Graphing Calculators

[kkenny]

Argh. I have to go back to school, and this year my PreCal class requires a graphing calculator. I really have no idea which one I should use, but I need a calculator that is permitted on the SAT, ACT, PSAT and SAT II MATH CL2(sat I standards should comply)

Here are my choices
TI-84 Silver
TI-84
TI-83
TI-Nspire
TI-Nspire CAS (SAT AND PSAT ONLY, NO ACT)
TI-89 (SAT AND PSAT ONLY, NO ACT)

My budget doesn't matter, as I'm going to be saving up and using these until I graduate college (7 years...) but each calculator needs to be able to be used in classes such as (chemistry, physics, any AP classes, pre cal, cal ap, and college math) and I want it to be simple to use. I'm leaning towards the TI-Nspire CAS, because of how it can do algebraic functions, but then I can't use it on the ACT. I don't really know and I'm really confused, and I need one soon. HELP! :[

 

[GG-Xtreme]

I personally use 2 calculators: The TI-84+ (not silver, I think it's a waste of money) and a Casio scientific calculator that does algebra and calculus. I haven't used the Nspire (although it looked pretty cool). These two calculators together can do anything the Nspire CAS can do, but I have been allowed to use them (both of them) for any test so far.

 

[Smith6612]

I have a TI-83 Plus and it does what I need it to do. But if anything, laptop + Open source software = win!

 

[ShadowmasterX]

I would either get a TI-83 or 84

 

[Spartan Erik]

TI-83 is simple and good enough for most cases. If you're in college and you have a laptop, you can get a TI emulator and ROM (VirtualTI)

I personally have a TI-89 only because I got it at a good price. It's completely different from the TI-83 and takes some time getting used to as it has a Windows 3.1-esque interface. Only consider the 89 if you want 3D graphing (engineers all around UT have this calculator)

 

[kkenny]

I would use a labtop with virtualTI if I could, but when I take national college tests, I need a real calc. x.x

I might look into the NSpire CAS, but then that would mean I'd have to give up the ACT.

 

[YamiKaitou]

I have the TI84+ Silver. The 83 and 84 are almost identical. Most of the schools around here (grade and college) recommend the 83/84. Never used any other graphing calc though.

 

[Sharky]

I've got a TI-80. http://www.amazon.com/Texas-Instruments-TI-80-Graphing-Calculator/dp/B000OMXVA0 . Did the job nicely, and is programmable. I've got my own Newton-Raphson numerical method programmed to find the roots of a function, and another to solve quadratic equations.

I do like the sound of this, though:

The TI-Nspire line of handhelds have greatly improved hardware compared to older TI graphing calculators. The new LCD screen has a higher resolution (320x240 pixels) and is capable of displaying sixteen shades of gray.

^ From the wikipedia article on the nspire

 

[kkenny]

Hah, I should go check Wikipedia for more details. Amazon is pretty useful, but the TI site is unreliable.

 

[Soupy]

I've got a Ti-84 silver and I love it. :3
Of course, it doesn't necessarily need to be silver. The only difference is pretty much an interchangeable faceplate.