Finding the Right Calculator for University - Dan's Story

[danago]

Hey starting uni soon and i need to buy a calculator. The uni has given us a list of approved calculators, but i really don't know which one to go for. They have stated that they cannot be programmable or graphic calculators. Here is the list they have given us:

http://www.ecm.uwa.edu.au/__data/page/113210/Approved_Calculators.pdf

At the moment price isn't an issue, so i just want to get the most powerful calculator on the list. I've only ever used one calculator through high school so i really don't know which one to go for. Any recommendations?

Thanks,
Dan.

 

[jhicks]

I used the TI 34 in every math competition I ever participated in. Apparently according to that list there's a 36 now. They are solid scientific calculators in my book. One of those calculators on that list might be able to do complex numbers though. The TI-34 cannot to my knowledge.

 

[huckmank]

Yeah, out of that list, it looks like the TI 36X Solar is going to be your boy. I don't see any of these calculators doing complex number arithmetic for you. The 36X has some useful constants in it and looks the most robust out of that list of calculators.

That's crazy that they don't even let you have programmables. The kills any chance of you using an RPN calc. :p

 

[huckmank]

I lied. The http://www.sharpusa.com/products/ModelDetailedSpecs/0,1161,1463-,00.html#" does complex numbers and looks super-badass compared to the rest of that bunch.

 

[danago]

Ive had a look at the sharp EL 506 and it does look quite good. I've narrowed my choice down to the casio fx100ms and the sharp, but can't really decide which to go for. Anyone else have a preference?

 

[kuahji]

I have the Casio FX-115. You can do just about anything you want on it... even evaluate integrals, derivatives, matrices, stat functions, etc. Its just a matter of wanting to learn how to use all the different functions.