u/dm319

New-to-me ball-end Gillette Tech made in England. From what I can gather, probably around 1950s? No serial number printed.

Hard to overemphasise the size difference here!

First time actually seeing an original Sharp EL-506P. I'd picked up the clone on the right earlier this year in a random stationers shop in Northern Ireland. Unfortunately, the OG Sharp is having some trouble showing digits - most of them seem a bit mangled, but I think the underlying logic is working normally.

This Sharp EL-506P is tiny BTW, and beautifully made. I think it's an aluminium front plate, and it's got some weight for its size. The digit keys might even be double-shot, I will need to look closer. The smaller scientific buttons almost look like they are metal buttons - certainly have a metallic look. It's also very fast, seemingly faster than the clone.

It's so small I should put a comparison shot next to its modern descendent, the EL-W506T.

I can now see why this calculator was so desirable in its time - it's a very complete package, small and slim, and feels really well made. 1984 -> 2026 and still going!

Sorry for multiple posts (my app was being weird). Realised today my TV is a bit of an oddball - 1024x768 resolution plasma display, with wide 3-column plasma RGB cells. 1080p seems to look best on it, but I wondered whether YCbCr would be better than RGB to get better dynamic range. Also any suggestions on picking a resolution - maybe 1360x768 would be better? Thanks.

..is that one.

This is my Henson AL-M of 18 months basking in the sun after I tried my best to give it a clean. It is sporting a Bic Chrome Platinum blade on its 3rd use, which is utterly not showing any signs of dulling. I didn't do my usual pre-shower prep, using splashes of warm water instead (I normally regret this approach). Proraso green, two passes with a little touch-up around the chin. Nivea sensitive aftershave.

This worked far better than it should have given my subpar prep - DFS with no nicks or discomfort. I'm thinking the Bic blades (which I'm currently comparing to my other main favourite - the Nacet) is going to come out top. It is super sharp, but you do need to get through the first shave. Other kit: St Nectans Soup Bowl, wooden/copper synthetic brush from Amazon.

I'm kinda surprised by how many dings my Henson has suffered...

It's been 18 months of DE shaving after a lifetime of unsatisfactory cartridge use. Like many, I've been working through a sample pack, and starting to get a much better idea of what I like, but also, my skill levels have changed over that time period too. I tried Bic Chrome Platinum right at the beginning, and wanted to see if it stacks up against the Gillette Nacet. The Nacet has a particularly smooth first shave as far as blades go, shave 2 and 3 probably the best, but then, for me, it stops being good around 4th or 5th. The Bic, from memory, was quite a tricky first shave, but it was scary sharp from 2nd onwards, and didn't seem to stop being sharp, for a surprisingly long time. However, I was prone to nicking myself - might have been a skill issue early on in my journey.

Anyway, the final candidates have arrived and I'm looking forward to running them on my Henson medium.

Image Description: A Copper Henson medium stands up between two rows of Bic Chrome Platinum and Gillette Nacet razor blades. Behind it is a dark background with a shaving bowl from St Nectan's Pottery and a wooden shaving brush from somewhere on Amazon... :)

I'm still waiting on front-label hopefully to arrive soon. In the meantime, here is the HP-67 bathing in the sun today. In 1976 maybe it would have worn a daisy-chain.

I've always wanted one of these. Today a very kind person sent me what was needed to fire this machine up. The HP-67 was a powerful programmable calculator/computer, which could read and write strips of magnetic cards to load programs in 1976. Out of all the classic HP calculators, the HP-67 stuck out for me - the ambition in its input/output, and the beautiful key colours which have become emblemic of HP's peak (I'm assuming Calculator Clique felt similarly). The 15 digit LED display is also remarkably crisp and the digits look sharper than modern LCDs.

On the other hand, while this is in some ways my 'grail' calculator, it's also not one I'd use day to day. The keyboard is heavily overloaded with functions, and most keys relate to its programming ability. Hugely powerful, but maybe not so great as a general-use calculator.

PS Photographed on a Nikon Df, Micro-Nikkor 55mm at f16 on glass with real clouds present. The display is not so clear, even in the shade in fact, but it's pretty bright indoors. I may wait for the sun to go down and see if I can get a clearer shot of the LEDs. I also added a photo of its predecessor, the HP-65, being used to calculate course correction times for Apollo-Soyuz mission.