Thread: Graphing Calculators

  1. #1
    The Defective GRAPE Lurker's Avatar
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    Graphing Calculators

    I'm looking at Graphing Calculators, and found this one from Texas Instruments:
    http://education.ti.com/us/product/t.../features.html
    Around $120 at many places. Is that an ok price for the features? If you know of any other good ones, please show them ! I would like graphing capabilities (duh ) and the ability to program in either BASIC or ASM (C++ would be awesome, but they don't make those ). Thanks for input !
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    Senior Member joshdick's Avatar
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    I think an 83+ would suffice.
    http://education.ti.com/us/product/t.../features.html

    I don't know of any features that the silver edition has that's of any use. You can program in a BASIC-like language on an 82 or 83.
    FAQ

    "The computer programmer is a creator of universes for which he alone is responsible. Universes of virtually unlimited complexity can be created in the form of computer programs." -- Joseph Weizenbaum.

    "If you cannot grok the overall structure of a program while taking a shower, you are not ready to code it." -- Richard Pattis.

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    TI-86 or TI-89 if your going to use it at the university level

    TI-83+ (silver edition) is a collosal waste of money seeing as the only difference is the silver edition has more memory and a faster cpu something you dont need!

    http://www.ticalc.org/basics/calculators/
    a good read if you want to buy a TI calc...

  4. #4
    ¡Amo fútbol!
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    Don't waste your money on an 83. Spend a little extra and get an 89. It is DEFINATELY worth it.

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    TI-89s aren't allowed on any standard test and alot of teachers don't allow them as they are way too easy to use and get a instant answere with no work. I would reccommend a TI-86, they are kinda old but beat out everything but the TI-92 for features for alot less.
    "Christ died for our sins. Dare we make his martyrdom meaningless by not committing them?"

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    Still A Registered User DISGUISED's Avatar
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    I went through four years of college with my trusty TI-83. It served me well and was almost like a memeber of the family. Then my x-girlfriend stole it when we broke up Yeah .. I still have nightmares about that.

  7. #7
    & the hat of GPL slaying Thantos's Avatar
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    I have the TI-86. The TI-89 is kinda overblown if you aren't going into engineering.
    TI-89s aren't allowed on any standard test and alot of teachers don't allow them as they are way too easy to use and get a instant answere with no work.
    Never had a teach make an issue about the TI-89 vs other graphing calculators on a test. Is this in High School or College?

  8. #8
    Just one more wrong move. -KEN-'s Avatar
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    My teachers won't let us use 89s on tests, either. Highschool.

    I have the 83+ silver . It's neat - more memory, faster processor. Draw fast, plays games nicely.

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    Registered User axon's Avatar
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    Originally posted by -KEN-
    My teachers won't let us use 89s on tests, either. Highschool.

    I have the 83+ silver . It's neat - more memory, faster processor. Draw fast, plays games nicely.
    High school it is understandable, but at a univesity level professors "assume" that you know algebra and trig quite well. I've had a 89 ever since freshman year in university and I could use it in every class. So what that you know how to punch in numbers and get the answer, you still have to show your work for credit...an 89 is a great thing for checking your answers though. It helped me most in calc 3 with all the 3d modeling.

    An 83 silver is, like many before said, a waste of money. It has some extra things that you could download for an 83+ or an 89. The periodic table of elements has a nice interface though...but it sure as hell is not worth 30 bucks more than the normal black one.

    So, in other words, get a freagin 89 if you are in college!

    some entropy with that sink? entropysink.com

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  10. #10
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    Originally posted by Isometric
    TI-89s aren't allowed on any standard test
    You have no idea what you are talking about. The 89's are allowed on the SATs and SAT IIs

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    Senior Member joshdick's Avatar
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    I made it through all of high school with naught but a TI-82. Not only did I use it for classes, but I did my first programming on it. Now in college, my Calc II prof won't let us use calculators on any tests. I would really take a look at the features of each calculator and ensure that you really need the features of the calculator before you go waste a ton of money on a calculator you'll barely ever use all of.
    FAQ

    "The computer programmer is a creator of universes for which he alone is responsible. Universes of virtually unlimited complexity can be created in the form of computer programs." -- Joseph Weizenbaum.

    "If you cannot grok the overall structure of a program while taking a shower, you are not ready to code it." -- Richard Pattis.

  12. #12
    The Defective GRAPE Lurker's Avatar
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    I think I'm leaning towards the TI-83 Plus.....but thanks for all the input eveyone !!
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  13. #13
    Just one more wrong move. -KEN-'s Avatar
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    Originally posted by axon
    High school it is understandable, but at a univesity level professors "assume" that you know algebra and trig quite well. I've had a 89 ever since freshman year in university and I could use it in every class. So what that you know how to punch in numbers and get the answer, you still have to show your work for credit...an 89 is a great thing for checking your answers though. It helped me most in calc 3 with all the 3d modeling.

    An 83 silver is, like many before said, a waste of money. It has some extra things that you could download for an 83+ or an 89. The periodic table of elements has a nice interface though...but it sure as hell is not worth 30 bucks more than the normal black one.

    So, in other words, get a freagin 89 if you are in college!
    The only reason I got it is because my brother stole my 83 (he lost his and needed one more than I did...even though we were in the same class), and the silver was the only one left at Office Depot. It looks really fruity, but it's kinda that's it's faster than the normal 83.

  14. #14
    Wen Resu
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    got an 83 plus. used it last two years of highschool
    now i can't find it. in college dont realy need it yet and math deparment wont' let you use in < dunno about in cal cause i going algerbra and trig atm, pickign up a hgihschool course i need for computer science >
    83+ has more the enoug hfeatures for everything i needed in highschool. I had programs i wrote to do my math class for me.
    its all about what you need. 83+ has plenty yo ucan do with it. but maybe you wont need all the features.
    My friend from chile has this casio one, it blew.

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    I have both the 89 and the 86. In some of my college math classes the 89 was not allowed, but the 86 was. I found the 89 to be very helpful with calc 2 and 3 as well as diff eq. I found that for classes like linear algebra and statistics, the 86 was easier to use because using matrices on the 89 is kind of a pain. It's much faster, for me at least, on an 86. I also took a bunch of trade classes for work that didn't need a math level beyond trig. We basicly needed sin,cos,tan and 1/x. I found having to hit 2nd or shift or whatever it is a pain, so i bought a cheap ti-30x for this, it has larger buttons and much easier to use for simple maths. So it depends on the class what calculator I pull out of my bag.

    If your not sure if you can use an 89, just get the 86.

    James

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