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Graphing Calculators for Geeks?
Winged Plum asks: "It's time for me to get a graphing calculator for my high school classes, as they're mandatory for next year's courses. After looking at some from TI and others from HP, I've got one question: Which is the best for a geek? The TI is pretty much the education standard, but HP claims to have some great calculator programming stuff. (They call it the Most Programmable Calc out there.) So should I go with the flow and get a TI, or should I get an HP and have a little fun with it? Any suggestions?" Are TI and HP the only ones out there doing graphing calulators? If not, who else in the market makes some decent products?
Just like my own particular branch of Christinanity is the one true way. In other words, this is partially a religious issue, though I doupt anyone will condem you to hellfire if you make the wrong choice.
Seriously though, in high school the TI is the most common and popular, in college and the real word the balance changes. Those who have the TI probaly stick with it, but the HP is more programable. RPM takes come getting used to, but it is a true geeks way to do things, and with little practice is easier.
As for programing, the HP wins, its programing language is beatiful in the way the onlt LISP can be beautiful. Of course not all geeks appreciate beauty, but most admit the LISP is nicer even if they can't stand it. (and there are many good arguments against LISP)
Things really haven't collapsed much...
Graphing calculators have just given the ability to calculate to a larger group of people... the people who'd figure out how to graph e^(-3t) cos(t) can still do it... it's just that the calculators let more students work with such functions, who otherwise couldn't.
After years of experience in graphing-based math courses (from basic algebra through second-year calculus), I'd tell you to stick with a Texas Instruments TI-85 or 86. The main reason for my suggestion is compatibility, most calculators in the wild are TI's, so that's where all the games (useful programs, too!) are. Assembly is known for both calculators, as well, although they do not have compatible instruction sets.
Don't get anything below an 85, the graphics suck, there's not enough memory, and the calculators lack both a useful interface and things like a built-in POLY program (calculates roots for polynomials), which in my opinion are pretty basic and quite important.
Anything above the 86 is illegal for testing, mainly because of the QWERTY keyboards, so when you take your SATs or AP tests or whatever you won't be allowed to use them. The 89 is included in this list because it can do everything the other calculators can, it just lacks a QWERTY keyboard.
The main differences IMO between the 85 and 86 are memory, slightly improved graphics and processor, and a table function for values, which all models but the 85 have for some strange reason. If you don't mind the extra money or the slightly smaller selection of games, the 86 is probably the way to go, but there's much broader support for the pretty-much standard 85.
Hope this helps.
---sig---
Try looking at sometime. There's so much there for the HP, you'll hardly believe it. (Can the TI run civilization? Thought not.)
It's a jihad out there -- watch out.
"If one is really a superior person, the fact is likely to leak out without too much assistance" -- John Andrew Holmes
Try looking at hpcalc.org sometime. There's so much there for the HP, you'll hardly believe it. (Can the TI run civilization? Thought not.)
It's a jihad out there -- watch out.
"If one is really a superior person, the fact is likely to leak out without too much assistance" -- John Andrew Holmes
What is your job? Why do you need your tool? Will you ever figure out how to use it?
I have a TI-89, and I am in pre-calc. It works nicely for that. I used to use a TI-83, but it definately had limitations. I used it as a tool for basically two things: graphing functions and doing petty arithmetic (besides the obvious: gaming). My upgrade to the 89 has given me a tool with significantly more capabilities, such as (especially) symbolic manipulation. Now I can let the calc do the dirty work while I concentrate on (a) putting the problem into an equation and (b) interpreting the results. Note that in this situation, I am actually doing most of the work. However, this work is what my mind can handle well. By adding the calculator to the picture, I have removed the necessity of doing all of the work in my head, but (here is the important part for this discussion) I have added the need to interface my brain with the calculator. On one level, I concentrate on what I can do, and on the other level, I concentrate on what the calc can do. There are thus two important requirements that I make of my calculator:
For me, the TI-89 works well with me. I can do symbolic manipulation, but I don't like to, so I make it do it. It can't interpret what it manipulates outside of its limited context, but I can. On the subject of TI vs HP, the 89 works in the same way as I do. It expresses an expression as a series of subexpressions, and works with things in units. Moreover, my units look like its units. What I am thinking about needs little translation to become what it "thinks" about. Similarly, with its Pretty Print (tm) capability, what it comes up with looks like what I come up with. So while I am solving a problem and need the facilities of my calculator, I can easily transfer the appropriate parts of the problem from my brain to the calculator. In fact, my brain and the calculator are so compatible that I often use the calculator to temporarily store results that I get in my brain, and then recall them later either back into the brain or use them again in the calculator.
With an HP and RPN, I have to go through much more mental rigor to put what I'm thinking into something that it can understand. My brain does not work in a stack; it works in a string. My brain is in-fix, the HP is post-fix. To have to constantly change around the two would require too much work for me to use it as a tool in the completion of a problem. I would only use it for arithmetic.
Most of the specifics of the above apply to me. However, if you think about how your brain works, you should be able to apply those same concepts to determine which tool is best for you. I can conceive how someone might work best with a stack, but I am not one of them. I guess the whole point of this post is that the calculator is a tool for you; it must "fit in your hand". There can be no one method for everyone. There are some things that I don't like about the TI-89. But overall, I think that it is really the best tool for me; I feel comfortable using it.
In the above, I have almost totally ignored the subject of games. If gaming is your thing, and calculating is something secondary, a TI is the way to go. There are far more games available for any TI calculator than for an HP calculator. You will find almost anything, from simple guess-the-number-deluxe games to Quake clones. ASM programming has allowed blindingly-fast, powerful games to come around, and there is even a C compiler available for the 68k calcs (89, 92, 92+) (it's called TI-GCC if you are looking).There are Casio graphing calculators available, some in color, but they are Casio. Don't expect that much. (This is based on other people's comments to me.) The choice really is between TI and HP.
Kenneth
PS - TI-89 important note: don't get AMS 2.03. I won't even start to try to describe what I have gone through with that Flash ROM "upgrade". You're curious? I had to give it the equivalent of "format c:" (DOS) or "mke2fs /dev/hda1" (Unix).
PPS - Speaking of Unix, since the TI-89 is an m68k-based computer, is there a version of Linux that will run on it? I am tired of it crashing.
HP's are more programmable. However, unless you intend to do the bulk of it yourself, the extra capacity goes to waste. Ever since a group of nerds discovered how to hack the TI-85 to run assembly code, there has simply been more available to TI users.
Similarly, all of your classmates will have TIs. TI-83s, actually. Most college courses only 'officially' support (i.e. the instuctions are written for) the TI-82 and 83, though some are also beginning to use the 85 and 86 as well. HPs are completely neglected.
There has also been considerably more effort put into learning how to more fully use TIs. If you go to the TI Calculator Project, you will find OSes, math and science tools, games, calendars, even plans for overclocking! The TI community has nearly bridged the gap between the Motorola 68000-based TI-89 and PDAs.
In conclusion, yes, I'm biased, but I think it's with good reason.
Unless, of course, scissors can't cut rock...