Sharp EL-506WBBK Scientific Calculator

by Sharp

Product Details

• Item Weight: 7.2 ounces
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Shipping: Currently, item can be shipped only within the U.S. and to APO/FPO addresses. For APO/FPO shipments, please check with the manufacturer regarding warranty and support issues.
• ASIN: B00027RVVW
• Item model number: EL-506WBBK
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (36 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank:
  • #36 in Electronics > Office Electronics > Calculators > Scientific
• Date first available at Amazon.com: September 4, 2004

Product Description

Color: Black

From the Manufacturer

This Sharp calculator, part of the Advanced D.A.L. series, is a scientific model that's ideal for high school students, college students, and professionals.

Features:

• Direct Algebraic Logic
• Extra large display
• 12-digit two-line display
• Multi-Line "playback"
• Differential and integral calculus functions
• 440 mathematical functions
• Protective hard case

What's in the Box
Calculator, hard case, battery, instruction manual, warranty and service information

Product Description

Sharp Electronic Scientific Calculator with new glass design, 440 functions, large display and direct algebraic logic (D.A.L) -input equations exactly as written

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

72 of 75 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Sharp finally did it!, November 2, 2004

By 

calc geek "Rickadeemus" (Wisconsin) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Sharp EL-506WBBK Scientific Calculator (Office Product)

Sharp has created the first serious mathematical tool for under $30. Note this is a greatly expanded version of the EL-506VB with a $5 price break thrown in for good measure.

Here are the things it CAN'T do:
1) Graphing
2) Programming (you can program formulas, but no conditional branching)
3) Symbolic Computer Algebra
4) Chi Squared distribution (it will do normal probabilities)
5) Huge matrices (you're limited to four 4x4 matrices)
6) THAT'S ABOUT IT!

Guess what? All those things are best done on a computer anyway. You can get a free copy of MuPad (for noncommercial use), and have far better functionality than any calculator at any price, plus get your output in a form easily shared over the internet. What Sharp has done with this calculator, is give us the ultimate tool to keep NEXT to your computer, or take with you for "outside the box" mathematical doodling.

440 functions (it says 469 on the box -- I'm not counting!) and all easily accessible without menus within menus within menus, ala those cludgy graphing calculators. Oh, there are a few modes and such, but believe me, everything is within a few logical keystrokes. You can spend 30 minutes with the manual, and then THROW IT AWAY.

They did so many little things right. For example, when you do need a menu, you can scroll through all the options with the cursor keys, OR, if you already know your way around, you can just hit one digit that corresponds to your function. And insert mode is the default mode, as God intended it to be. THANK YOU SHARP! The principle is simple: the default should be to preserve information, not destroy it. The user should have to do something deliberately, to overwrite data.

And they took this design out of the world of "toy" and into the realm of "tool" by keeping the calculation history intact through the on/off cycle. If the calculator shuts off in the middle of some earth shaking computation, you just flip it back on again and keep going where you left off.

The keys actually have a little tactile feedback on this calculator. Not like an hp-48, of course, or even a TI-89, but better than most under $30 calculators. And this is just the koolest LOOKING little thing to ever dazzle your eyeballs.

Here's a partial list of function types:
- Arithmetic
- Numeric differentiation/integration
- Four types of random numbers
- 8 memories plus last Answer memory
- 4 formula memories
- Fraction calculations
- Binary, Pental, Octal, Decimal and Hexadecimal base conversions
- Decimal to sexagesimal (time) conversions
- 52 physical constants
- 42 metric conversion
- Engineering notation
- Solve for x (Newton's method)
- Single variable statistics, with normal probabilities
- Linear, quadratic, exponential, logarithmic, power and inverse regressions
- Simultaneous linear equations
- Quadratic and cubic equation solvers
- Complex number calculations
- Matrices (four 4x4)
- Lists (up to four with 16 elements and various operations)

No doubt about it, this is a ground breaking, price shattering tool. I do have one little nit, though. I wish numbers would appear in the top line with the rest of the formula as you enter them. Putting them on the bottom line does two things: 1) It erases the results of the previous calculation (you might want to copy parts of it into the current formula while "doodling"). 2) It removes the numbers from all editing functions, except for last digit DEL. Eg. You can't use the arrow keys to go back and insert a missed digit without some unnecessary tomfoolery.

