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Programmable calculators Casio fx-6000G
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Datasheet Years of production: 1986  Display type: Graphical display  
New price:   Display color: Black  
    Display technology: Liquid crystal display 
Size: 6"×3½"×1" Display size: 96×32 pixels
Weight: 5 oz    
    Entry method: Formula entry 
Batteries: 3×"CR-2032" Lithium Advanced functions: Trig Exp Hyp Lreg Grph Cmem BaseN 
External power:   Memory functions:  
I/O:      
    Programming model: Formula programming 
Precision: 13 digits Program functions: Jump Cond Subr Lbl Ind  
Memories: 78(26) numbers Program display: Formula display  
Program memory: 422 bytes Program editing: Formula entry  
Chipset:   Forensic result:  

fx6000g.jpg (31648 bytes)Along with the fx-7000G, the Casio fx-6000G has the proud distinction of being a member of the first family of graphing calculators ever produced.

For a reason that at first appeared inexplicable, I liked the fx-6000G at first sight, much more so than other, more advanced graphing calculators from Casio. I felt the same thing a while back, when I first came across the Casio fx-7500G. Why is it that I actually like these calculators while I often use the adjective "uninspiring" to describe many of their significantly more capable cousins?

I think I found the answer. The fx-7000G and later graphing models, the CFX-9800G and other color graphing calculators, or the recent Algebra FX 2.0 all have the appearance of a high-end graphing calculator. Yet their features are less well integrated, they are, to use an unscientific term, less "fun" to use than similar-looking models from HP or TI. The fx-6000G, on the other hand, has the somewhat unassuming size and appearance of a mere scientific calculator, albeit one with a somewhat larger-than-usual display. It is, in fact, a nice shirt-pocket machine but with graphical capabilities.

Whatever my reasons, I really did like this vintage machine. This should be evident from the fact that, in addition to my usual programming example of a simple Gamma function implementation, I also wrote another program, which uses the first to plot the Gamma function on the calculator's graphical display. In the example code below, Prog 0 computes the logarithm of the Gamma function using the last result (Ans variable) as its argument, whereas Prog 1 plots the Gamma function's graph for values between -5 and +5.

Prog 0
Rad
Ans->X
1->S
X<0=>-1->S
X<0=>-X->X
ln (2.506628283501+92.20704845211÷X-83.17763708288÷(X+1)+
    14.80283193078÷(X+2)-.2208497079533÷(X+3))+
   (X-.5)ln (X+3.85)-X-3.85->G
S<0=>ln (-pi÷Xsin piX)-G->G
G
Prog 1
Range -5,5,1,-20,20,5
-5->Z
0->L
0->T
Lbl 1
Z>0=>Goto 2
Frac Z!=0=>Goto 2
0->T
Goto 3
Lbl 2
Z
Z<0=>Frac (Int Z÷2)=0=>Z+1
Prog 0
eG->G
Z<0=>Frac (Int Z÷2)=0=>G÷Z->G
Abs G<20=>Goto 5
0->T
Goto 3
Lbl 5
Plot Z,G
T=0=>Goto 4
G×L<=0=>Goto 4
Line
Lbl 4
G->L
1->T
Lbl 3
Z+10÷96->Z
Z<=5=>Goto 1
Graph Y=0