Compex LC-837 Handheld Electronic Calculator

This credit card-sized electronic calculator has a metal face and back with plastic trim. The twenty-four rectangular keys include ten digit keys, a decimal point key, a total key, four arithmetic function keys, and four memory keys. The rightmost column of keys includes an OFF key, a percentage key, a square root key, and a clear entry/clear/on key. The liquid crystal display is above and somewhat to the left of the keyboard. A mark above the keyboard reads: compex. A mark left of the keyboard reads: Mini (/) Card (/) LC-837.

A mark on a sticker on the metal back of the calculator reads: A5007387 (/) AUTO POWER OFF (/) RATING: DC 3V 0.0002W USE G-10 BATTERY 1.5Vx2 (MADE IN HONG KONG (/) FABRIQUE A HONG KONG. Unscrewing two screws in the back makes it possible to open the case and change the small, squat batteries. A mark on the LCD display reads: ALPS 33 (/) T4CZ03 JAPAN. A mark on the printed circuit board reads: LC-837 (/) 38302REV A (/) T6014 (/) 85051. According to court testimony, the calculator used a Toshiba T6014U chip .

According to the Datamath Calculator Museum website, Compex calculators were a product of Kinpo Electronics, Incorporated, a firm established in Taiwan by 1973. According to a 1985 report of the U.S. International Trade Commission, this particular calculator was manufactured by Nam Tai, an electronics firm in Hong Kong that began manufacturing calculators in 1980 and exporting them to the United States in 1981.

References:

Datamath Calculator Museum, http://www.datamath.org/.

“In the Matter of Certain Electronic Calculators,” Investigation No. 337-7A-198, Washington, D.C.: U.S. International Trade Commission, 1985, p. 106, 129, 130, 137, 233, 352–358.

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