My daughter needs a new "graphing" calculator - su

[Soonerdawg]

My daughter was told she needs a "graphing" calculator for school. Even though she is only in the seventh grade, the teacher wants them to get one that will last them through high school. We were given no other guidence.

It has been since I was in engineering at Tech in 1979 since I have even used an engineering calculator, and we were using the black programmable calculators back then. When the calulator was turned off, anything programed was lost. Thus, I have no idea what kind to get her today. If anyone has any suggestions, we would greatly appreciate any imput.

[faninmonroe]

http://www.shopping.hp.com/cgi-bin/h...ng&cat_level=1

I use HP's finacial calculators and love them. By the time your daughter is in college, a handheld PDA will have every possible application on one device.

[AustinDawg]

HP's are nice. I myself use an HP48G. However, they are a little unwieldy to use at first. They sort of have their own--"language". I'm not sure I would recommend it to a Seventh Grader.

The TI's are a little more reasonable for a beginner. For her, I would recommend a TI-85 (Texas Instruments). This would last her well into college (if she goes to Tech), depending on her major. You better get ready to shell out about $75, though. Graphing calculators aren't cheap.

This particular model should be available at Wal-Mart, Office Depot, or the Tech Bookstore.

[bulldogengr]

I would have to say get a TI. Probably a TI-85. I seem to find that they are the best b/c that is what most people use. That way if you need to know how to do something on it, then there are enough people out there that can tell you how to do it.

[Champ967]

Also, TI-85's can be progammed to play Pong, and other simple games.

Be sure to purchase a model with an infrared antenna/receiver. They work like two-way tv remotes, and two students at opposite ends of a classroom can "beam" messages to one another.

Man ... back in my day we had to tap pencils in Morse code or just plain pass notes. Isnt technology amazing!!!

[VADawg]

Soonerdawg,

I am a middle school principal in Virginia and our students are encouraged to get TI-83 or TI-85 calculators when they take Algebra 1. Most schools will provide a classroom set but that does not help at home. My one tip would be to double check on the TI version that is allowed on your states standardized testing.
This will help with your child being familiar with the one allowed. Good luck.

Michael Robinson
aka VADAWG

[EJ]

Everyone my age (28) and older used HP's in college. However, before I graduated, Tech started teaching College Algebra using the TI's.

So, if your daughter is going to Tech and will be taking college algebra in the future, I'd say get the TI even though I love my HP 48G!

[sportdawg]

My Freshman year at Tech (1995), I was required to get a TI-82. It's still great and easy to use. A student of mine last year bought an HP and asked me how to use it. I had NO clue.

[Soonerdawg]

Thank you very much for your imput guys. I had no idea were to even begin to look because I have been out of the market for so long. I'm going to get a TI. Once I purchase a calculator, I will post how she likes it, and more importantly how well she can use it. Others may have the same question.

If she needs a more powerful calculator when she gets to college I will cross that bridge at that time. In the meantime, I have three others following her in grades every other year, so hopefully she can either use it in college or pass it down. Who knows what technology is going to bring in the future, but hopefully I'm not making that purchase four time.

Again, all of your replies are greatly appreciated.

Have a Merry Christmas.

James

[CaseyDawg]

Think about getting the TI 82+ or 89, if I were getting a TI I would get the 89. When I was at tech most of the students used TI models.

[EJ]

Think about getting the TI 82+ or 89, if I were getting a TI I would get the 89. When I was at tech most of the students used TI models.

What a difference 5 years can make. When I graduated, everyone used HPs...

[007dawg]

Engineers who don't use HPs are shuned in industry! LOL!

I personally use either the HP48GX or an HP48G (depending which one my wife has borrowed). My 48GX was purchased in 1995 and has worked steadily since then. It is also expandable with plug-in cards and has the availibility to be programmed from a PC (via a patch link cable). It also has the built-in IR transfer capability which is nice for swapping equation libraries and games to play during economics classes!

Overall, the HP will be a bit difficult to use for a 7th grader ... and I just couldn't feel good recommending it for her. I got mine at the end of my senior year at RHS as a graduation gift ... but I really didn't use it until the next fall at Tech. HPs use reverse polish notation which is a bit hard to swallow at first (instead of entering "2 + 2 enter" to receive the answer 4, you input "2 enter 2 +"). Those of us who use them swear by them and will use nothing else. We all say we run circles around TI users.

Just FYI ... the HP48 series calculator is issued to the NASA astronauts for use on the Space Shuttle and ISS programs. This doesn't say that the HP is at the pinnacle of technology, but it does say its a good, reliable calculator.

[markay714]

Engineers who don't use HPs are shuned in industry! LOL!

I personally use either the HP48GX or an HP48G (depending which one my wife has borrowed). My 48GX was purchased in 1995 and has worked steadily since then. It is also expandable with plug-in cards and has the availibility to be programmed from a PC (via a patch link cable). It also has the built-in IR transfer capability which is nice for swapping equation libraries and games to play during economics classes!

Overall, the HP will be a bit difficult to use for a 7th grader ... and I just couldn't feel good recommending it for her. I got mine at the end of my senior year at RHS as a graduation gift ... but I really didn't use it until the next fall at Tech. HPs use reverse polish notation which is a bit hard to swallow at first (instead of entering "2 + 2 enter" to receive the answer 4, you input "2 enter 2 +"). Those of us who use them swear by them and will use nothing else. We all say we run circles around TI users.

Just FYI ... the HP48 series calculator is issued to the NASA astronauts for use on the Space Shuttle and ISS programs. This doesn't say that the HP is at the pinnacle of technology, but it does say its a good, reliable calculator.

I generally do my best to look down on those not using an HP around my office. Of course, all of my real work is done on the computer and I only add up stuff I should be doing in my head on the calculator. Actually, I only look down on those having a non HP computer because if I'm trying to borrow it to add something up right quick I know they have the wrong kind of calculator. After you've used an HP for a while, its VERY hard to get out of that Reverse Polar Notation mentality.

[CaseyDawg]

I would guess that about 1/3 of the engineers at Tech still use an HP, a lot of the other 2/3 have them but use their TI more.

You can count on highschool teachers and math teachers at Tech using TIs.