<p>Okay, so I'm about to take Honors Pre-Calculus at my school.</p>
<p>Teacher's website says this:
Calculators: Each student is required to have a graphing calculator. It recommended the TI-83, TI-83+, TI84, TI84+, or TI-86.</p>
<p>Up to this far, I've done exceptionally well with a scientific calculator, although I obviously understand the need for a graphing one in Pre-Cal. I know close to nothing about graphing calculators, as to which one is best and whatnot.</p>
<p>So: Regardless of cost, which calculator would be best? I could probably go out and get a TI-89 too, but, eh, not sure if I'd need something like that right now.</p>
<p>I'm also taking Honors Physics this year too. Next year, I'm taking AP Calculus, AP Chemistry, and either AP Bio/Physics. Preferrably, I'd like one that I can use for this year and next, but I'll take whatever suggestions I get.</p>
<p>Get the TI-89. It you're taking AP Calc next year and your teacher isn't forbidding you to get one, get it now. Costly, but better than getting a calculator this year, then getting the TI 89 next year. Trust me, the algebra doing program on the 89 is amazinggggg.</p>
<p>NOOOO DO NOT GET A TI-89!! I have one and I can't use it for any official exams (IB tests, State Assesments, etc) and besides, it's so hard to figure out and it does have a bunch of cool things it can do, but you would have to read the manual over 50 times in order to get it. So don't get one, it's WAYYY too sophisticated for high school. I think a TI-84 or a TI-84+ would be the best because they have everything you need.</p>
<p>In my opinion get the TI-83+ or TI-83 (pretty much the same) they are the most common calculator to have and are allowed on all exams for sure, plus a teacher is most familiar with it usually and can help you with it if you need help with something they are also the most easiest to use and cost very cheap, they can do all the stuff you need for all the classs you take now and will ever take. Trust me with this.</p>
<p>Yeah, teachers are most familiar with 83+'s, so if you need help or whenever they're going over a new function it'll be really easy to follow if you're using the same calculator.</p>
<p>From the extremely-hardcore features etc standpoint, the HP calculators are better than the TI ones, particularly now that one doesn't have to do reverse-polish notation.</p>
<p>But realistically...
a ti-83 or 84 can have some serious problems doing certain kinds of math (some chemistry stuff might be where you notice first, depending on your curricula) but more likely than not it would be find thoughout HS. For AP physics and other high math-centric courses I would prefer an 89 by far; an 89 just has a fuller featureset and smoother OS functionality for a lot of things in calculus that make it very advantageous. It's faster to use for many things (though still slower than an hp sometimes...). </p>
<p>Don't buy an 89 because it has a great solver or something like that--you won't NEED to use that for a while. But it does pay to think about something that you could use for a looong time and an 89 has a longer useful life, in terms of material it can be applied to. At my school we're encouraged to have 89s because more teachers and people know them, I don't know what it is like in colleges. That being said, I try to eschew the use of my calculator as much as possible. I used a scientific through a good chunk of pre-calc, but then had to switch, so I just jumped all the way to an 89.</p>
<p>Do you have friends with an assortment that you could play around with? You could probably test them out at a store, too.</p>
<p>ps I've never encountered tests the 89 isn't allowed on, although sometimes it should be. I guess there are some, since a few were cited. Are you going to run into those...?</p>
<p>The 89 is allowed on the SATs and AP tests as far as I know unless they JUST outlawed it after the end of the last school year since I used an 89 on both my SATs, both AP Calculus tests, as well as the AP Chemistry and Physics tests.</p>
<p>I have a TI84+ and I love it! I agree with Arijana saying that the 83 and 84 do the same except the 84 looks a lot better. </p>
<p>When I got mine I got the TI84+ Silver Edition thinking that no one else would have it and it would be recognizable. It turned out almost everyone had it and I payed extra for nothing, but I love it.</p>
<p>Get the Ti-89 Titanium... You can get a new condition one with manual, USB cable, and Calc-to-Calc connect cable for ~$80. :) Not to mention 2.7MB memory :D</p>