Which graphing calculator to purchase

  • Context:
  • Thread starter Thread starter hatelove
  • Start date Start date
  • Tags Tags
    Calculator Graphing
Join the discussion
Ask a follow-up here, or get your own question answered by working scientists, mathematicians and engineers — people, not an autocomplete.
Real named experts · corrections over time · the nuance an AI answer skips
3 replies · 3K views
hatelove
Messages
101
Reaction score
1
I'm considering buying a graphing calculator. Which one is good? Is the Texas Instruments Nspire CX CAS the best one on the market right now? I'm also looking at the HP 50g but I'm not bound to RPN so I'm fine with Algebraic calculation.
 
Physics news on Phys.org
If you are in secondary school use whatever is recommended.
 
My favorite is the TI-85 or TI-86; however, those are not made any more, so you'd have to get them used. In my opinion, TI has never made a better calculator, especially for engineering and science. I'm not a fan of CAS models of calculators: anything they can do Mathematica can do better, especially with a faster processor. I want my calculator to do relatively simple numerics quickly.
 
I own an HP 15c for everyday calculations, and if I go into finance I might purchase a 12c for that purpose, but I find the 15c very nice for scientific/engineering purposes. I'm not tied down to RPN though, so it doesn't really matter to me.

I am considering the Mathematica for Students 8: Standard Edition. For the cost of a cutting-edge graphing calculator this seems more powerful, but I'm first trying to find out more information about what I get for the price. Does anyone have any coupon codes for this?