Calculator Review: Seiko Instruments The Kitchen Whiz SII

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Seiko Instruments The Kitchen Whiz SII

The Seiko Instruments The Kitchen Whiz SII Food Preparation/Conversion Computer has a name that is far too long. I'm just going to refer to it as The Kitchen Whiz from this point forward. The Kitchen Whiz is a multipurpose calculator capable of basic mathematics, unit conversion, and time keeping.

The basic calculator functions work fine and there isn't much approaching interesting with them such as a square root function. However, you can convert decimals to fractions and vice versa with the press of a single button, so that's cool. 

Converting measurement units is where this calculator really shines. You can convert teaspoons to gallons, grams to pounds, millimetres to miles, and Celsius to Fahrenheit. The features are easy to figure out even without a manual. 

Time keeping functions are neat, but not particularly useful beyond setting a timer. Since the clock resets whenever the batteries are removed, you'd have to leave this calculator on and running all the time to get any use out of it. 

For a device from 1987, The Kitchen Whiz is packed with features. Amazingly, this calculator hasn't even begun to turn yellow despite its age. It's unfortunate that the device uses a membrane keyboard, but it makes sense since this was meant for the kitchen where spills are likely. 

I found this calculator for $4 at Goodwill, but I've seen it being sold on Ebay for $10-$15. I'm unable to find out what its original MSRP was.