need to buy a graphing calculator...

[fett]

I hate those things. When my son was in highschool I had to fork over $120 for a TI 83. He lost the little bastard so I had to buy another one. This was when I was broke. He barely used it. In fact, I think he dropped the course. Well, a few months later, it turns out that my son left his packpack in a friend's trunk and his little brother stole it. We got it back. I was out like $240 for a dodad he hardly used.

[HoWheels]

I used an HP 48G through college including Calculus. The calculator of choice of my college professors was the TI-85.

IMHO the HP 48G is far superior to the TI-85, however simply the fact that all of the examples were done on an overhead on a TI-85 would have made it a better choice.

Your best bet is to find out what tools your professors use, and get that.

-a

[nateb]

There seems to be a lot of college students and others here in high school so I'm assuming there some people with more knowledge/experience. Right now, I'm in pre-calc and it would probably make sense to get a graphing calculator. I've been looking into the TI-84 and the TI-89. I came across a program called Zoom Algebra while looking on eBay for an 84 which sounds like a useful program. I also read the 89 has a computer algebra system and would make pre-calc a very easy class if you take the time to learn the useful functions of the calculator. Anybody have good or bad experiences with the calculators?

Reaper,

I would look at your college courses that you have to take and ask the instructors have to say. Most likely they are going to shoot for the TI because of its integration with overhead projectors. All the post TI-85's are great for anything related to higher math in calculus and statistics.

My .02

-Nate

Edit : Doh... Howheels said the same thing...

Do you really "need" to buy one (like in your teacher cant formulate descent problems), or will it just make you go through math with less trouble?

Actually, a lot of higher math teachers want you to do work on a calculator. The reason being is that you have to understand what and why you are doing things to solve a problem. The calculator is used as a tool and not as the answer to all your questions.

[followthereaper]

Right now, I'm a senior in high school, so I'm not exactly sure what calculator I'll need in the future. I'm thinking it would be useful to get a good one and learn it pretty well so I will be more familiar with it in college courses. Right now I'm considering pharmacy school or perhaps another medical career which would most likely have calculus as a class. I don't have much experience with HP calculators and should probably get a TI just because it's what the teacher and nearly every other student uses. I've only seen people with 83's and 84's, never seen 85's or 86's.

[followthereaper]

Do you really "need" to buy one (like in your teacher cant formulate descent problems), or will it just make you go through math with less trouble?

The teacher suggested we buy one. I've put it off for the past three years, all of which the teachers said having a calculator would help and in which we used the school's set of TI-83's (took Algebra II then dropped to Algebra, Geometry, Algebra II, and now pre-calc). Either way, I'm sure I will "need" one in the future or this year for that matter and have put it off for long enough IMO.

[monk]

Actually, a lot of higher math teachers want you to do work on a calculator. The reason being is that you have to understand what and why you are doing things to solve a problem. The calculator is used as a tool and not as the answer to all your questions.

Yes, but I do not think there will be much use for a bad-ass $$$$ calculator in college. Most classes wont allow them, and when you have access to, and knowledge of, computer programs like matlab or mathematica there is really no need for calculators other than for basic operations like e^, ln, sine etc.

In highschool the teachers made it look like the TI-83 was an irreplaceable tool that we could not live without. Heck, I even had pornography on my TI-83. I think the transition to college would have been easier if I would not have used the calculator for everything. It somehow numbs your mind.

Buy something like the TI-83 and save your money. I see no need for anything better.

[followthereaper]

Okay, so for anyone who has used a TI-89, can it do stuff like the TI-83 in the picture?

[GodOfRhythm]

A TI83 plus can do that!?

Shit! What was I using mine for, that could have saved me hours on my exams

[followthereaper]

Wow, that was quick. That's a program I came across on eBay while looking for a calculator. I don't know much about it or if it would actually work as well as it looks. If anyone has an 83 or 84, you could try a demo here.
http://www.zoommath.com/

[GodOfRhythm]

Oh it's a program, that figures. We had to delete all progs/apps from our calc for exams and whatnot.

[followthereaper]

How would they know if you deleted all the programs?

[monk]

How would they know if you deleted all the programs?

Not that hard. All programs are listed under the "programs menu", and you can also easily check how much memory is beeing allocated to programs, graphics, lists etc. Rumours has it that there are programs out there that "hide" other programs, but I would not count on that.

[GodOfRhythm]

Yeah there are/were programs like that. And some people tried to use them but got caught. They had the systems engineer (who also taught high grad emath) check calculators at random.

Dumb as they were though. We'd just write some formulae on the inside over the slip/slide cover in pencil. That wouldn't show up unless you held it in the light correctly, so they never noticed and it helped us a bit.

[Misanthrope189]

Wow, a systems engineer to check calculators? It's like bringing in the drug dogs to do sniff tests.

Cheers,
Nick