Office Supply Review: Casio DL-200L Adding Machine

Stars: 4 out of 5

Pros: Adds my numbers and gives me a tape for backup

Cons: Screen could be brighter; bottom row of keys (unless it's operator error).

The Bottom Line:

Accountant's best friend

Reliably adds numbers

With a tape backup

Let Me Add Up My Thoughts on This Machine For You

For an accountant, my math skills are, well, not the best.  I cannot add numbers in my head, for example.  Multiplication and Division without paper and pencil are out.  That's why I'd be lost without my adding machine, the Casio DL-200L.

Frankly, the plethora of models out there confuse me.  I mean, there are only a certain number of things I need my adding machine to do.  It even looks like this particular model is hard to find since Casio has replaced it with a "newer" model.  Why do we need all the choices?  For example, I need a keyboard with all the numbers.  Yes, this one has that, and it's centered in the middle of the machine.  The add, subtract, multiply, and divide buttons are all prominently placed and easy to hit.  It's got buttons to clear everything or just back up a number or two.

I actually inherited my machine when a co-worker left, so I have never had the instruction book with mine.  I know, for example, that mine has a memory function, but I have never bothered trying to figure it out.

I'm not sure why you would need to use the memory function since one feature of an adding machine is the tape.  Every item you input gets printed on a tape for future reference.  When you subtract something, it even shows up on the tape in red.  You can have the machine count the number of items you've added together and print that on the tape as well.  Or, you can always chose to not have the machine print a tape at all.  I use that tape all the time to add some numbers and compare them to ones I was just working with.  The printing function on my first machine died a few months before I wound up with this one, and I was lost without the tape.

Another feature of adding machines is the decimal system.  I set mine to always show two places after a decimal point, but not to automatically insert the decimal for me.  My boss, on the other hand, insists that the only way to use an adding machine is to have the machine insert the decimal for you two places in to every number you type.  I tried it for a while, and it threw me off.  But this machine has both options in case you want them.  You can even have it show up to six decimals on every number you enter.  And you can set it to round up extra decimal numbers always up or at the 5/4 split.

In addition to the tape, there is a display that will show up to 12 digits at a time.  That's all I usually need.  The display could be a bit brighter, but I can still see it in my office.

I have seen a few models that are slightly smaller.  This one is over a foot long and almost a foot wide, so it does take up its share of desk space.  But even newer models are just as big, so it's hard to complaint about that.

My only real frustration with the adding machine is the bottom row of keys.  The 1, 2, and 3 keys don't always register when I hit them.  I didn't notice this problem when I first got this machine.  And if I make sure I hit the keys, they register.  It's only when I'm not really paying attention that these numbers drop out occasionally.  I think it's probably more operator error than anything else, but it does frustrate me.

That small issue aside, I still appreciate my Casio DL-200L adding machine.  It allows me to do the work I need to do quickly and provides tape backup so I can figure out where any issues might be if the totals don't agree.  That's all I need from my adding machine, so I'm happy.