<p>My brother (junior in high school) is looking to buy a new calculator and he wants to buy the ti nspire cas wit touchpad. I haven't used ti nspire cas wit touchpad so I can't compare it with the Ti-89. Yet I still prefer the Ti-89 over Ti-nspire CAS with touchpad. Could you guys list the pros and cons of Ti-89 and Ti nspire CAS with touchpad? And which calculator is preferred for colleges?</p>
<p>Thanks</p>
<p>you dont use calculators in college (well not in any of the 20 series math classes here). but if you do need a calculator, theres really no need for anything beyond a ti-83/84. the 89 and yi-nspire would be just jacking your money as you would have very little use for it. </p>
<p>plus it will be 100000 times harder to learn all the functions that the 89 and nspire have compared to the 83/84 (and you probably wont even use all the functions anyway so way waste your money?)</p>
<p>ok, so here’s the thing: </p>
<p>the ti npsire CAS does not have 3d graphing, so if he plans on going into engineering or rocket science, then no, don’t get this. </p>
<p>also, the “learning curve” to learn how to use it is really steep, so he’d have to spend a lot of time figuring out how to use it… if he does have the time and patience, then definitely get it. there are more programs and functions on it than the ti 89 (titanium).</p>
<p>the ti 89 titanium is good for math classes through about calculus, and that’s about it. yes, it does have CAS and 3d graphing, and it is a lot easier to use, but it all depends on what he is going into: </p>
<p>if he’s just getting his math classes done in high school and college and the farthest he is going is about calculus or statistics, then he should get the ti npsire CAS (although colleges don’t let you use calculators on the tests…and some high schools and many tests (ACT, as an example) won’t let him use it because of the CAS system.</p>
<p>if he’s a math major with lots of engineering classes, then the ti 89 titanium is the way to go. it does also have the CAS, so watch out in high school and college classes too.</p>
<p>**as a side note, if he wants the ti nspire design, but also wants the 3D graphing, then opt for the TI Nspire CAS CX. it’s a color calculator and i’m pretty sure it has 3D graphing too!</p>
<p>I use a TI Nspire my self and it is a little complicated than TI-84 due to it’s more features, but once you get used to it you can do anything with it… obviously better than any other TIs… can store a lot of data(even your notes)… graphs are much clear than TI-84… it also come with TI-84 keypad but the touchpad makes things easier… Ti-Nspire costs only $20 more than a Ti-84 and trust me it worth the price…</p>