# Any math students ever done this? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [July 15, 2002, 8:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-math-students-ever-done-this/119023 "2002-07-15T08:05:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![kitarak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/898d66/32.png) [@kitarak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kitarak)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2002, 9:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-math-students-ever-done-this/119023/21 "2002-07-16T09:19:10Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Dragonblink \* > \*\*My usual trick is the negative sign that goes MIA halfway through the problem, totally destroying my chances of getting a correct answer. I’ll get my test back with little red - signs all over it to show what a freakin moron I am. \*\* Of course. Negative signs - How could I forget that one. If it helps, _everyone_ does that (well, not everyone, but a very large number of people). I know I certainly make that mistake all the time. ---
**Author:** ![Cubsfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f4b2a3/32.png) [@Cubsfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cubsfan)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2002, 9:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-math-students-ever-done-this/119023/22 "2002-07-16T09:46:10Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Dragonblink \* > \*\* > > You might want to back up a bit and review some of your earlier materials. You see, the number 83, while a virtuous and round-looking specimen, did not appear in my post. It is the saintly and solar-powered number 34 of which I speak. > > Okay, so I have a TI-86 too. But only for graphing, matrices and solitaire. Fie on the TI-83! \*\* My TI-89 chews up TI-83’s and spits them in the faces of your ti-34 and ti 86 . Ill take on ANY calculator dumb enough to step to this 89! Especially those reverse notation HP jalopies!! Thank god they don’t make calculators anymore. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Cubsfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f4b2a3/32.png) [@Cubsfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cubsfan)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2002, 9:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-math-students-ever-done-this/119023/23 "2002-07-16T09:46:40Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Dragonblink \* > \*\* > > You might want to back up a bit and review some of your earlier materials. You see, the number 83, while a virtuous and round-looking specimen, did not appear in my post. It is the saintly and solar-powered number 34 of which I speak. > > Okay, so I have a TI-86 too. But only for graphing, matrices and solitaire. Fie on the TI-83! \*\* My TI-89 chews up TI-83’s and spits them in the faces of your ti-34 and ti 86 . Ill take on ANY calculator dumb enough to step to this 89! Especially those reverse notation HP jalopies!! Thank god they don’t make calculators anymore. I got so tired of listening to the damn things beep in class because the moron using it didn’t know how to turn off the beep factor. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Cubsfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f4b2a3/32.png) [@Cubsfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cubsfan)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2002, 9:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-math-students-ever-done-this/119023/24 "2002-07-16T09:48:13Z")
Damn server must be running an HP calculator in the background because it decided to stack my posts. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![g8rguy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/7cd45c/32.png) [@g8rguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/g8rguy)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2002, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-math-students-ever-done-this/119023/25 "2002-07-16T16:16:12Z")
You people use calculators? :eek: Geez, my Maple eats your TI-89 for breakfast! ---
**Author:** ![Allen\_Parine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/57b2e6/32.png) [@Allen\_Parine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Allen_Parine)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2002, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-math-students-ever-done-this/119023/26 "2002-07-16T19:42:59Z")
> [@](#): > > _Originally posted by kitarak_ > Calculator? Bah… Real mathS students don’t need them. > > Not that I’m bitter that they won’t let us use them in our maths exam or anything. Really. It would be really funny (to anyone not taking the exam) if the professor allowed calculators, but made the test up entirely of problems that make mincemeat out of any lump of silicon, if used naively. (To Stinkpalm et al.: yes, even your TI-wossnames.) ---
**Author:** ![Rhubarb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/59ef9b/32.png) [@Rhubarb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhubarb)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2002, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-math-students-ever-done-this/119023/27 "2002-07-17T01:51:53Z")
I managed to acquire a Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering using only an inexpensive Casio whose only redeeming features were a two-line editable display and a 256 byte (that’s right, a whole 1/4 kilobyte!) function memory. It did absolutely everything I needed it to do, even though I was severely jealous of my (going to school on daddy’s money) classmates’ HP 48 SX’s that could do everything including playing f\*cking music! But right after graduation, while taking a refresher class for the EIT exam, I (foolishly) took the professor’s advice and bought myself the slickest, most advanced TI calculator available at the time (TI-83a I think). I damn near failed the exam because I couldn’t use the expensive POS! I didn’t need any of it’s fancy functions and graphing capabilities and 32k memory. I would have been MUCH better off sticking with the old trusty rusty. And the moral of the story is, your precious TI-89 is just an expensive tool. It’s knowing how to use it that makes it useful. ---
**Author:** ![Tyrrell\_McAllister](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tyrrell_mcallister/32/16772_2.png) [@Tyrrell\_McAllister](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tyrrell_McAllister)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2002, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-math-students-ever-done-this/119023/28 "2002-07-17T02:37:32Z")
> [@](#): > > _Originally posted by **Stinkpalm** _ > Ill take on ANY calculator dumb enough to step to this 89! I think my TI-92 Plus would be up to that challenge. ---
**Author:** ![Cubsfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f4b2a3/32.png) [@Cubsfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cubsfan)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2002, 4:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-math-students-ever-done-this/119023/29 "2002-07-17T04:05:26Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Tyrrell McAllister \* > \*\* > > I think my TI-92 Plus would be up to that challenge. \*\* TI-92+ is the same exact calculator as the 89 except it has a nice big keyboard and a bigger screen. The calculators have the same exact capabilities. Except most instructors are weary of letting people use the 92 because of its big size. ---
**Author:** ![Cubsfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f4b2a3/32.png) [@Cubsfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cubsfan)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2002, 4:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-math-students-ever-done-this/119023/30 "2002-07-17T04:09:05Z")
> [@](#): > > _Originally posted by Rhubarb \* > \*\*I managed to acquire a Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering using only an inexpensive Casio whose only redeeming features were a two-line editable display and a 256 byte (that’s right, a whole 1/4 kilobyte!) function memory. It did absolutely everything I needed it to do, even though I was severely jealous of my (going to school on daddy’s money) classmates’ HP 48 SX’s that could do everything including playing f_cking music! > But right after graduation, while taking a refresher class for the EIT exam, I (foolishly) took the professor’s advice and bought myself the slickest, most advanced TI calculator available at the time (TI-83a I think). I damn near failed the exam because I couldn’t use the expensive POS! I didn’t need any of it’s fancy functions and graphing capabilities and 32k memory. I would have been MUCH better off sticking with the old trusty rusty. > And the moral of the story is, your precious TI-89 is just an expensive tool. It’s knowing how to use it that makes it useful. \*\* I carry the inch thick manual around in my book bag. I learn how to do everything as soon as possible so I can use the calc to its fullest. I can do everything by hand as well though. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-math-students-ever-done-this/119023.md?page=1)