I’m looking to buy a graphing calculator for a student. I think the TI 83 is still standard, is it? I’d like to buy him something that can handle college level calculus as well as statistics. Any other opinions? Anyone know of a good place to buy them for students?
I would get the ti-89. Off the top of my head things that it can do that the 83 can’t vectors, algebra, factoring, solving equations and indefinate integration. The last one is a big deal if he is going to be doing college level calculus. If he is going into some sort of hard science or Engineering there is no doubt he should get the 89. Even if he isn’t the 89 will make his life ten times easier.
TI-89 seconded.
I bought an 83 for my calculus class thinking “I can do math myself, can’t I? I don’t need extra memory, or Tetris, or a contacts list…”
Now, though, it seems I have twice as much homework :smack: as my smug TI-89 classmates, due to all the working-out I have to by hand. We TI-83 owners are an underclass in Calc BC…always whinging about our friends with their shiny claculators and evaluated integrals… Damn, I would kill to have a calculator that would factor for me, or calculate lengths of arcs…
Although I suspect I would be failing the class if I were allowed a calculator with Tetris on it…
If you’re looking for a calculator, is there any real reason to be looking at anything other than an HP?
I dont know about you but at my HS, you wern’t allowed to bring Ti-89’s into exams because of the features it had. That might be something to consider.
Some people aren’t lucky enough to know RPN, maybe? Public schools are flooded with Toy Instruments, and people like familiarity.
I don’t know about you, but my TI-83+ does all those things.
They also aren’t allowed on the ACT (cite), though as far as I can tell from looking at their site, they’re okay on the SAT.
Really? Even indefinate integrals? Perhaps my memory is faulty then.
If you’re buying this for the student’s classwork, check with the department and see if they have any preferred choices for models.
Texas Instruments does have a large market share of the non-science, non-engineering students. The hard science and engineering types generally go with the Hewlett Packards.
If your student is going to use a calculator in a national exam (SAT,GRE, whatever), check with the test administrators to see which models are verboten.
Some functions the calculator doesn’t do specifically, but the software that you can get for/with it. Of course, some of them aren’t free.
How much college calc is the student looking at? I used my TI-83 up through Calc IV (multi-variable) and it worked just beautifully for me. There are plusses to the upper level ones too though, the TI-92 and Voyage 200 (also by TI) do a whole lot more, including lots with series and sequences plus three demensional graphing, which takes a bit of practice to visualize.
I’m currently a math major (one and a half semesters to go!) and have found that what calculators are and are not allowed varies from professor to professor. I would suggest a TI-83 though. It’s what most people still use and what professors here teach with. It’ll do what you need it to for undergrad level math classes with the comfort of knowing that it’s unlikely to be banned from any tests. Also, without some the added bells and whistles of the more expensive calculators, the student will be forced to work more things out by hand and most likely learn a bit more in the process. I know people that had TI-92s and Voyage 200s during multi-variable calc and they never did a single integration by hand. If asked how, they were unable to complete simple homework problems by hand. Part of learning math is being able to do the grunt work and actually understanding the problem, even if you can get a machine to do it for you.
That being said, I love my new Voyage 200. If I could marry my calculator, I probably would.
-Mosquito
I love my TI-89 Titanium. It has tons of helpful features and it won’t need to be replaced any time soon. 
However, if the student doesn’t plan to continue into college with a math, engineering, or physics major, the TI-83 would work just fine.
That said, I currently use it to check my work, or if I’m doing a specific graphing calculator homework problem. My current instructor expects us to be able to do the calculations without the benefit of a graphing calculator and creates his exams accordingly. Of course that may change - we’re currently on solids of revolution and work. We’re allowed to use them on the exam, but you have to show your work as well so I’ve found it more useful for double checking.