Just to be clear, I do not own the featured image on this page. I downloaded it from Texas Instruments, converted it from a .png into a .jpg format, and am using it here.  Therefore, I give all credit whereupon credit is due!

It was a summer afternoon in July of 2009.

I was employed at a lumber yard and hardware store in Houma, LA.

I had gotten paid that day, so I drove to the Rite Aid on Saint Charles Street, which was a former drug store chain, to see what I could buy for myself.

Also, I was visiting that store, because my cousin, Douglas Foret, God rest his soul, was employed as a janitor there.

He worked many jobs over the course of his lifetime, and passed away on December 22, 2011, at the age of 80 going on 81.

He worked literally until a day before he died.

I always looked up to him and I enjoyed hearing his stories and making him laugh.

So, I took it very hard at his untimely passing.

And visiting him was my ulterior motive for going to Rite Aid.

He wasn’t there that day, but Rite Aid sold so much more than just prescription and over-the-counter drugs, so I browsed around.

Also, my then-fiancee`-now-ex-wife was recovering from a major shunt revision and I was worried about her. Yes during this point in my life, I did love her, I mean I wound up marrying her. So, I guess I needed some distraction in my life. Might I also add that she wasn’t as mean as she would become, although I was in for a rude awakening. It was that constant mistreatment that killed my love for her. I do admit that the bulk of her meanness is not her fault as she had another shunt malfunction shortly after we tied the knot. This caused brain damage and altered her personality for the worst. Also, believe it or not, couples becoming mean to each other after marriage is one of the curses that God placed on Adam and Eve, the husband becomes inconsiderate to the wife and the wife wants to control the husband. The Apostle Paul, while under the inspiration of The Holy Ghost instructed couples with the following and I will say it even though it is quite unpopular by modern standards. He commanded husbands to love their wives as Christ loves the Church and for wives to submit to their husbands, and that is the mitigation to that curse upon married couples! God has shown me what my future and true spouse will be like and I refuse to settle for anyone else.

There I saw some Hostess Twinkies, a pint bottle of Borden Milk, and a Texas Instruments TI-1795SV Calculator.  The third item is what this piece will be a review thereof.

As mentioned before, for almost as long as I had been fascinated by flashlights, I have also been interested in calculators. I’m pretty sure the interest stems from my mom teaching high school math and therefore needing a calculator to accurately grade her tests and I was usually nearby watching. There was another calculator of which I carried early on at that job, and I also purchased at Rite Aid, a Texas Instruments TI-503SV. It stood the requirements for a lumber yard hand’s job and I was thoroughly impressed by its ruggedness.

The only other time I had seen a TI-1795SV, was in the aftermath of hurricanes because the cash registers in stores were down because of no power, so the cashiers would use this calculator to accurately determine the sales tax of all purchases.

So, I wanted to try it out and therefore purchased it along with the milk and Twinkies.

I promptly ate the Twinkies and drank the milk.

Then I went home and tried out the calculator.

I was pretty impressed by the rugged construction, large keys, and angled clear display.

I even carried it a few times, usually, in whatever EDC backpack I was using.

Over twelve years later, I still have it, though it needs a new battery. However, it still works if there is an adequate source of ambient light available. I keep it in a box of calculators which I have collected over the years.

Below are some of the Key features (with my commentary in parentheses)
Well-spaced keyboard with large, contoured keys for easy operation (well thought of, especially for those of us with bigger fingers.)
Change sign (+/-) key simplifies entry of negative numbers (I don’t see why a cashier would need this function.)
Square root key is useful for schoolwork (I don’t see why a cashier would need this function either.)
Solar and battery powered to work anywhere (This is a great idea, although replacement batteries are hard to find.)
Angled display for easy viewing (This is perfect for a cashier/business setting.)

Might I add there are functions on this model to store the tax rate and easily apply it to the total, which is probably the main selling point. I’m not sure why Texas Instruments did not mention that on their website.

There are also memory and percentage functions available on this model.

Finally, there is also a dedicated battery door to change the battery without having to take the calculator apart-I think this should be an industry requirement for all calculators, actually. My unit requires a single 1.5 Volt LR54 button cell battery. I wish that type of battery was more widely available. However, I pulled it out of my box and put it near the window and it powered on perfectly.

As I mentioned before, I think those who get the most use out of this particular model of Texas Instruments calculator are cashiers when the power to their stores is out for an extended period. These were extensively in use after Hurricane Katrina and subsequent hurricanes, especially at gas stations and convenience stores.

That means that Texas Instruments Calculators do have practical use outside the classroom, as I have pointed out a time or two before!

I give this product a 5 out of 5 stars but I do wish the colors were slightly different.

The part that is Silver should either be black or grey, but that is just my opinion.

All in all, this, therefore, concludes my review of the Texas Instruments TI-1975SV.

I hope that you, the reader, have been informed, enlightened, and maybe even entertained.

May God richly bless you!

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