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Recommend a graphic calculator
japan
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
So, I'm getting back in to studying and I could do with getting a graphic calculator to replace the TI-83 I lent to my sister and never got back.
Basically, I'm inclined to get another TI, probably a TI-89, purely because it's what I'm familiar with. I've searched about to see what's what with other calculators, but all the advice I can find seems to boil down to three things:
1) Whether it does RPN. I really don't care. Maybe one day if I'm so inclined I will teach myself to use it if the calculator I get supports it, but as it stands it isn't a feature that interests me and I'm not interested in having a debate about whether it's a superior input method or not.
2) Whether it's permitted in exams by a particular body or institution. Not a problem I'm going to have. I'll be doing distance learning where assessment tends to be coursework based rather than examination based. It is really unlikely I'll have to sit in an examination hall at any point.
3) What is in use by the institution/those you're studying with. Again, not really relevant because of the above. From experience, the coursework is invariably very carefully not geared towards specific hardware/software/whatever, so if I need calculator help it'll come from the manual or the internet at large.
So, with that in mind, what are people's experiences of working with graphics calculators? I'm interested basically in finding out if there's a better option than TIs, given that most people seem to use them because they're stuck with them. Are there any cool features that they lack? Can I get something of equivalent power while spending less money? (I notice that the TI-83 has managed to get more expensive since I bought one more than ten years ago, in defiance of the usual consumer electronics logic)
I studied engineering before, and for now I'm digging out my old maths, mechanics, thermodynamics, and materials textbooks to get my brain working again. Ultimately I'd like to study Physics this time around.
Basically, I'm inclined to get another TI, probably a TI-89, purely because it's what I'm familiar with. I've searched about to see what's what with other calculators, but all the advice I can find seems to boil down to three things:
1) Whether it does RPN. I really don't care. Maybe one day if I'm so inclined I will teach myself to use it if the calculator I get supports it, but as it stands it isn't a feature that interests me and I'm not interested in having a debate about whether it's a superior input method or not.
2) Whether it's permitted in exams by a particular body or institution. Not a problem I'm going to have. I'll be doing distance learning where assessment tends to be coursework based rather than examination based. It is really unlikely I'll have to sit in an examination hall at any point.
3) What is in use by the institution/those you're studying with. Again, not really relevant because of the above. From experience, the coursework is invariably very carefully not geared towards specific hardware/software/whatever, so if I need calculator help it'll come from the manual or the internet at large.
So, with that in mind, what are people's experiences of working with graphics calculators? I'm interested basically in finding out if there's a better option than TIs, given that most people seem to use them because they're stuck with them. Are there any cool features that they lack? Can I get something of equivalent power while spending less money? (I notice that the TI-83 has managed to get more expensive since I bought one more than ten years ago, in defiance of the usual consumer electronics logic)
I studied engineering before, and for now I'm digging out my old maths, mechanics, thermodynamics, and materials textbooks to get my brain working again. Ultimately I'd like to study Physics this time around.
japan on
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I'd wait until August when all of the back to school sales will have them at about 20 to 30 percent off.
I got by in engineering with a scientific calculator, and when I was a physics major I never needed a calculator at all (they weren't allowed on tests anyways past freshmen level).
I think the real answer is Excel + Matlab + Mathcad.
I'm going to buy one anyway, because I'd prefer to have one with me rather than rely on always having my laptop with me or access to a computer.
Just get this.
I also have a super debatable, probably wrong, minority opinion: if you will always be at your PC when doing math, you might consider paying $140 for Mathematica Student. (Or $70 for a one year license, or $45 for a one semester license.) Mathematica is hugely powerful and has many layers of complexity. Most of those layers you don't need to explore.
But exploring graphs of relations across 3-space is much easier with a fast renderer and keyboard-and-mouse control, for example. The TI-89 requires significant time to redraw a graph at low resolution.
It's extremely unlikely you will need anything beyond the TI-89. If you get Mathematica or Maple or any other CAS you risk setting yourself apart from other students by using different tools than they use. It's just a thought.
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I would agree, for the most part. I'm certainly not intending to use a calculator instead of a decent mathematics package of some kind.
However the nature of distance learning is that it is extremely helpful to be be able to squeeze in an hour of studying while at work or whatever, and it's much easier to constantly carry around a calculator than a laptop.
We were having to clear out shit from our TI-81 blue monsters when I was in school and that was 20 years ago.
I'm so old.
+ 1 for Ti-89
I think there was an option to archive your programs to a part of the memory that couldn't be cleared so all you did was add a whole bunch of garbage programs that didn't do anything to the list and they'd think you were all set when it was cleared.
My TI89 was also where I learned BASIC. ;-)
Oh god so many gotos. I also made a pretty accurate stopwatch with it. I think it had an accuracy of +/- .5 seconds after a half hour.
Yeah, I'd probably go with the TI-89.
I'm not buying a hugely expensive phone and tying myself into a contract for graphic calculator apps, equally I'm not buying an iPad because I have a laptop. I'm also pretty certain Apple would bar any kind of programming functionality.
Also, not directed at you, but just because it bears reiterating given some of the advice, it is totally irrelevant what other students are using, because I will at best be in contact with a few of them online, the materials will not be geared towards any particular calculator or software, and I will not be using this in any exams.
Your best bet is to stay with TI, they've been doing it forever and are pretty much the standard for graphic calculators.
http://www.wolframalpha.com/
It's free and awesome.
The advanced stuff is much easier on Matlab anyway. When it comes to Matlab vs. Mathematica, I am firmly on the side of Matlab.
[Edit: Also, it doesn't really matter, but for the record it's "graphing calculator", not "graphic calculator".]
That's a US/UK difference. The US term is "graphing calculator". "Graphic" is more common in the UK.
Just got my chemical engineering degree. An 83 is sufficient but you're going to want the 89 for extra functionality and ease of use. Systems of equations on an 89 are a breeze; none of that manual iterative crap.
Also, fuck Matlab. One of my least favorite programming languages. You know when a language starts indexing arrays at 1, you're in for a less than happy experience.
I know that in school, while I did use my HP48/50G s for most things, like tests, because RPN is one of the greatest things ever created, whenever I was going to be doing complicated stuff that was likely to take more than 10 minutes, I always booted up Matlab.
That said, the TI89 is slick as hell, and if you don't care about RPN, they're definitely the best calcs out there
At amazon, the HP50G is 125 vs 144 for the TI 89.
Heck, the MSRP is 175 vs 200
Weird, I remember back in the day the TI89 was $110, and the HP models were close to $300. Guess market demands changed that.