Calculators?

[KenWittlief]

Originally Posted by ebmonon36

To all of the high school students - if you use your calculator all of the time for math, make sure that you can do the math without it. I don't know how other colleges are, but at Purdue I have yet to take a math class where calculators are allowed.
Eric

do they let you use a slide rule?

log tables?

I could not do a square root calculation if my life depended on it

and I have not yet committed the sin, cos and tangent tables to memory :^)

[Greg McCoy]

TI-89 Titanium & TI-92 Plus.

I had a cheap Casio, but it was stolen and I replaced it with the TI-92 Plus. I thought it was a great calculator so I bought the Titanium when it came out because it's a lot easier to carry

I also use Wolfram Mathematica and Apple Grapher on my PowerBook.

[Wetzel]

I use excel for most of my calculation needs. Excel is my friend.

On tests I use my tried and true TI-83. I had an 81, but they wouldn't let me use it anymore in 10th grade, so I had to upgrade.


Wetzel

[Joe Ross]

Before college, I never used a calculator for anything more then square roots and trigonometric functions with wierd angles. In college, I was required to have a graphing calculator for Calc I, so I bought a TI-86.

I used the 86 throughout college. It was especially usefull in circuits where the simulateous equation solver was much easier and faster then the TI-89's and most people didn't know how to get the App for the 83 and 84. The built in constants and conversions were another great feature compared to the 83 and 84.

I had been reading and hearing people rave about HP's calculators, so I bought a HP-48G off ebay. After a year or so of practicing with RPM, I started using the HP for arithmetic on tests and the HP for simultaneous equations and graphing. People would look at me funny for having 2 calculators out during tests, however.

Once I got to E&M (and had long finished all my math courses), I bought an HP-49g+. It was nice to be able to do symbolic integration (without jumping through a lot of hoops like the 48), but the reliability of the calculator wasn't great and 2 years later it's dead.

[artdutra04]

Right now I use a TI-84 plus for all my classes that need a calculator. The TI-BASIC language is a major plus, because I always make programs to solve formulas when I'm bored in school.

I used to have a TI-83 plus, but the processor died on me. During a test in May last year, I guess that it just decided that it had enough of the world. And it just quit, erased everything, and then decided to never work again. Poor calculator...

[Andrew Blair]

[quote=Clark Gilbert]I just picked this one up a few semesters ago and I LOVE it. It's a Casio Fx-300MS (dual line display & two way power). It's cheaper than most Texas Instruments and the keys are easy to read and use.
http://world.casio.com/edu/product/c...up_fx300ms.jpg

Yeah buddy!! I have the same thing in an earlier model, but basically the same calculator. An absolute workhorse since 7th grade. And casio has a much better input order than the TI's.

[Clark Gilbert]

[quote=Andrew Blair]

Originally Posted by Clark Gilbert

I just picked this one up a few semesters ago and I LOVE it. It's a Casio Fx-300MS (dual line display & two way power). It's cheaper than most Texas Instruments and the keys are easy to read and use.
http://world.casio.com/edu/product/c...up_fx300ms.jpg

Yeah buddy!! I have the same thing in an earlier model, but basically the same calculator. An absolute workhorse since 7th grade. And casio has a much better input order than the TI's.

Yah, the thing is pretty sweet, I forgot to mention I also had the earlier model back in 7th (or 6th grade), but somehow it disappeared. Best calculator around!...lol

[JoeXIII'007]

I'm proud to say that I use a TI-81. Got it for $2 at a yard sale and it runs WONDERFULLY!

Though you know, I'm looking for an upgrade.

[Denman]

thats the one
Casio CFX-9850G
they sold them cheap through the school as they bought bulk

[Ashley Weed]

I'm not sure where you currently are in your education. However, I started to use a TI-89 in high school, and it became "god" to me. I was able to do practically everything on that calculator from Algebra - Calculus. Then when I came to Penn State, the mathematics department DOES NOT allow calculators. I was behind everyone else very quickly, as I had depended on my calculator for years. I also have a TI-30***...... If I were you, and you actually need a calculator, save some money, get a $10 TI-**, and learn how to do the math, it will pay off in the long run.

[Wetzel]

Originally Posted by KenWittlief

do they let you use a slide rule?

I had a teacher in high school specifically forbid slide rules. Something about a level playing field and all, but one kid wanted to use one and was told no.

Wetzel

[EricH]

Originally Posted by Wetzel

I had a teacher in high school specifically forbid slide rules. Something about a level playing field and all, but one kid wanted to use one and was told no.

Wetzel

Did the kid know how to use one?

On another note: does any teacher known to FIRSTers forbid the use of an abacus? (Does any one know what an abacus is? )

[Conor Ryan]

1.) this is an insanely geeky thread...LOVE IT
2.) I have 2 graphing calculators that I use, my old reliable and totally awesome (though it doesn't have an apps functionality) Ti-83 (notice the lack of the Plus) it uses less power than most graphing calculators so in my 4 years of using it nearly every day, i replaced the batteries once, and with a lack of games, i find myself slightly more focused at times, or at least programing functions instead of gaming.

Now for the Flagship Calculator, this thing is the supreme commander of all calculators (and i think it has that function buried deep deep into it (i've yet to find it)) The HP49g+, yes that. Well though it technically is owned by my dad i'm borrowing it until he asks for it back, this thing has EVERYTHING (including the Coffee Maker program that some guy wrote for it on the net) it's crazy, its fun to use and totally not legal to use on the SAT...though it'd be fun to do that. He found a great deal on ebay for it a little while back, he paid about 20 bucks for a 175 dollar calculator, gotta love ebay.

[Denman]

Originally Posted by Ashley Weed

I'm not sure where you currently are in your education.

just started uni 3 weeks ago

[JamesBrown]

I have my TI-30xa which I use for chemistry, It works but is less than ideal.

My TI-83+ The calculator I have used every day since 8th grade I know that calculator inside and out, This is the one I use on Standardized tests and any where else it is permitted it makes it extremely easy to check answers

My TI-89 I am learning to use so I can have it in college and beyond, It has more potential than the 83+ but I am not as comfortable with it yet. I use it for home work on occasion but never during tests, time is too limited during tests to have to search for a function.

My advice to any one is to learn math the way my teacher teaches it, She teaches us the theroms and how to do it all out, I can do anything from Basic math through Pre Calc (and what ive learned so far in calc) without any calculator. She then shows us how to do it on our Graphics calculator. This is very helpful, it allows us to check solutions and do the work faster when necessary. Knowing how to do calculations both ways puts you in a great place on standardized tests it prevents you from wasting time. Also learn basic and program formulas into your calculator, These are extremely helpul in checking quadratic roots and other simple calculations that errors are frequently made on.