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TI Launches Three New Graphing Calculators
confusedneutrino writes "Texas
Instruments has announced 3 new graphing calculators to be available later this year. The TI-84
Plus and TI-84
Plus Silver Edition will be available this spring and are essentially the TI-83 Plus/SE, respectively, in a new case and with USB support. (The TI-84 Plus does sport a 15 MHz processor, compared to the TI-83 Plus' 6 MHz, though.) The TI-89
Titanium will be available in the summer and features 3x the available ROM of the 'old' TI-89 and will also have USB capability. Looks to me like a Voyage 200 minus QWERTY. I personally don't feel an inclination to upgrade at all..."
And there are many occasions where the graphing functions of my TI have proved useful in the workplace. To name a few:
- being able to view every key I've entered before evaluating the expression
- being able to revise and edit incorrect expressions
- to determine linear regression fits for data sets
- to perform functions like logarithms and square roots on said data sets, in order to linearize them (linearity being checked, of course, by the R^2 correlation of my fit)
- anything at all to do with linear algebra, especially solving systems of equations or matrix manipulations. RREF is a bitch by hand.
For more "pure" math (like Diff. Eq.), I agree that pencil and paper are generally easier. But any applied math (a.k.a. engineering) requires an insane amount of busy work that could not be handled with a puny scientific calculator. I know you said Engineering and Physics are different stories, but everything I just wrote could certainly apply to all sciences (even the "soft" ones like Psych. and Sociology), or anything at all requiring data collection.
For the record, I use a TI-86 daily at a bio-tech job. It has the stats capabilities of the 83, plus all the good parts of the 85.
When I took the AP Calculus exam in 2000, there were large chunks of the exam where you couldn't use a caclulator. In the places that you could, you still had to show all work leading up to your solution.
The RPNs worth buying are:
16C - awesome calculator for programmers, especially embedded work. There is no better number system converter available at any price. No I can't do bin/dec/hex in my head faster than the 16C and neither can you. Expensive due to relatively low numbers produced.
42S - pricey, even used, but excellent. Two line display, a replacement for the 15C.
32SII - somewhat like a 42S but with single line display, not so nice to use.
15C - same form factor as 16C. At the time HP's top scientific.
11C - a simpler 15C
10C - a simpler 11C
All the above have solid old-HP build quality, excellent key feel and outstanding battery life.
Older HPs are also usable (and may be preferred) - but they have even greater collector status and sometimes fetch higher prices. They will go through batteries faster and the red LEDs can be harder to see.
Forget the 48 models, the 49 and all the new stuff. The 48GX is OK if you have to have graphing but the single and dual-line models have better UI for daily use. The 49? HP died when Carly took over. Now they make pretty colored plastic boxes that only work with windows and they have forgotten how to spell "engineering". In fact they fired all the engineers and HP is now run by MBAs in shiny suits.
(I own 16C, 42s, 15C and 11C models.)
I posted on this the last time the issue of graphing calculators came up - namely when HP announced their new line. The biggest reason being that the graphing calculator interface on a PDA will suck compared to the Real Deal (TM). Having to dig through 8 layers of menus to find the function you want simply doesn't cut it when you just want to get work done. This is the reason why despite owning a top of line line desktop and a fairly decent laptop, I'll still be purchasing an HP-49G+ in the near future - either of the computers has much more power, in the case of the laptop is portable, and could run graphing calculator software, but they still wouldn't be the best tool for getting work done. I'll stick to a nice, standalone calculator and skip the all-in-one super thingamajig, thank you.
Put it this way, I have yet to find a decent enough math package for PalmOS that I feel replaces my trusty TI-85. Basically, I put it down to the fact that data entry on a PDA is far too cumbersome to do calculations fast enough for my liking. As well, a full blown computer may be undesirable in certain situations, or just too expensive to justify, especially for academic use (ie. on tests or assignments). I mean, who wants to boot up their notebook if they're just trying figure out the closest approach of a comet or the inverse of a small matrix?
-Colin
Try EasyCalc... very close to the real thing. The only thing it's missing is scriptability, and since it's GPL someone could add that.
Truth be told, some teachers like the freedom to nuke their students' calculators before tests so they can't, you know, stash answers in there. Frankly, if PDAs were allowed and teachers followed that protocol, nastiness would ensue from parents, and rightly so. Truth be told, an ARM-based PDA such as a Palm Tungsten or WinCE unit would so utterly blow away a graphing calculator that, properly implemented, it'd be not unlike sending your kid to school with a copy of Matlab. Most teachers of anything up to college-level calculus II would not appreciate that.
I do agree with your logic -- makes sense, right tool for the right job, and graphing calcs and PDAs have both evolved far enough away from their early-80s pocket computer roots that they occupy distinctly different domains. But the reason PDAs aren't allowed is strictly a functional issue.
Dear god man! You can do this in your head. If you are having trouble, draw both functions on a scrap of paper.
x = pi/4 + n*pi
n is any integer.