<p>Hey guys! I have registered for a calculus course, and I found out it requires a graphing calculator. I want to know which kind of graphing calculator is most commonly used in class/most popular among students. TI 83? TI 84?
Thanks a lot :)</p>
<p>Lol I was tempted to say a TI-89 however that might defeat the purpose of you taking Calc. TI-83 no point paying extra for the newer version. Extra storage might have served a purpose in highschool but doubt you will use it in college.</p>
<p>Go for a TI-89 if it is allowed. It doesn't defeat the point of doing calculus, as lixelai seems to think.</p>
<p>The point of a calculus course is to understand the concepts behind calculus, and not mere number-crunching.</p>
<p>You will be too tempted to just put everything in the calculator. Doesnt matter how great you are in concepts you will mess up on tests if you always relied on the calculator and not working it out by hand. Anyway up to the OP, there are reasons however TI-89s are not allowed in many math classes.</p>
<p>i bought an 83 over an 89, just because 89's are too annoying/confusing. People who use 89 to put integrals and stuff in there and do guesswork in between pi$$ me off.</p>
<p>Depends on which level of calculus. For Calc I, I'd go with a TI-83, but for anything higher, I'd recommend the TI-89.</p>
<p>I'd suggest an 84, or an 89 if you can get one.</p>
<p>I don't understand the hate towards 89s. If you understand the concept, there's nothing wrong with doing annoying things by calculator (like taking the 5th derivative of a long function).
I could just as easily do it by hand; I did at times. I never once messed up doing something by hand because I did certain things by calculator most of the time. In fact, the calculator doesn't really help you if you don't already know what you're doing. I did excellent on tests without the calculator's help, and found that the calculator just makes some things more convenient.</p>
<p>I have a TI-89 because I plan to major in engineering but I've never actually used it for pure math classes. None of my professors ever let us use graphing calculators on tests; we were only allowed to use scientific calculator. If you can afford it, then TI-89 is great because you won't have to worry about getting a more powerful calculator but a TI-83 will do just fine if you don't have the extra cash. I would, however, recommend getting a scientific calculator just in case you ever get a professor who doesn't like graphing calculators.</p>
<p>Get an HP-50g or HP 48/49 series (I personally recommend the 48s, 48sx, 48g, 48gx, or the 50g. The older HP calculators are of greater quality than the newer ones [1999-2005], IMO, although the latest calculators such as the 50g and the 35s are going back to traditional HP quality again, so you're great with one of the latest models, too.). There is nothing like using an RPN calculator. It may be hard to get used to for the first five/ten minutes of using them, but they make long calculations quick. Oh, and the HP 50g and 48/49 series can do everything that a TI-89 could do.</p>
<p>Since buying my used HP-48sx back in the spring quarter, I haven't used my TI-83 (the graphing calculator that served me well for nearly five years).</p>
<p>TI-84 Plus Silver Edition is the way to go :)</p>
<p>the ti 89 is nice b/c you can use it for basically all of your math classes. From single variable to multivariable calc, differential equations, linear algebra... For the most part, once you know how to do the problems by hand and understand the concepts, it doesn't really make a difference whether you use a calculator or work them out by hand. One example where this comes to mind is row reducing a matrix in linear algebra. It's really easy to do and not that hard to understand after doing it a couple of times by hand, but there are many chances for mistakes to be made, screwing up the answer. Using a calculator eliminates this little mistakes that could take forever to find otherwise. The 89 makes working w/ matrices and vectors really easy.</p>
<p>Since it's required for the specific class, I'd wait to see what the professor is using or recommends. They might not allow an 89...</p>
<p>Thank you so much guys! All of you have provided very helpful informaition! </p>
<p>I emailed the professor and just got his reply. He said that such calculators are not allowed in class and are not necessary for this course (though the text book indicated the usage of a graphing calculator). So I suppose I am not in a hurry to purchase one at this time. Thank you all the same!</p>