<p>Would parents and students weigh-in with some information before we make this purchase? DS will be in Civil Engineering and CBHP.</p>
<p>I asked this of Dr. Haskew last year. My son already owned a TI-84 from high school. This was his reply</p>
<p>“Regarding the calculator, I am an old school engineer that still uses an HP calculator. However, most of our students use TI devices. While I don’t know the details of the different ones, I did look at the TI web site to see how much I could learn. My first reaction is that the TI-84 will most likely be satisfactory. The big issue is the ability to solve matrix equation and do complex arithmetic. The online description indicates that the TI-84 will do these things. I am sure that the 84 will get him through the first year, and during that time, while interacting with other students, he may discover an alternative calculator that he would prefer. So there is really no need to get a new calculator at this time.”</p>
<p>If you are going to get a new calculator, I would get a TI-30XS with Multiview. A graphing calculator is just not worth the extra expense IMO. Computer programs like Maple and MATLAB, which are available on the computer in the engineering labs, would be better suited for solving matrix equations and complex arithmetic.</p>
<p>Ha ha. I’m laughing because the Chemistry 101* class actually required him to buy and use a basic $10 scientific calculator for some reason (it’s on the book/supply list). For all other classes (math/eng’g) my S used the same TI-84 that he had all through HS, and he sees no reason to buy anything additional.
- I’m sorry, I’m not entirely sure if it was Chemistry or one of the introductory eng’g classes. I tried to look online at the supply list and it says TBD (even for Fall 2012). I remember thinking that they really wanted the students to think about the math problems, rather than just hit a graphing calculator.</p>
<p>S took several math classes and his T184 (or 83 not sure which) worked fine for all of them. Aeromom, oldest son at UMN had to buy a $10 calculator for one of his freshman classes too so it isn’t just that professor at UA. (I laughed too when I heard he had to get one but at least it wasn’t expensive.)</p>
<p>The programmable graphing calculators, such as the TI 84 and the TI 89) are not allowed for Chemistry because of their ability to store certain things which leads to cheating. The scientific model doesn’t offer the same storage capability.</p>
<p>My son loves his TI-89 for higher level math, but thinks that the TI-84 is sufficient for most things.</p>
<p>The Chem classes I’ve had will let you use your own non-graphing calculator. They just don’t want you using anything that is programmable, really. I have a TI-83 and a TI-31 XS. I used the 83 through high school but prefer the 31 now, as it’s scrollable and was allowed in my Calc and Chem classes when the 83 wasn’t.</p>
<p>Thanks! This is so helpful. DD has the TI-84 plus and has used it since 7th grade, but as a middle school math teacher I own the TI30XS, TI-74, TI-83, TI-84 plus and Casio Prism. DD still wants to use her trusty TI-84, but will also bring the TI30XS for Chemistry. Anyone know if students in Chemical Eng need a TI-92?</p>
<p>Also, is the TI-Nspire banned?? (Not a fan, but own that one, too)</p>
<p>NRDSON arrived with the TI 84+ from high-school which was sufficient until Statics, whereupon he upgraded to a TI 89 Titanium that he swears he could not have gotten his A+ without. He is CBH and Mechanical Engineering. According to Class2012, the way NRDSON moaned about his 84+ after starting Statics, it may as well have been an abacus.</p>
<p>Good to know!! I think I will be in search of a TI 89!!</p>
<p>An 89 is great if you want a graphing calculator and don’t mind the expense. I had one starting in AP Calculus and I used it all through undergrad. An 89 would be sufficient for ChE. What I love about the 89 is it’s scrollabe and displays calculations on the screen like it would show up on paper if you wrote it out. Very useful for checking errors in calculations. (I think the 30XS does the same thing.)</p>
<p>Thanks to this thread, I ordered the 89 for DS. I wan’t even thinking about this until I saw the thread. My rising 8th grader needs TI 83. I would have just bought a new 83, but this thread prompted the 89 and handing down of the 83</p>
<p>S wants to know if anyone has used the TI-NSPIRE CX CAS calculator. Similarly priced to the TI-89 Platinum. I told him I would buy him a new calculator as part of his graduation gift.</p>
<p>I’ve never used it so I’m just going by the tutorials I see on youtube. It looks like it’s functionally the same as an 89 but with a new UI and keyboard arrangment to make entering expressions into the calculator even easier. If you can afford, I don’t see a reason not to go for it, but I would also include a scientific calculator like the 30XS along with it in case a class disallows the use of the NSPIRE on tests and whatnot.</p>