I’m deciding on a graphing calculator for high school/college, and am looking at the Texas Instruments 89 Titanium and the HP 50G. Does anyone have any experience with either of these calculators and could help me decide?
I’m planning on a computer science or some type of engineering degree.
Thanks! 
I’d say don’t buy one now, most of my early college classes strictly forbade calculators (especially the math ones). Wait until you need one and college, and until you find out what is and isn’t allowed.
Be advised, the TI-89 is on the “No” list for several standardized tests.
Also be advised that you’ll need to know what you’re doing without the calculator in college–many profs like to disallow calculator use on tests, especially of calculators that integrate. (I had to revert to my H.S. choice, a Casio scientific calculator, for a college class’s tests last year–graphing calculators weren’t allowed either.)
Not having used either calculator (I use a TI 84+ Silver), I really couldn’t say which one is better.
[offtopic] Comp science? Just program your computer to do the calculator stuff for you!:p:rolleyes:
Both calculators will not have changed in a few years, and they’ll be the same price too. http://xkcd.com/768/
I would have to recommend the TI-89. I have never ceased to be amazed by what it can do. Unfortunately, the downside of being able to do everything means lots of menus and input to functions that can be a little confusing even if you are a TI-83 family pro. Of course that’s what the manual is for…
But in all reality you should wait and see what the calculator of choice is for your college before you make the investment. I have definitely made it though 90% of my classes at Michigan Tech without requiring anything better than calc.exe. On the other hand, that remaining 10% not only required a calculator, but in one instance the professor went as far to assume all students would have a calculator capable of as complex work as the TI-89 is.
I had a few college electrical courses where the TI-89 was mandontory for the class.
My immediate gut reaction is “HP”. Of course I am prejudiced by having gone to college in the last century, at a time when HP sales reps would start their presentations by literally tossing their demo calculator high enough up into the air to hit the ceiling of the room they were in, and then letting it slam into the hard tile floor of that room. They would then proceed to use that calculator for the next 30-45 minutes of the demo (and do it all again an hour later).
That ruggedness, the simple sweet elegance of Reverse Polish Notation (YMMV) and their four value stack, plus the satisfying feel of their keyboards and cases made them the Cadillacs of the early days.
I suspect there is still an elegance to they way they are designed and operate, but I also suspect the differences between them and the TI (and other models) has been eroded quite a bit.
Blake
TI is generally good. Go with the TI-89.
It can sync programs with your computer, so you can find things like study help and stuff (or games)
I personally use my TI89T every day, and pretty much religiously for UMTYMP. It is very reliable, and the batteries generally last long. Overall, a very nice calculator.
Thaine
I only took several tests that wouldn’t let me have a programmable calculator but that was only in my 1st 2 years of school, once i got into the core classes of my major the profs don’t care what calc you use.
AFAIK, it is only not allowed for the ACT. It is permitted by the College Board for all calculator active portions of the AP Calc exams, and for the SATS.
TI-89s are pretty handy even if you need to show work done out by hand, because they can check essentially any calculation. Everyone above is right in that they are often not allowed in freshman classes, simply because you’ve got to learn how to do it before you’re allowed to let computers do it for you!
The TI-89 is explicitly not allowed on the SAT. I remember this pretty clearly.
Get a TI-84 Silver for high school. It’s “good enough” for anything you need and it’s almost a rite of passage to buy one and program games in BASIC in your spare time.
New one on me. The 89s weren’t allowed when I took the SAT, though the 83s and 84s were. Though I might be a little off here, it’s been a solid 4 years.
The CAAP (sophomore test at my college) bans them, but I think that’s an ACT test.
Every major college is going to ban you from using the 89 in it’s calculus series. After that you’ll probably have no problem. That’s 3-4 classes though, depending on whether you go to a semesters/quarters school.
I would wait until your high school teacher tells you that you need a specific model (likely an 83, 84, or 86), or until you get to college.
Even if classes ban you from using the TI-89, I still felt it was a useful tool to check your work outside of the classroom/tests. I got my TI-89 the beginning of my senior year of high school and used it for every class I had from then through my entire college career. It now sits on my desk at work and proves its usefulness everyday.
I’d follow the advice of everyone else on here and wait until you know a little more about the situation for using the calculator during tests. When you do decide you need one though, I’d highly recommend the 89.
-Brando
PS- My calculator was a “regular” TI-89, not the Titanium edition. Many of my peers had the titanium edition, and I’m not sure if it has more features or not, but I liked the look and feel of the regular one much better.
I am also a big TI-89 fan. If my memory is correct the differences between the 89 and 89 titanium are the same as the differences between the 83 series and the 84 series. New interface, more ram, better screen, new case.
I would definitely reccomend buying the 89. I use mine all the time. It is not allowed in many of my classes but i still use it to check work and I use it any time I need to do math for projects or labs. My 89 has lasted me since junior year in HS.
The only reason I would reccomend waiting to buy it is that many teachers in HS only know how to use one type of calculator. Usually the 83 series. If your teacher uses the calculator in class then they may not be able to teach you to use yours. This is not a big concern since the 89 can do every thing the 83 can and then some. However you will need to learn how to use it your self.
There are two primary differences between the 89 and the 89-Titanium, as far as I’m concerned. More RAM in the Titanium and a USB port. 95% of Titanium users, including myself, don’t get proper usage out of the USB port, but the 5% of users who utilize it can do some absolutely awesome things with that calculator. One of my classmates converted PDF class notes and loaded them onto his Titanium.
I have a TI-89 Titanium, and I almost never use(d) it.
Outside of class, WolframAlpha is far better for calculus purposes. Excel 2010 is better for statistics and engineering formulas.
The USB link is nice in principle, but slow and really not all that useful. I’ve had the same idea about loading notes into the calculator, but implementation details like actually preparing machine-readable text instead of a handwritten formula sheet made it impractical. And those calculators are so backward that they use AAA batteries, and can’t be recharged over USB. (That alone makes it an artifact of another decade.)
In test situations (if calculus/statistics/etc. must be done by hand) I use a Casio FX-991s (the same one I’ve been using for around 10 years). It can do statistics in a pinch, but there’s not really much need for that in a test situation.
In addition to a calculator, I bought a student version of Mathcad and office for my son. I told him that he should be able to set up every problem he had in high school up in either excel or mathcad. He did learn to use both well in high school and took those skills into mechanical engineering. It was a huge advantage to take into college. Though, he really didn’t stress those skills till the 3rd year.
Just a heads up, a few weeks ago in my first calc class, my prof looked right at me pointed me out in front of the whole class and told me that i couldn’t use the TI-89 i just bought over the summer on any of my calc tests… SO while I was looking forward to learning to use the TI89, I had to find an ancient 83 from someone.