<p>Is it wise for me to purchase a Ti 89 for the AP BC Calculus test. I've heard of its greatness from seniors who just took it. Is it worth $150 investment for that one test?</p>
<p>If you know your material, it's not that much more of a help. OF course you'll get to do some integrals FASTER, but if you know what you're doing, you can do fine with a Ti 83+</p>
<p>In my opinion it is faster in evaluating integrals, it actually will do derivatives for you with great ease, and it has some other nifty programs that help with series and riemann sums and such. That said, if i weren't going to keep using the Ti-89 in the next few years I would stick with the 83. Also, the statistics for the test say people using the Ti-83 usually score better, a function of the fact that they are very familiar with the calculator, and the kids with the 89s haven't been using them for long at all. I've been using the 89 for two years so its all i remember how to use.</p>
<p>As for me, TI-89's interface is way more user-friendly (after you get to know it) than the 83's. YOu can easily store many functions and view them with ease. Of course it also has a lot more functions (and games too! when you got bored during the test...) than the 83. Don't just buy it for the test though; buy it if you really are going to use it later.</p>
<p>ive heard the ti89 is relatively hard to use. would it be hard for someone transitioning from the 83 to the 89? what about if someone never used a graphing calc, would 89 be easy to masteR?</p>
<p>I thought the 89 was pretty easy to learn, since it only took a few days to learn for me. It might even be easier for one who never used a 83, since you will start with a fresh mind without weird 83 notations ;)</p>