PCalc App Reviews

I’ve been using PCalc forever. The latest version is clean and fits beauthifully with Yosemite. I especially love the Notification Center Widget. I always had used the PCalc Dashboard widget to quickly do calculations when looking at a document, web site, etc. and was excited to find that clicking the PCalc Notification Center Widget brings up the full app, which allows for the same kind of use.

I bought PCalc for my iPhone because it had the engineering calculations I needed, all of the conversions I was looking for, an adequate list of constants, by rotating the screen I could change the keyboard from engineering to programming (that’s really nice) and there was enough diversity in the layout and theme libraries that I could find a comfortable look and feel. All of that said, I bought PCalc for my PowerBook because I got everything I just listed above for my Powerbook (much better than the default calculator) plus consistency between my phone and computer.

The options for changing the color scheme are very limited. You can only choose colors for the display background, the display digits, and the basic function keys. For each of these, only nine very bright primary colors are available. It is impossible to make an elegant-looking calculator the fits in with the rest of the MacOS UI. Edit: I just found a way to select the same themes that are available on the iOS version. They are on the View menu but are not available in the Preferences dialog.

I have tried many calculators because the basic ones are never enough and almost never do RPN. I have PCalc for my MacBook Pro, iPad Air, and my iPhone 6 Plus and I am very happy with it so far. I especially like configuring the layouts to matvch so there is conssistancy between my Mac and all my devices. I recommend this calculator to anyone who finds that the basic calculators are not enough.

Awesome, as always.

I can’t imagine using any other calculator or conversions app. This is by far my favorite; has been for years.

I followed the author, and read dev blog about this release. We actually understand and will continue to support this great product and its creator!

I use this app least once a day, its the best calc ive found. scientific mode has all the options I want; with good button placement and very visible.

I use to run the HP48 simulator to keep my RPN use model. PCalc is now my go-to calculator on OSX. The Notifications Widget makes me wish my laptop had a keyboard because it is so accessbile.

Everyone has already said it. THE BEST!. Being an old time engineer I use RPN mode. The 48 simlator is great. The paper tape is extra nice if you have long calculations. I use it on my iPad also. Well worth the money.

I’ve been a calculator nut since the abacus. As such I’ve owned many software and hardware calculators and PCalc is at the top. It is the customization options that puts it there. Beautiful and smart. The developers should be teaching other developers how to do apps….

* I have used many calculator programs over the years (and many physical calculators when I was somewhat younger) and pCalc is way ahead of the pack. It is easy to use, well thought out, and has every function and constant that I could want (note: you can add your own constants). * The Price Is Right at a mere 10 bucks. * Best feature: Easily switches from RPN and “normal” (probably not a biggie for most users). * Unique feature: It does Complex Number calculations (also probably not a biggie for most users). * Would recommend: YES Would buy again: YES * MIssing feature: Graphing. I like graphs and charts, but I am not sure that a calculator is the best venue. Excel or Numbers are probably better platforms — they are more robust in ways that matter for graphing. * Missing feature: Programability…. If the smart people who created pCalc put some heavy thought into adding programmability, the result might be extremely wonderful. Just a thought.

I lov PCalc. It travels with me across the whole Apple ecosphere. The icing for me would be adding more complex functions like NPV calculations that accept multiple variables.

For many years PCalc has been an application that I install on the first day of getting any new device, and I use it every day afterward. A solid, dependable, full-featured app. RPN, conversions, a myriad of scientific functions, and full customization, PCalc has it all. And to back it up, any support questions are answered FAST! Very high quality.

Could benefit from having menu shortcuts for popular numbers (1-10, 50, 100, 500, 1000 etc.)

Used this app for many years on the Mac. It has been excellent. Latest version is as good or better functionally. Disappointed that I can’t customize layouts. So previous versions were actually better looking ...

Been a PCalc user from the old Macintosh SE days. It was the best straight-up calculator for the Mac back then, and still is now. Yes, the “natural language” calculators are powerful and better suited for more narrative mathematical tasks, but more often than not, I just need to crunch numbers. PCalc lets me do that simply, attractively, and in my preferred way. Worth every penny!

Easy to get started and use for simple tasks, yet powerful enough for more advanced problems. Choose your display: normal, scientific, engineering, or accounting. Don’t like algebraic entry? Okay, they’ve got RPN for you, as well. Has a tape feature, so you can check the accuracy of your entries. No more adding a column of numbers multiple times, trying to get a consistent result. About the only notable thing I haven’t found yet is a graphing function, but that may just be me. This program is pretty deep, while still having a “shallow end” for newbies. Need conversions? PCalc has them for 19 categories of measurement: angle, area, bytes, cooking, currency, density, energy, force, fuel efficiency, length, lighting, power, pressure, speed, temperature, time, torque, volume, and weight. I threw away my separate units conversion program; it was harder to use and handled fewer conversions. Need built-in constants? They’re available in seven categories: astronomical, atomic, electromagnetic, mathematical, physiochemical, universal, and user-defined. Built-in functions in six categories, including user-defined. Also, PCalc has a corresponding iOS version, so you can have it on your desktop and on the go. I already thought it was just about perfect, but TLA Systems (the authors) seem to keep finding ways of making more improvements. Highly configurable. Highly accurate. Highly recommended. Sorry to gush, but I just think it’s that good.

I am not a frequent calculator user but when I need one, I need power. This has been my mainstay for I think well over a decade.

PCalc is better than the Apple calculator in almost every way. However, it does not work with spotlight, which is a big inconvenience. If it gains spotlight support, I’ll change my rating to a 5.