<p>My TI-84 Plus has been showing signs of its imminent death lately and I'm still deciding whether or not to purchase a new one for $95. </p>
<p>I'm wondering what kind of calculators a science major would need (I'm still in high school and undecided on my future major but definitely something science-related) before I make my decision to buy a new one. </p>
<p>I'm not ruling out an engineering or math major at the moment. </p>
<p>I only have 4 months of school (and major exams) left till graduation.</p>
<p>Alternatively, I could get one on loan until after my exams especially if a graphic calculator like a TI-84 isn't acceptable/required in college...</p>
<p>This is quite a big deal for me, so thanks in advance!</p>
<p>I have two TI-84s. The first one broke when my water bottle’s cap wasn’t screwed on all the way in my bookbag and it got wet and died so I bought a new (pink!) one off Ebay. I’m a microbio major (was chemistry then, though) and I def recommend having an actual calculator and not an app from on line. You’ll be hard pressed to find a professor that’ll let you use your computer during an exam just because you have a calculator program on it. Save yourself any potential headaches and get a used TI-83 from Amazon or Ebay if you’re pressed for money because it’s cheaper than the 84 Plus.</p>
<p>ti-83 or ti-84 –> you’ll need one of these in-class for exams and other class work (and you won’t be able to use your laptop during many of these instances).</p>
<p>Just had to buy a TI-89 Titanium for dd#2 who will be taking Calc I at our community college. We griped when dd#1 took this class and was advised to buy this calculator, but the class was taught with instructions for this calculator. Dd#1 now says to consider it as an investment for dd#2 (both are/will be science majors); she says it has saved her enormous amounts of time in Calculus & Physics classes. Anyway, I just got one on sale plus had an additional 15% off coupon at one of the major office supply stores, so it really wasn’t much more than a TI-84 Plus. I suppose it depends on what type of math and science classes you’ll be taking and on the school you attend. If you’re fairly sure of where you’ll be going, you can browse around their course schedules/bookstore to see if they list any requirements or recommendations.</p>
<p>I have a TI 84 that I’ve had since HS sophomore year. It’s still perfectly fine and I use it often. In my calc I class, we weren’t supposed to use graphing calculators, but my adjunct professor either didn’t know or didn’t care so I used a graphing. </p>
<p>If you’re still not sure about going into math/engineering, I would say definitely get another graphing calc. A scientific calculator is always handy too, whether you buy it or borrow from a friend when you need it. Also, you didn’t mention anything, but are you sure you don’t just need new batteries?</p>
<p>There’s a high chance that you’ll have tests where nothing more powerful than a scientific (TI-30series) is allowed. My TI-84 has been very useful for assignments, and Wolfram Alpha (free online math tool) is also very useful. Personally, I find TI-89’s too complicated to use, and the only person I know who ever used one had to retake Calc 3 because he used it as a crutch in AP Calc and thus never really learned anything.</p>
<p>I have a ti-89 because it’s amazingly powerful. The downside is that you end up relying on the ti-89 too much and you don’t actually learn the math material or you forget how to do it. That’s what happened to me and my grade dropped to a B. So much for an amazing calculator… soo make sure you learn the stuff by hand.</p>
<p>I’d say buy a ti-89.
The solve feature is so handy.
Coming from a ti-83, it took me about 2 months to learn how to use the 89. It might be an easy transition for you, but it wasn’t for me. Now instead of doing 5 steps to solve a chem problem it takes me 1.</p>
<p>Thanks everyone!
A TI-84 is the only acceptable one in my school exams and I can get a new one at a discounted rate since my old one has run out of warranty.</p>
<p>Actually it’s not completely broken yet but some of the keys (including the ON button) are stuck pretty badly and require some major repeated tries to get a number out, and sometimes I can’t switch it on at all unless I take out all the batteries and rearrange them (yes silly method but it somehow works, I imagine the wiring’s gotten loose or something). </p>
<p>I think I shall get a new TI-84 so I can use it in school right away. Thanks for all your comments I really appreciate it loads! :)</p>
<p>StraitsJacket, that was not good advice, with all due respect. The OP will need a calculator they will be allowed to use on exams, and a laptop, PADD, smart phone, etc. will not be allowed. I suggest replacing the 84 with a dirt-cheap used 82. IF you get to your sophomore, junior, or senior year and find that not having fancy things like a CAS or built-in integration and differentiation is just too much of a hassle, then and only then would I advocate buying an 89, 92, or HP 50g.</p>
<p>Straights, I saw you amended your previous advice, but since this person is going to be a science or engineering major, they may have a hard time finding a good university that will let them take STEM-level math online anyway, so that ain’t an option for him/her. There, now I’m done picking on you. :-D</p>
<p>I imagine because there are comparatively fewer people taking higher-level math classes, coupled with the fact that the difficulty may incentive people to cheat, and tripled with the fact that math is hard to do on computers. Keyboards do not have the integral symbol on them. You have to use buttloads of parentheses. Plus you could always do everything on wolfram alpha. They couldn’t enforce their no-CAS ban if you could take calculus or linear algebra from home.</p>
<p>On a related note, what’s funny is that even my lowly 82 can do things my own professors didn’t know could a non-CAS calculator could do. Such as series, or certain matrix operations. Not that these things were useful for anything more than checking my answers.</p>
<p>I use a TI-84 Plus. But since that calculator is banned in most classes, especially in chem classes, during quizzes/exams, I’d recommend the TI-30X IIS 2-Line Scientific Calculator for simple calculations. Get both.</p>
<p>Get a basic scientific calculator. I have one and hardly use it outside of calculus, linear algebra and stats classes and even then, nothing that would require a graphing calculator. Since almost all classes ban graphing calculators in exams it’s mostly a waste of money, get used to the scientific calculator and you’ll be better at using it in the exams.</p>