Sharp EL-1801C Semi-Desktop 2-Color Printing Calculator

• Large 12-digit LCD screen
• 2-color printing at a fast 2.1 lines per second
• Tax key for easy tax calculations
• PC-like touch keyboard with new modern design
• 4-key memory

Although it isn't backlit, the LCD screen is large and numbers are easy to read from a distance. Among this calculator's best features is its keyboard design, which has the look and feel of a computer's. The keys are sizable, with slightly concave faces and beveled edges that make mistakes practically impossible. Dedicated tax keys are a nice touch, as they let users establish a standard tax rate and add or subtract it with the press of a button. There's also a markup/profit-margin key that adds even more convenience for business users.

Switches above the keyboard let us see how decimals were handled; settings for floating decimals, fixed decimals, or an add function were easily selected. Another switch let us choose whether to round decimals up or down. The calculator accepts standard paper rolls and prints positives in black and negatives in red. The paper sits on a simple metal hanger and was incredibly easy to feed into the back of the printer. Text output was dark and clear, although the red ink started getting spotty sooner than we thought it would.

The EL-1801C's only shortcoming is its loud, old-fashioned impact printer; if you can tolerate the noise, however, the output quality can't be beat. This device lacks some features offered by its big brother (the EL-1192BL), including an illuminated display, Grand Total button, or some seldom-used decimal display options. That it can operate untethered and has all the features most users will likely need should make it especially attractive to business users. --T. Byrl Baker

Pros:

• Runs on batteries or outlet power
• Dedicated tax keys
• Excellent keypad

Cons:

• No Grand Total button
• Noisy printer

Customer Reviews:

Nice calculator; great button feel

This is a nice all-around calculator. I'm hyper sensitive to the tactile feel of the buttons on a calculator (or keyboard, for that matter). The mush-buttons of most other desktop calculators in this product's price range drive me nuts. When you push on these units the button will wobble (drastically!) from side to side as well as move down. A rough analogy is trying to sit on a large inflated ballon as a kid; you go every which way. As a consequence, my fingers often slip off the keys and I make errors. I have an otherwise great Canon calculator that has this flaw, and I never use it.

The Sharp has computer-keyboard-type keys. Check out the feel on your numeric keypad as you read this: that's how solid the keys feel on the Sharp. Each key has a mechanism that restricts the key motion to vertical (up and down) only, with virtually no side-to-side mush. This is the sole reason I bought this unit, and the reason was to replace the Canon.

The printout is a bit light (for both black and red inks), and may be due to old/dried out print pads on my particular unit. I haven't gotten around (or really needed) to replace them to see if this fixes the problem.

The printer is a bit slow, but practically speaking it's a non-issue. There is a generous keybout buffer to capture strokes, and, frankly, I like it when I get a bit ahead of the machine and it cranks calculations to catch up with me (yeah, I know; it's weird). For the record, I've never lost a number yet.

Only thing keeping it from 5 stars is the light printout (my Canon had a gorgeous solid purple in a beautiful font; the Sharp output is somewhat faded, with a pedestrian font. Again, this may be my particular print rollers, see above). I'm also hyper-sensitized to these things; they might not bother you at all.

Great machine overall. I'd buy another in a heartbeat if this one failed.

- Paul Fredrick

2004-12-30

great value for the money

I use this for my home record keeping. I tend to be fast on data entry - 12,000 kpm - so this is slow on the print mode, but it keeps up with me...eventually. It took me awhile to get used to it clacking away while I was done - this was just the tape printing, I'd have my total in the digital part of the machine. I use it constantly - I have a huge Texas Instruments one at work that cost 5 times what this one cost and it's print speed is not much faster. The key positioning is awesome, I don't even need to look at it while I'm entering numbers. I highly recommend it.

2003-05-10

Great design, but _terribly_ slow

I love the design. The keys feel great. The printouts are crisp. The display is easy to read. It has a small footprint.

But its _so slow_! It's like it's trying to strike every character, even blanks, across the tape. The 2.1 lines per second that it quotes must be when you hit the linefeed button.

I hit one digit and struck the Plus key five times in rapid succession (it _does_ cache your keystrokes fortunately). It took five seconds for that one number to be added five times. It took seven seconds to hit Plus five times followed by the Total key.

2002-08-23