinclair Sovereigns come close in density.

Black Sovereign (unfortunately, I don't have a silver plated one (yet...)): mass=88g (with batteries), volume=62cm^3, density=1,41 g/cm^3

Quote:
If you want to talk "big" and "heavy" battery powered monsters (no pocket I know will hold them) what about all the Compucorp/Monroe 300 series beasts

Size and weight are misleading here: I just took the measurements of a Compucorp 324G Scientinst. Mass=1674g (including the four original NiCd D-size cells!), volume=1552cm^3, density=1,07g/cm^3. It almost swims on water!

So my heavy-metal calculator from the post above still "outperforms" the closest competitor by a factor of three.

Greetings, Max

#5

Hi Max,

Quote:
I have no scales and rulers that measure in "oz." an "in." (and have so far been unable to figure out how the "units" function of the HP48 works), therefore I cannot provide any numbers for comparison, but I can offer a few candidates.

The HP48G does not have density conversion (that I can find anyway). However, it has mass & volume conversions: 1 oz = 28.3495 g and 1 in^3 = 16.387 cm^3.
this gives a conversion of 1 oz/in^3 = 1.73 g/cm^3.

As you have given many measurements in g/cm^3 it is easier to convert Palmer's 1 measurement:
0.652 oz/in^3 = 1.128 g/cm^3
#6

left shift UNITS > CONV or UBASE

The 48 does a great job here.

#7

So would density be the only measurement of "hefty"? A lead ingot of 8cmx3cmx3cm (~800g) could be described as hefty, but a small lead fishing weight (10 - 50g) probably not. So perhaps there's a minimum size and/or weight? Perhaps from "bigger than Voyager size" and "1/4 kg and up"? Max's titanium calculator being an exception, as although still less than half the weight of Palmer's Sanyo ICC 807D, the small size belies it's weight and will surprise many an unwary person picking it up for the first time!

#8

So, does it mean that the calculation results from high desity calculators carry more weight than the low density calculators?

Only kidding :)

#9

Quote:
And the most likely candidate from HP would be the HP-01 although I do not want to immerge mine in water to determine its volume.

Put it in oil then ;-)

I have approximated density of a metal slide rule ;-) and the Casio fx-190 (a ruler shaped programmable) and both only go up to 1.9g/cm^3 and 1.6 g/cm^3 respectively.

#10

Max,

I took some measurements too.......

Quote:
Black Sovereign (unfortunately, I don't have a silver plated one (yet...)): mass=88g (with batteries), volume=62cm^3, density=1,41 g/cm^3

The gold one weights in at 92.7 g batteries included and I measure it at 65 cm^3 --> a slightly different density of 1.426 g/cm^3

My Sanyo ICC-807D is 430cm^3 and weights 531g (18.7 oz are the batteries in yours Palmer?) --> 1.221g/cm^3

So the Sovereign is the winner.

-Katie

#11

How about a 19C with a full roll of paper!!? :)

#12

I don't see a difference between "density" and volume/weight.

Being of low math status would someone kindly explain?

Thanks

Charlie - Phoenix,AZ USA

#13

Hi Charlie. Density = mass / volume. I hope that this helps.


Regards,


John

#14

Quote:
My Sanyo ICC-807D is 430cm^3 and weights 531g (18.7 oz are the batteries in yours Palmer?) --> 1.221g/cm^3

Oops!

I don't have my collection here but my recollection is that the Cybernet 6PD has a lot of heft. But it has a printer. I have three of them but haven't been able to get one to work.

#15

Quote:
I have approximated density of a metal slide rule ;-) and the Casio fx-190 (a ruler shaped programmable) and both only go up to 1.9g/cm^3 and 1.6 g/cm^3 respectively.

If we go past metal slide rules to mechanical calculators I note that the Friden's we used in the early sixties really had a lot of heft -- backbreaking, if you had to move them -- but of course no one considered them to be portable.

A fairly heavy portable calculator is the Addometer made by the Reliable Typewriter and Adding machine Co. and that was for onnly addition and subtraction. One of my three has the right hand wheel working with eighths not tenths.

#16

Good morning!

Quote:
So would density be the only measurement of "hefty"?

Difficult to say (and even more difficult for me, because in german there is no exact translation for "hefty"). I think the whole topic is about subjective expectation based on experience. After years or decades of handling calculators, one expects a certain sensory feedback when touching/picking up such an object. A pleasant surprise, if it is "heftier" than expected and an unpleasant one, if it gives a "plasticky" sensation (like the awful HP Quick Calc that looks like a solid metal object, but feels like hollow plastic with a keyboard, that even Ti would be ashamed of...).

So probaly the objectively measurable physical property "density" comes closest to the subjective "heftiness". And as we have seen, calculators with a density of 0.652 ounces per cubic inch or about 1,5g/cm^3 (=1 1/2 times the density of water) produce a sensation of heftiness. Others like the Compucorpses are not very dense (they would float on salt water!), but they are heavy objects - heavy enough for the designers to have given them a carrying handle - and therefore also cosidered "hefty".

Greetings, Max

NB: If DaveJ follows this thread: I would very much wish that his uCalc be a "hefty" calculator :-)

NNB: Another candidate for the group of hefty calculators might be the Berkey Keystone 350 (I only got mine this week from "typenkorb" and have not taken measurements yet). It feels very hefty, probably due to the large voltage converter needed to drive the Panaplex display (ah! Panaplex - the best display ever made!).



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