Oh, and it would be nice to have more memory, so you could input slightly larger matrices (10x10 would be nice), and keep a longer calculation history (maybe keep results as well as formulas?). But all in all, hats off to Sharp. Right now, this is the ONLY serious calculator under $30.

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An old friend revisited?, May 9, 2006

By 

Bob Manson (Berkeley, CA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Sharp EL-506WBBK Scientific Calculator (Office Product)

The EL-506WB is a neat little gadget which I would've loved to own back in high school 20 years ago. It's not a graphing calculator and isn't trying to be one, but it covers most of the other bases fairly well.

My first calculator was a Sharp EL-506S circa 1981. There are a few similarities between the two, but the 506S was a traditional single-line "on-the-fly algebraic" LCD. It had many of the same functions as the 506WB, including rudimentary SD calculations.

The 506WB is light-years beyond in many other respects. It features entry, editing and storage of formulas, has nine variables for temporary storage, supports 4x4 matrices, numerical integration, hex/octal/binary numbers, metric conversions, complex numbers, and a raft of other functions.

Physically the calculator is excellent. Large keys with a solid feel, crisp display, and the calculator just plain looks good. The dual-power feature is great, as it will work reliably in all lighting conditions. Formula editing is very convenient, it was easy to jump right in and start using it. The keyboard layout makes basic calculations convenient.

But it has a few problems, and in many ways it's a step back from a similar 1990s calculator, the TI-68. Sharp's D.A.L. feature is very useful but hobbled by the lack of a full alphanumeric keyboard. For example, conversions and constants are selected with two-digit numbers looked up in a manual, and matrix and list operations are chosen from a menu which causes function-like text to be entered into the current equation!

It also has poor support for non-decimal numbers. It can't mix non-decimal and decimal numbers in the same calculation; instead the user has to finish the current calculation, then switch modes to enter the new number in the appropriate base and continue from there. Ugly.

The TI-68 did these things correctly, but the TI-68 has been discontinued for several years, was much more expensive, and had other drawbacks. (In 1996 it cost over four times as much as the El-506WB does today and didn't have solar cells.) The modern Sharp series, like most modern scientifics, is made as cheaply as possible. It's easy to see why, there isn't a huge demand for advanced scientific calculators anymore.

So why did I give it five stars? For my needs it's quite usable and it would be difficult to do much better for the same money. I'd rather buy an inexpensive calculator which does 98% of what I want instead of spending a lot more for one which does 99.5%. And, not having an alphanumeric keyboard and multi-letter variable names makes many common operations easier and more convenient. It's much closer to a simple calculator, and that's exactly what I wanted it for.

If I'm trying to do complex calculations I'll use a computer; safer, faster, more accurate. I don't use matrices, metric conversions or physical constants very often, and the EL-506WB has all the main features I wanted: readable two-line display with algebraic formula entry and equation editing, reasonably fast numeric integration, solar cell power with battery backup, solid keyboard, and good overall design. The fact it has all these other functions is just a bonus.

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Convenient Functions and Easy to Use, July 31, 2000

By 

Kimberly A. Sodano (Tucson, AZ USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Sharp EL-506RB Scientific Calculator (Office Product)

I work as an Engineer and I find the 32 physical constants and the 32 conversions to be invaluable. I've looked and looked around at those graphing calculators that brag all sorts of fancy functions useful to Scientists and Engineers, yet none of them have the constants and conversions that so often come in handy! I have used the older EL 506L for several years now, and this new edition can't be beat with the new features such as: Formula Memory for storing customized formulas, Multi-line playback replays entered equations, Continuous Calculation function that allows user to keep the prior result for the next calculation, Constant calculation, Differential and Integral Calculus functions, and 2 variable statistics.

The buttons are a perfect size for most fingers, are easy to push, and even have a slight contour to fit the finger tips. Access to different functions are logically laid out and easy to find and access. This calculator boasts a total of 326 total functions, and is a fantastic value.

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