Best vintage calculator 2020.
1 – THY COLLECTIBLES Vintage-Style 13 Digits Rods Wooden Abacus Soroban Chinese Calculator Counting Tool 11″
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.The craftsmanship of the Abacus is VERY POOR, the dowel rods are not parallel to each other nor are they all the same thickness and some were warped. Furthermore, the staining is shoddy, not applied evenly and the glue/stain must have been applied to the abacus from a distance because of the “little blobs” on it LET THE BUYER BEWARE before purchasing this Abacus, at a cost of $11.00 .add some more dollars and purchase an Abacus of better Quality. The web picture is “deceiving!” .Good Luck! .
The abacus is large and high quality. The beads are also large and easy to use. However, the 4th column (the thousands column) has a support behind it that interferes with the beads and makes it slightly dysfunctional. I still like the abacus in spite of this flaw, though I will try to find a solution to it soon. .
3 sets of beads stuck together. .
very bad smell. .
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2 – THY COLLECTIBLES Vintage-Style 13 Rods Wooden Abacus Soroban Chinese Japanese Calculator Counting Tool w/ Reset Button 9.75″
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Would I buy again? Yes.I have a few styles of soroban laying around the house. The others were plastic and this was the first wooden soroban I purchased. I wanted one with the quick reset. After watching videos online of kids in Japan using them – and using them fast – I wanted to learn how they worked. As a bit of a math nerd, I figured it would be something fun. My man-hands tend to make mistakes with the smaller plastic ones I own, so this was a huge improvement. The wooden beads are easy to move and make it a lot harder to knock them out of place like the plastic ones. The one-touch reset is an awesome feature.As for learning the soroban, I found myself using a giant jug of change as a way to learn. Once I mastered the basic motions and learned how you’re supposed to move the beads, I was trying to find something useful to practice. I dumped out my giant jug of change I’ve accumulated over the years and started using the soroban to tally up the amounts. Grab a handful of change, count what’s in your hand, add it to the soroban, lather-rinse-repeat. It definitely helped for practice.If you have an interest in learning something new or figuring out “how” these old-world tools work, definitely pick one of these up. .
As a decorative piece, this abacus barely functions. Forget using it for its intended purpose. It’s designed to lay down on rubber feet but as soon as you slide a bead, every other bead on the device slides as well. Worse, you can’t use the abacus vertically because the beads won’t stay in place. Just a light jostle is enough to send beads skittering up and down posts. Adding insult to injury, while the reset lever does reset the beads, as soon as you let go, the recoil pops the beads back out of zero.This is meant to be displayed, maybe, and never touched. .
I looked at a lot of these before buying this one. Thought I’d have to settle for a plastic model based on the amount of money I was willing to spend on my first abacus. I have never used one before and didn’t want to invest a lot in something I was going to use to learn on. Turns out this abacus is a beauty! It’s wooden, has a reset level, and is just the right size. The only drawback is that it didn’t come in a box. It was shipped in a padded envelope wrapped in bubble wrap. I have since converted an empty paint box kit into a carrying case for my abacus. .
The package arrived earlier than expected. Easy to use, but not flawlessly made. Varnish is a bit uneven at the back. My reset button is a bit bent to the right, however it functions without any problem. This abacus is certainly sturdy, such aesthetic problems does not interfere with why I bought this product. It is portable and quality corresponds with value. 🙂 .
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3 – Texas Instruments Profit Manager BA-20 Desktop Calculator
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This is a great looking calculator and a nicely sized small desktop unit. I bought it for home use. The problem is that it is solar powered only and only under bright light conditions will it work. At home, the calculator will not work or barely display unless directly under a light.Update 11/04/12. I took it to the office and under standard office light, it works perfectly fine. The digits on the display are dark and crisp. I moved my rating to 3 stars. If it worked better under less than ideal lighting, I would rate it a 5. .
I had the old Beige and Brown version of this Calculator for over 10 years with no issues. It was destroyed when we moved offices. I was really bummed out. Thankfully, there is a bright new silver shiny version that is in the exact same layout as my original BA-20 from 15 years ago. Thanks Texas Instruments for keeping this life saver around!!! .
I purchased this without paying attention to the fact that it is only solar powered – does not have a battery back up. It requires a lot of light to use. —- a lot of time it is on but I can’t read the screen. I like the layout of the calculator and would like to be able to use it more but because my apartment does not have a lot of natural light nor do I keep it lit up like an office would be I often cannot use it, especially in the area that I study in. .
From what I have found if one is considering this calculator, one must ensure that direct sunlight or strong indoor lighting is present at ALL times, otherwise its operation is pretty much useless. Possibly this calculator relies on its photoelectric cell only for power and has no backup or otherwise. It is being donated to the thrift store. Beware. .
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4 – Texas Instruments TI-30X Solar Powered Scientific Calculator
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5 – Vintage Style Wooden Abacus Soroban 15 Column(13.7 in) Professional Abacus Math for Adults Kids Math with Guide Handbook and Reset Button, Anti-Skid Rubber Feet
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The abacus is a gift, which is a good thing, since I can’t figure out how it works. But it comes with a manual, so that’s good! .
This is the best quality of all the economy abacuses I found on Amazon. If you don’t want to pay more than $25, this is the best one to get. I like everything about it EXCEPT for just one thing. When they applied the varnish to the abacus, they didn’t finish applying it to the inner sections that you can clearly see, and where they stopped applying it, it was “drippy” looking. They could’ve done a much better job with that. Other than that, I am very happy with it. .
Good and strong material. .
Better than average workmanship, nice beads, reset is great and rubber feet make it stable. .
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~~ best calculators ,
Best vintage calculator 2020.
Best vintage calculator 2020.