Note to Marks & Spencer: Whispering over the top of slow motion footage of food doesn't make it tast...
Note to Marks & Spencer: Whispering over the top of slow motion footage of food doesn't make it tastier or any less fattening.
Member since:22.05.2004
Reviews:143
Members who trust:153
Numbers! I love them. I'm a senior credit controller in a Harley Street practice working within a team of four number crunchers where breast lumps and numbers rule my working day. So, as any self-respecting office worker will tell you, a calculator is a pretty essential tool.
WHAT'S THIS THEN? It's a calculator. You know what a calculator is and does and therefore I won't go into patronising prose about one. Suffice tp say, however, that this is BASIC calculator and does not compute scientific formulae or other calculations with more than 10 digits.
WHAT DOES IT LOOK LIKE? Ugly, with a colour scheme more akin to one of my jumpers from 1986 than a calculator. The two rate buttons are a deep, dark, decayed yellow colour; the on ("C/CE") button is midway between lavender and dark pink (think rancid raspberry angel delight) and the digit, memory and function buttons are dark grey/blue. Yup, I looked a sight in 1986.
WHAT DOES IT DO? Basic stuff. It adds, multiplies, divides and subtracts as you would expect. Also featured are percentage, equals, positive/negative and decimal point buttons. However, one glaring omission is evident: there is no square root button. Usually helpful in determining the reverse square of a number, I find this a baffling function to leave out on a calculator. That said, though, I can't imagine where a square root would be useful in today's environment, especially in business or accounts.
Two good little innovations that I always ensure are included on a calculator are the "00" button and "backspace" arrow. The "00" button is quite handy if you're dealing with large round numbers in the hundreds of thousands or millions. Instead of punching 1 and then six "0"s, just punch in 1 and three "00"'s instead. I find that when I'm doing reconciliations using many, many numbers this button is very useful and timesaving.
The "backspace" arrow button is also helpful when doing long calculations or high numbers. Typed 1278965 instead of 1278966? Just press the backspace once and the number 127896 will appear (note the last digit has disappeared). Then simply type in the correct digit.
HOW MUCH IS IT? £3.49 from Viking Direct's catalogue is the chepaest I've seen it.
IS IT ANY GOOD? For a basic, no brainer calculator, yes. Don't expect too much from it, that's all. It's sturdy, longlasting and I even took my one with me when I left my last job to join the London Breast Clinic.
FINAL THOUGHT Type 58008 and turn the calc upside down.
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