<p>I have an TI-84 right now, and am currently borrowing a TI-Nspire from my school. </p>
<p>Which calculators do most people use in college? </p>
<p>I was thinking of getting a TI-Nspire CAS, but there is also the TI-Nspire CX, which is the color version with a rechargeable battery.</p>
<p>I have the understanding that the TI-84 is fine for most classes unless you move on to the highest levels of math available.</p>
<p>Whats your major?</p>
<p>Just a warning, some classes don’t allow students to use graphing/programmable calculators. In fact, I’ve used my TI-36 for 6 classes, while I have not used my TI-83 at all.</p>
<p>I have a TI-Nspire CX CAS and I will recommend the TI-89 over it. It’s easier (subjective) to use and the key layout is a better imo. Easier to press too.</p>
<p>Planning to major in engineering, starting with Calc 1.
Even if I can’t use the calculator in class, would it be useful to have something like the CAS as a reference?</p>
<p>As for the 89, I’ve never used one. What sort of features does it have over the 84?</p>
<p>ti89 and nspire cas can both integrate and differentiate equations and not just evaluate them i think. dont get an nspire w/o cas. it can help on tests (if allowed) but most of the time you have to show work so it doesnt matter. just dont become reliant on your calc for integrating and differentiating. i personally use a ti84 and do fine with it.</p>
<p>Most Calc I classes won’t let you use a programmable calculator so I got a TI 30 and I had a TI 84 plus from high school.</p>
<p>My undergraduate college had us use Mathematica or Matlab for graphing, symbolic manipulation and numerical computations on homework. (Computer software is more powerful than graphing calculators, makes prettier pictures and it’s much easier to share the code.) Nothing beyond a standard scientific calculator was allowed on exams.</p>
<p>I would not invest money into a fancier calculator until you know that you’ll actually need it.</p>
<p>I’m a high school senior and have a TI-84 from 8th grade right now that works fine. Can I just keep that, or would I have to change it or anything for college?</p>
<p>These calculators are NOT cheap</p>
<p>
It might end up catching dust on your desk, but it’s highly unlikely that you will need something more powerful than a TI-83/Ti-84. If your college class wants you to do more fancy math on a piece of technology, they will give you computer software much more powerful than any pocket calculator out there.</p>
<p>I’d suggest getting a TI-89 Titanium. It’s a little expensive ($88.99 - $138.60 on Amazon), but you definitely get what you pay for. Several of the features (like differentiation, integration, implicit differentiation, etc.) you’ll use almost immediately in Calc 1. Even as an engineer, you’ll find some its other features extremely helpful later on in your undergrad career - e.g, it can work with partial derivatives, ODE’s and PDE’s, matrices, etc. (all things engineering majors encounter at some point). The one drawback is that many professors (math professors, especially) will not let you use anything beyond a TI-84 on tests and quizzes. Despite that, it’s still a good investment.</p>
<p>Aside from calculators, though, there’s also several programs you can buy for your PC. I use [Mathematica</a> for Students](<a href=“http://www.wolfram.com/solutions/education/students/]Mathematica”>http://www.wolfram.com/solutions/education/students/) myself. In addition to doing everything the TI-89 can do, it can: solve advanced problems step-by-step; set parameters for graphs, tables, etc., which helps develop an intuition for what you’re doing; collect data and organize it into plots, tables, etc. (e.g, I could type in something like “U.S Population from 1900-2010”, “Nutritional information for a Big Mac and Fries”, “Number of cows in England”, “Distance between Titan and Alpha Centauri”, etc. and it would not only collect the data but organize and represent the data appropriately); and create presentations (handy if you plan on doing research). However, I wouldn’t suggest buying a program like that until you’re further along in your undergrad career. In my opinion, it’s really too much for a first/second year student, but you can always keep it in mind and maybe buy it down the road.</p>
<p>Anyway, hope that helped!</p>
<p>I’m actually trying to sell my TI-Nspire CX CAS…</p>
<p>Sell the TI-84 and get a TI-82. It’s what I use and I am an engineering physics major. In fact, I’ve almost stopped using it entirely and either do math with pen and paper or use Mathematica.</p>
<p>Is Mathematica expensive? Could I just keep my TI-84 and then buy Mathematica?</p>
<p>Mathematica student price is $49 a semester.
Some schools offer it for free.</p>
<p>I use Wolfram Alpha more than Mathematica. I also have a TI-NSPIRE CX CAS (which is awesome) but I only use it on exams. The NSPIRE comes with computer software that does everything on the NSPIRE. I’ve been using that more and more.</p>
<p>I get Mathematica for free, you should see if you can get it or Maple or MATLAB for free.</p>
<p>I’m in calc 1 and we’re not allowed to use anything except the Ti-30xIIs… Can’t even use the multiview. I’d use what you already have until your required to get something else. I have 4 different calculators right now as different professors have had different preferences. Don’t go out and buy one if you already have one except to maybe buy a scientific without memory if you only have a graphing. But, that should only be around $14 or so. My calc professor recommended just getting the wolfram alpha app and using that instead of a graphing calculator… lol</p>
<p>Wolfram is awesome. I also use maple a good bit which is free at my school.</p>
<p>I use a casio fx 115es when a FE calculator is required which is allot of the time. Ti-89 the rest of the time.</p>
<p>I was not aloud to use a calculator in calc 1, calc 2, and phys 1&2.</p>