22.3.2013

Casio calculators have been a great benchmark for many years unless you're an advocate of HPs with reverse polish logic-I never got to grips with that, and have used Casios for over thirty years. Texas Instruments devices I've had access to haven't been relevant since the early TI30 was thrashed by the Commodore 9190 over thirty years ago (where are Commodore now ?), and Sharp occasionally produce a passable Casio-like device. I use a Casio 9700 graphics (at least fifteen years old) most of the time, but this is a very good back up, ideal for exams where I can't use a programmable and has been ideal for my children's schoolwork.Lots of really good functionality and presentation ability.It overcomes a serious problem of logic- which I admit Casio disputed- with its predecessor, where 10/3Pi came out at about 10, by dint of its inserting an imaginary * between the 3 and the pi to give 10/3*pi or (10/3)*pi, or about ten. In fact, it should have inserted parentheses to give 10/(3*pi) or about 1. Be warned ! Now one of my standard checks if I'm presented with a random calculator anywhere. Thankfully, the GT plus has overcome this, and gives the right answer, otherwise it would get -69! stars.As it is, a really good little product. Maybe I'd like a bigger battery but the solar cell is really effective and so this hasn't been a problem.Oho ! Now I see some people are struggling with the Calculator's logic. Well, there's an easy answer to that- calculators have used at least five different logics over the years; I've owned ones with four, avoiding RPN. The trick is to see what it does and understand what you're doing; also, read the manual, and have an expectation of the answer; most errors are obvious. Obey its rules of logic, and any calculator will give you the right answer; they may differ in the number of times you have to store answers and have another run at calculating. Push buttons without understanding and you will fail on any calculator. Which was where the earlier version of this and I fell out because my current and last Casios and an old backup Sharp follow this logic, which is the nearest to the methods I have used myself as a practising engineer for over thirty years and teaching at postgraduate level. Just as with any formula; if you cannot understand it, you are not qualified to use it.Similarly, the fractions issue. I tried setting this to give decimal answers first, and it does so; it's easy. Trivial. However, there are so many applications where finding out that the answer is rational is useful that I switched it back and put up with the 20 millisecond penalty of sometimes needing to press S-D. It is just so simple.I'm surprised people haven't winged about the behaviour of the % key-those can always trip you. Totally unnecessary items, however.As is usually the case, if the calculator is beyond your capabilities, it's not the calculator's fault. I would not attempt to programme a Kray or drive a Bugatti Veyron to its limits, because I have some idea of my own limits. For what they are intended, both of those are superb devices, if, in the case of the Veyron, more than a tad ridiculous.Conclusion-if you should be using a scientific calculator, ignore the reviews below three stars.

22.9.2010

About 4 months ago, I decided that my previous calculator needed updating (quite an old Casio model) & wanted to find a scientific calculator suited to A level examinations. Although i must admit, the Casio FX-85GTPLUS was not the calculator I originally wanted to go for. I ended up buying the Casio FX-85ES after reading various reviews & the price was very reasonable. However, I received through the post the Casio FX-85GTPLUS model instead...Emailed the company I bought it from, & they explained that the FX-85ES model was discontinued/out of stock.I decided to keep this calculator and boy am I glad I did!Firstly, I found the calculator very easy to use...

7.11.2010

I bought this to help me with statistics and found that the calculator is able to do the job very well. My issue with it is it's design. It is not obvious which keys refer to standard deviation, mean etc so you can spend a long time wondering what to do or end up reading the manual several timed over. For example, there is no button to make the result negative (I can't find it even now); no quick guide printed on the calculator case - unlike other Casio models; it took me over an hour to work out how to get me answer in decimal format rather than represented as a fraction - even with the manual in front of me.Overall it's functions, when you can find them, are very good. It feels of good quality.

2.11.2011

"A Prime number is a natural number that has exactly two (distinct) natural number divisors. For example, enter the value 10 e.g. 10 = 2 x 5 and the calculator provides the relevant two number answer."Obviously 10 is NOT a prime number, so what went wrong here? Somebody overlooked the significance of the word "exactly" in the above definition of a prime number; it should be taken literally, so "exactly two divisors" means 2 divisors, not more, not fewer.We can see than 10 has exactly 4 divisors: 1, 2, 5, 10.Exactly four divisors is not exactly two divisors, hence 10 is not a prime number.In the example quoted above the calculator has returned the prime factors of 10 (of which there are two).

23.7.2015

Having school aged children studying maths a calculator is a necessity. Our son's entire class seems to have standardised on this calculator.It is robust enough to take a beating at the bottom of a school bag and yet continue to work. It is fairly straightforward to use - however I would recommend keeping the manual and particularly remembering the key presses to reset the calculator - as I promise one day you will find your child has set it to work in radians or something and can't work out why he or she is getting funny answers.Secondly label both the body and the cover - and inspite of that it is more than likely that over the course of a year the children in your child's class will manage

23.4.2012

I'm old enough to remember my maths teacher, in the 1970s, showing us his newly purchased Sinclair Scientific calculator (I expect he saved a few pounds by buying it as a self-assembly kit). It was amazing then to see such a small device which could calculate sines, square roots, etc, and it must have cost around £60 then.Today the price of this Casio model is not much more than a pack of cigarettes (not that I buy them these days) - whereas in the 1970s I estimate that you could have bought perhaps 200 packets of 20 (e.g. Rothmans Kingsize) for the price of one Sinclair Scientific calculator!I bought this Casio FX-85GTPLUS for my son, who needs it for GCSE maths. He is very happy with it.

