<p>Alright, here are the ones I am currently considering:</p>
<p>HP-48gll
HP-50g
TI-84 Plus
TI-84 Plus Silver Edition
TI-89 Titanium
TI-Nspire</p>
<p>What is the board's wisdom?</p>
<p>TI-84</p>
<p>It’s the one that is most used, and the one that most people know how to use. I don’t know why you’d need the Silver Edition, other than it looking slightly different.</p>
<p>TI-89 is too complicated for normal use. Maybe for a PhD in mathematics or engineering, but not for typical classes.</p>
<p>ti84 most people use. ti89 can be used to solve many more complex problems, but on exams you must show all work anyways. At the undergrad level, it is mostly used for checking your answers.</p>
<p>The silver edition has more RAM and a faster processor. That is the difference.</p>
<p>However, most people I have ben around have had a TI-89 or have openly said they wish they had one.</p>
<p>HP is supposed to make good calculators but I haven’t used any.</p>
<p>I can definitely endorse the TI-89 though. Great piece of machinery!</p>
<p>I haven’t found a professor that will allow a TI-89 yet… food for thought, not sure what your situation is though.</p>
<p>Professors either allow TI-89’s or no calculators at all in my experience. For instance, in calculus you can’t use anything. Nothing at all but pencil, paper and mind.</p>
<p>Most engineering classes aren’t testing you on the math, they are testing you on the concepts. A lot of them let you use whatever at both UIUC and TAMU where I have attended.</p>
<p>Well, I am not only thinking about the near future but also about the far future. I’d like a piece of equipment that I can still use 5-10 years down the road and does not become “obsolete” as fast as personal computers do. </p>
<p>I find OminousRun’s comment on the 89 interesting and Boneh3ad’s definite endorsement convincing, therefore, there’s an 85% chance I end up buying the 89. Not to mention, the price is $149, which is close in price to the other models.</p>
<p>I have the TI-84 Silver, works well.</p>
<p>TI 89 FTW (10 char)</p>
<p>I’ll be buying one as well. The TI-84 is on sale at Staples Sunday & Monday for $80. Amazon has the TI-89 for $132 (free shipping). There is a significant difference in price. I’m still trying to determine based on the answers which is going to be best. I’d rather not replace it, and am fine paying for the right equipment…if it really is right.</p>
<p>if money isn’t an issue go w/ ti89. its better calculator over all. It has a lot more functions than the ti84.</p>
<p>I’ve heard plenty of EE and physics majors rave about the TI89 and HP50G, but in terms of glowing praise the 50G seems to be held in higher regard. I own the 50G and like it very much (especially the equation writer) but I haven’t even gotten to multivariable calc yet (next quarter! woot!!!).</p>
<p>hp50 is definitely the best calculator you can get. Trust me, I used a ti89 for all of my senior year in high school plus a summer semester in college. Then I read about the ridiculously good reviews HP50s got and I decided what the hell I’ll buy one. The equation writer is the best thing in the world, no complicated parenthesis, lets you see the entire equation just like how you would write it, and you can evaluate/solve for whatever. It’s great, sharp learning curve, but awesome calculator. Better than ti89 by a long shot, and way way faster at graphing/etc.</p>
<p>+1 for the hp50g</p>
<p>Another reason I am leaning towards TI-89 is how many college courses seem geared towards TI calculators (something that’s probably bad, imo). Hmmm, I wonder which calculator is excellent for both students and working professionals. Opinions?</p>
<p>I have a TI-89 which I love, but have never tried the HP - I tried a few HP calculators a few generations back and hated them, so I didn’t really check into them this time around.</p>
<p>At work I mostly do everything in MATLAB, rather than on a calculator.</p>
<p>Get the best calculator, either HP or TI, that your profs will let you bring to exams. But for work out of the classroom, make no mistake, there is no calculator that will compare with Mathcad (~$50 for the non-commercial version) and Octave (free).</p>
<p>I can honestly say I have never used either Mathcad or Octave. How are they that much better than Matlab? Can they do all the things that Matlab can?</p>
<p>
Historically (1970s to 1990s), the breakdown was clear: high school students used TIs, and working professionals used HPs. There was a mix in colleges and universities, with the hard-core math, science, and engineering students and professors gravitating towards HPs. </p>
<p>But in 2010, the question is pretty much moot. Every working professional today has a PC on their desktop. So the answer to your question today is: no graphing calculator is “excellent” for working professionals. You can do your job without a graphing calculator at all. Increasingly, this is the case for students as well. </p>
<p>The HP50G is still used by pros who don’t work at desktops (e.g. field engineers or surveyors). It is more “open” and flexible than the 89, and has more ports (including a serial port and an SD card slot), so it is easier to connect to other equipment. </p>
<p>Many people (especially old-timers) also like the 50G because it has an optional RPN mode. RPN is an alternative calculator operating mode that is faster, more accurate, and more efficient for crunching numbers than the more familiar “algebraic” mode found on TIs. However, RPN is becoming a “lost art,” because most people simply don’t rely on calculators for complex number crunching anymore. Any important or complicated calculations are done on PCs, with software like Excel or Mathcad.</p>
<p>Ti-83/84 are fine. Your not doing anything to hard. 89 you don’t need. The reason it’s not allowed is because it can simplify things you need to learn i.e. integration by parts.</p>