Digit Standard Abacus Soroban Professional 17 Column (10.2 inch) Math Abacus, Math Calculating Tool with Reset Button for Adults Kids (Brown)

My friend has wanted one for a long time and she was so excited I got it for her. Good quality too

There are a bunch of abaci on available on this site which are prettier than this one -- fine woods, brass fittings -- but in general they don't work as well. The frame (I ordered the "Cofei" color) is a sturdy black high quality plastic, 28 centimeters (11 inches) long. The beads are plastic, but not molded plastic, Rather the beads were turned on a lathe with a precision hole drilled in the exact center.Molded plastic beads, and most wood beads unless the maker is very careful, vary in fit from bead to bead, which slows you down. The rods on this one are fine grain bamboo (there is a reason why so many slide rules are made of bamboo - it slides smoothly without "catching".) The reset mechanism is well built and works smoothly. If you want something for a display case, look elsewhere. If you want an abacus that works great, this is the one.General advice about abaci:Unless you already know the chinese suanpan system, get a japanese soroban abacus. Each digit on a soroban is 0 to 9. With the chinese saunpan there are 16 values a digit can have. In other words, the soroban uses a base 10 numbering system while the suanpan uses a base 16 numbering system. Of course if you are a collector you will get both as well as the Roman and Russian styles.Also, you don''t need a giant abacus with lots of digits. The reason people use the big ones is so they can do two calculations on the left and right. This is handy if you want to multiply or divide, but abaci suck at that. Use a slide rule instead. If you really want to do two calculations at once get two smaller abaci.

Works well on a desk. But when you hold it vertically it does not hold the beads. Otherwise this is aweome

The media could not be loaded. So far so good, it is in good size for kid's hand and the reset button is very helpful.

sits firmly enough. works properly. feels nice playing with it. pretty sure it will feel even nicer properly using it. still figuring out how to do that though

My kids love their abacus

ME ENCANTA

I like this abacus, but the size of a little too small for fat fingers. I wish there was a version that was larger, but with less number places.