14.4.2016

For children attending junior / secondary school this is the teacher preferred (requested) model both this & the alternative NON solar model are typically taught to student teachers to assist students, rather than faffing arund with multiple models, ..this strikes me as a bit dodgy by casio perhaps to be the chosen brand & model & have the market cornered for each child entering school (wonder what the "incentive" is ...ker-ching)!?However as a widely used calculator this will facilitate your overburdened teacher in terms of speed when it comes to assisting your child in calculator based maths.Look for deals at supermarkets such as Asda (they often do "specials").A robust calculator that our daughter is very happy with (& logically so are her teachers).Buttons respond well,

25.8.2016

Casio is the Number brand for calculators best to use for GCSE.This calculator has a 2 way power this means it has SOLAR power and also has a battery inside. I love the way you can close the calculator by the slide on/off cover this not only prevents it getting damaged and also prevents it from turning on accidently also handy you can slide the cover behind when in use.A nice feature you have a cursor which if you make a mistake on a sum you can move the cursor to edit it rather than having to clear it all and start again. One thing to note the solar function will not charge the battery good to know. The battery can be changed however. TIP to turn it off you need press SHIFT then ACYou may see a similar model the FX-83 (non solar only battery)

30.6.2011

First off, I have always liked the Casio layout (buttons and screen). It has every button an A-level student needs, so it's easy to find whatever function you require. But as this is my second Casio calculator, I have noticed that it is very light compared to older models. I don't know about you, but I prefer my calculators to have a bit of weight to them so that when I press the buttons, the calculator doesn't flip about and make a lot of noise. The way I combat this is to put it on sheets of paper. There does seem to be a lot less material, that contributes to the weight, when compared to my older calculator. And this one was more expensive. But maybe that was because of the solar-panel.

19.7.2014

It does sums *AND* I'm allowed to take it into exams!I've done all the major tests with it:Divide by Zero - Nope - Passed10/3*3 = 10 - PassedFractions - Fractiony - PassedRecurring digits - Repeaty - PassedExponents - Powery - PassedTrigonometry - Radians and degrees - *ALL* Angly - PassedLogs - Both hardwood and softwood - PassedStats - Deviated *AND* regressed - PassedTables - Well set, soup spoon included - PassedCoordinates - Polar were cold, Cartesian were orthogonal - PassedFactorals and Binomials - Suitably confusing - PassedMemory - Several, very confusing - PassedPi - Between 3 and 4 - Passede - Between 2 and 3 - PassedSolar Panel - Responds to sunlight - PassedBattery - Supplies power - PassedIt's all there,

10.7.2014

I remember having an older version of this calculator back when I was a student, the scientific calculators being the most practical for that age group. But even as an adult who recently bought one of these to use at home of all places, I still surprise myself with how easy it is to use and how interesting it can be to work out what everything means (OK, yes I was a geek when it came to maths!). With some of the more complex sums, this can go a long way to making it a bit easier. If I remember rightly, the battery life on my previous Casio was many years (survived school, college and quite a few years into my adulthood - I even took it into my first job because I hated the basic calculators back then!),

9.9.2011

I have just finished my a-levels and used and older model of this for almost 5 years but when i purchased this product i was amazed at how slim and effective it was at deducing even the most complicated of mathematical equations also the addition of the solar cell is useful as it means the user need not worry about the calculator malfunctioning on test day, all in all a very good calculator with relitively easy to use functions and settings and if your ever stuck and dont know how to use the calculator there are simple instructions on the inside of the cover, another advantage is the layout of the buttons there arranged in such a way for the user to easily use the functions.

10.9.2017

I purchased this for my 11yr old daughter who is just starting secondary school. I selected this model because its certified as suitable for GCSE's so that this should last her.I like the design of this because I has a hard shell to protect it when being bashed about in her school bag and is powered by solar panel as well as the backup battery.The display is certainly not like the one I had in school as it shows the calculation on the top row with the answer on the bottom which is brilliant as any mistakes can be easily seen. It's capable of all the normal scientific calculations including fractions and all sorts I simply don't understand!!To top is all,

8.9.2011

Bought this for use in my shop, a small-time haberdashery. It is very responsive and has many great features. Its very stream lined and carries no unneeded weight. It is slightly too cumbersome to control with one hand so two may be required meaning that this product is simply not practical when you do not have a desk nearby. It is a lot better than the ES model however I found that after several hundred hours of use the on button became slightly defective so I had to order an other GT but at the price they are this product is a steal! It has every function you could wish for and the 3G wireless internet browser is one of the best on the market. Overall this calculator is one of the best money can buy.

22.9.2018

Seems nice enough to use, though the dot-matrix display doesn't have the contrast that a traditional LCD screen has. Hex/binary/octal calculations would've been nice, but this had enough for most of my needs and I think it would've been fine for mt university work, never mind GCSEs! That said, for use as a work calculator people who want more advanced operations would be better served by much more expensive calculators. I have no need for such things in a portable calculator - I use programs on my PC for things like symbolic algebra or matrix operations. Given my finances this made more sense than an FX-991EX, say. The buttons seem alright, though it's early to say how well they'll hold up.

Casio FX-85GT Plus - Reviews

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