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Casio Mini Card LC-78

Casio Mini Card LC-78

Distinctive features: The first credit card-sized calculator.

Technical details:
Display is 8 digits, yellow LCD.

4-function, %, memory.

Integrated circuit - NEC D896G3 (here date coded 1978).

Batteries - 2x AG10 Silver button cells.

Credit card size (but a little thicker) - 91 x 55 x 5 mm (3.6 x 2.2 x 0.2").

Was the first credit card-sized calculator (though a little thicker), introduced in 1978. Cost £17 GBP (about US$34).

Made in Japan.

By 1978 the use of LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) and C-MOS (Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor) integrated circuits with their very low power consumption allowed the production of a very small and thin calculator powered by two button cells giving a quoted life of 1000 hours. See the bottom of this page for a comparison with one of the first hand-held calculators, the Sharp EL-8.

Comparison of the Casio Mini Card LC-78 with the Sharp EL-8 hand-held calculator of 1970/1.

It is interesting to compare the size, electronics, battery life and cost of the Casio Mini Card LC-78 with the Sharp EL-8 below, one of the first hand-held calculators from just 7 years, or so, earlier.

This shows the incredible advances in electronics over these years.

Comparison with the Sharp EL-8 hand-held calculator of 1970/1.

Functions:

• EL-8 - 4 function.
• Mini Card - 4 function, %, memory.

Batteries:

• EL-8 - 6x AA rechargeable Ni-Cad cells giving 3 hours use.
• Mini Card - 2x Silver button cells giving 1000 hours use.

Cost:

• EL-8 - $345 (about £145 Sterling).
• Mini Card - about $34 (£17 Sterling).

Vintage Calculators

© Text & photographs copyright Nigel Tout   2000-2012 except where noted otherwise.