RPN calculators for Mac OSX


Ratings

I have been using HP calculators, and so must be many of the people who are looking for RPN calculators on Mac OSX. Therefore, one of the criterias for the star ratings below is based on how close the calculators behave as HP calculators. In addition, the calculators should have basic keyboard shortcuts for a quick entry. HP calculators had keys, not mice.

RPN and RPL

There are mainly two kinds of reverse polish styles, RPN and RPL.

With RPN, the number you enter goes into the bottom of the stack (x-register for HP calculators). The "ENTER" key copies the contents of the x-register into the next y-register. HP calculators like HP35, HP25, HP15, HP32S, HP42S, etc. fall into this category.

With RPL, the number you enter goes into an input buffer first. The "ENTER" key copies the contents of the input buffer into x-register. You can also enter a number followed by an operator. For example, 2+ adds 2 to x-register. 2 sin pushes sin(2) in x-register. HP48 falls into this category.

If you are familiar with old HP calculators using RPN, you might get confused a little with RPL. For example, to calculate 2 + sin(2), in RPN, you do 2 ENTER sin + because you will have '2' in both x and y registers after hitting ENTER. In RPL, this is not the case, so you have to do 2 ENTER ENTER sin +.

For more details, take a look at Museum of HP calculators.


RPN Calculator 1.96****

RPN calculator

Pros

Cons


Calculator 4.0.4 included in Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger ***

A normal looking calculator turns into RPN mode by selecting the option.

Pros

Cons

Note


x48 MacOS 1.2***

RPL calculator. This uses the code in HP48GX ROM.

Pros

Cons


PCalc 3***

This calculator has RPN mode.

Pros

Cons


rpnCalc 1.3**(*)

Widget for Tiger. This is an RPL calculator.

Pros

Cons


RPN Calculator Widget 1.1**(*)

Widget for Tiger

Pros

Cons


MPCalcRB 1.4.5**(*)

Multi-precision RPN calculator.

Pros

Cons


Staniac 1.0**(*)

RPL with input buffer.

This is an odd ball. It has no keys. All you see is an entry field and the last 3 levels of stack.

Pros

Cons


f(x) 2.6**

RPL with input buffer

Pros

Cons


Stackling 0.9**

RPL with input buffer.

Pros

Cons


Loki V1.0**

RPL with input buffer.

Pros

Cons


Emeraude RPN Calculator*

RPL with input buffer.

Pros

Cons


MathRPN v0.8*

RPL with input buffer.

Pros

Cons

It does not even work as a calculator.


December 3, 2005, Taku Yamanaka