Help me pick a new calculator

Student Lounge College Life
1

<p>I am currently a freshman ECE major. Since my TI84 broke just recently, I am in market for a new calc. I have narrowed down my choices to 2 models, the 89 titanium and Nspire CAS with touch pad.</p>

<p>Amazon.com:</a> Texas Instruments TI-89 Titanium Graphing Calculator: Texas Instruments: Electronics</p>

<p>Amazon.com:</a> TI-Nspire CAS with Touchpad: Electronics</p>

<p>The easy way to go is to get the 89. But buying yesterday tech(2005) makes me wonder if that's a good decisioin. The Nspire is faster than the 89 in every single way. And from my limited experience, the 89 is actually slower than 84 for simple calculations.</p>

2

<p>definitely ti-89. </p>

<p>More practical and resembles ti-84 so it doesn’t immediately look like a “banned” calculator.</p>

3

<p>+1 for the TI-89. The button layout will be familiar to you. The N-spire is a beast all its own.</p>

4

<p>Yup, I love my Ti-89 Titanium.</p>

5

<p>ti-89
It doesn’t matter if it’s 2005 tech. Undergrad math doesn’t change. Calculus doesn’t change. (maybe unless you’re in some high end math class which you aren’t)</p>

<p>the ti-89 is approved almost everywhere.</p>

6

<p>mathematica</p>

7

<p>Is a TI-89 necessary if we plan on taking more than 2 Calculus classes as an undergrad? I currently have a TI-83 Plus and I’d rather not spend $150 on another calculator if at all possible.</p>

8

<p>I have an 84 and I’ve take 3 calc classes and diffeq. You don’t even really need a calculator for the higher-level stuff. There are more letters than numbers in the equations anyways.</p>

9

<p>If I were you, I’d spend $10 on a solid scientific calculator.</p>

<p>Graphing calculators are good for high school math, but why bother with such a big, bulky, expensive device when the cheaper one does all the math you need and is more reliable?</p>

10

<p>Thanks for all the feedbacks. I ordered a TI89.</p>

11

<p>OoovooO:</p>

<p>Absolutely not. I had an 83 for calc 1 and 2, and it was great. I’ve moved up to an 89 for calc 3, but it’s really unnecessary for most people. I got it because I’m a physics major, and the CAS features are handy for checking work.</p>

<p>If anyone else is on the fence between 89 and 83/84, I would recommend sticking with the 83/84 until after calc 2 – the differentiation and integration capabilities of the 89 (and N-Spire for that matter) will tempt you to not learn the actual methods and use your calculator instead of your brain.</p>

12

<p>I would definitely recommend the Ti-89, but I find my self rarely using it, as I like WolframAlpha.com much more.</p>

13

<p>I would like to say that a TI-Nspire CX Cas calculator would be a good choice when it comes out. I’m still waiting for it to be released. It will have a 3D graphing capabilities, something the older model lacked, and a color display.</p>