[sanddrag]

I use Windows Calculator a lot. But the calculator I use most is my trusty TI-30XA. Second year in college and it is still perfect for all my needs. Actually, I don't think I've had a single test yet that has allowed programmable (graphing) calculators. I will not buy one of those TI-80whatever gizmos until I absolutely have to. I hate them (except the games, those are cool). The manual is like as thick as a novel. I see 7th graders getting their parents to buy them these fancy $90 calculators when somehow I've made it into my second year of college with one that I believe retails for <$10. Also, you should watch me wiz by all the dummies on their graphers when it comes to getting an answer out fastest.

My TI-30XA and a free program called Graphmatica (used rarely) have fullfilled my needs just fine so far. I wish it had more memories (only 3) but I manage.

For those of you using a regular scientific calculator like mine, be sure you know how to use the memories and be sure you know your order of operations. Rounding numbers in the middle of lengthy calculations and entering numbers in the wrong order are the two most common sources of error (for me anyway). Memories are wonderful. Use them as much as you can. And if you don't have anything to put in there, store some constants like Avogadro's number or something like that so you don't forget (well, that one you should know in your head).

I wish I could replace number Pi in memory with another user controlled memory because I can remember the first 10 digits of Pi easily but I always need more memories when doing calculations.