<p>Uhh, yeah, so I already have a TI-83, which got me through Calc BC my senior year. For Calc III and Diff Eq. is a TI-89 worth the extra money? Any input is greatly appreciated!</p>
<p>I’d say the TI Nspire is the best graphing calculator out.</p>
<p>Wizzle: I’ve heard good things about that one. The problem, though, is that I probably won’t take math classes beyond Calc III and Diff Eq. Would a TI-83 work for those?</p>
<p>No point, you won’t be allowed to use a calculator during exams anyway. They aren’t useful for multivariable calc, differential equations, or linear algebra.</p>
<p>really, so you wouldn’t recommend a ti-89 or above at all?</p>
<p>College is the time you realize that real math doesn’t involve the use of calculators. No calculators are allowed for any of the 200 level MAT courses, and probably beyond.</p>
<p>While I agree with most of the above, I have to say that I love my TI-89 to pieces. It’s true that real math is calculator-free, but in science you often hit those pesky numbers and need a calculator for problem sets and things. You can probably get by with an 83, though.</p>
<p>As a math major, I don’t even own a calculator. When I have to do anything calculation-y on a problem set, I use a computer program called mathematica that’s a lot more powerful than a graphing calculator. You will probably never be allowed to use a calculator on a test. A calculator / mathematica might come in handy for problem sets for math and science classes, but I certainly wouldn’t buy a new calculator for college.</p>
<p>Yeah just use Mathematica and/or Matlab for anything that a graphing calculator could possibly be useful for. You get both for free just by being a princeton student.</p>
<p>And calculators are not allowed on any math exams.</p>
<p>We didn’t even use a calculator for Math 104. I used my TI-89 extensively in all of my science courses though. Differentiation and integration with a calculator saves soo much time.</p>
<p>so I’m guessing an 89 would really help for an engineering major?</p>
<p>No… just use mathematica (which is free for princeton students) for differentiation, integration, finding determinants, etc.</p>
<p>^Anyone could use wolframalpha too, but I don’t always bring my laptop around when I’m doing problem sets.</p>
<p>yeah i’m thinking an 89 would help when you’re doing psets just with friends or something</p>
<p>We get free Mathematica and Matlab? That’s awesome (even though I already have a license for one and the software for the other but installed neither because I wanted to save them for the new computer I would get this summer and am now regretting that decision not to install them). Are they the student versions or the real things? And do we just pick up the licenses/software through OIT?</p>
<p>A Ti-89 would be super useful. as mentioned, calculators arent allowed on 200 level math courses (multivariable calc, linear algebra, dif. eq), but the integration/equation solver capabilities of the ti-89 can make homework much easier at times.</p>
<p>Diff. Eq is 300 level, btw.</p>