Calculator thread, Sup Forumsentlemen.
I'm looking to buy a graphing calculator for high level math and science. I want it to have a computer algebra system and I'm not in uni or anything so that's not a problem. /Sci/ seemed to like the TI Nspire CX CAS the HP Prime, and I already had my eye on them.
I was also looking at the Casio FX CP400 L (pic related). What is Sup Forums's opinion?
2 of my friends and me have the NSpire CX CAS. Another 3 of our friends have the Casio FX whatever. The Nspire is faster than the Casio, but the Casio is faster for basic stuff like copying and pasting, adding another row for an equation or deleting current rows if you don't need to write any more equations, etc. Overall I don't think it really matters which one you pick.
I studied mechanical engineering, by the way.
I study mechanical engineering
I have NEVER needed a graphing calculator, in any of my classes
Why would you need one
I forgot to add that only one guy from my class had the HP Prime, but I don't know pretty much anything about it. I just know it's powerful.
In the 6 years I've had the Nspire, the battery has already gone to shit. One thing I like about the Casio and I wish the NSpire had is the AA batteries instead of an integrated one.
I haven't needed the graphical part of the calculator either, but having the spreadsheet and the symbolic calculus mode sure was helpful and sped things up in many situations.
>I forgot to add that only one guy from my class had the HP Prime, but I don't know pretty much anything about it. I just know it's powerful.
Powerful on the same level as the Nspire and Casio one? The impression I'm getting is that the high end calculators are pretty similar in terms of capabilities. Is this correct?
>In the 6 years I've had the Nspire, the battery has already gone to shit.
How shit?
I have the Nspire CX CAS and it works fine - but as someone else has already said it feels like overkill just to be able to input an equation as written because you can't be bothered to work it out properly - anything else MATLAB, and I am studying Aerospace Engineering
>Is this correct?
No. They're way more powerful than a 30€ non-programmable calculator, but their power levels varies a lot. In terms of power here is the ranking:
HP Prime > NSpire > Casio FX
The difference between NSpire and Casio was pretty damn significant when trying to solve complex equation systems. It got to a point where I look up ways in which to "torture" my calculator and my friends' and I came upon this function that, when trying to solve it, the Casio took more than twice as long as the NSpire. The HP beat the shit out of the NSpire though.
The battery is so shit that it gave up on me during an exam, except it didn't, except it did.
>minding my own business calculating stuff
>suddenly, the calculator turns off
>oh shit oh shit oh shit
>turn it back on
>50% battery
>wut?
>use it for 2 mins
>2% battery
>turn it off for a while
>50% battery
Shit like this happened on a daily basis. The battery doesn't last more than 1-2 hours now. It's really crap. I don't know whether this happens to all the models or I simply got the short end of the stick.
Either way, my degree is finished and I doubt I'll use the NSpire again. It was fun while it lasted though.
When I say 1-2 hours I mean 1-2 hours of normal calculator use, including the time the screen is off. Turn it on, write some stuff, turn it off. The screen on time is probably something like 15 minutes.
>15 minutes screen on time
Damn, when you said it was shit I thought you meant like, a day of normal use or something.
Why not use a computer?
h p 4 8
Get an HP Prime. I have both the prime and the nspire cas, nspire is shit compared to prime. Prime has much better build quality and is much faster to navigate with the touchscreen.
Is there an app which emulates this on a phone?
What's wrong with Matlab?
HP50G
Look nigga I'm a fresher in aerospace
Does it get better later on? This sem was boring
I don't know anything about aerospace, but in my experience, if you don't like it at first, you'll never like it.
Nigga we learnt nothing about aerospace this sem
RPN calculators are where it's at.
I've had my nspire for about 6 years too but the battery still works fine on it.. I can fully charge it and it will be fine for 2+ weeks ... (it does't have shit on the 84+ and what not in terms of battery life but still)
TI 89 non-titanium. Maximum comfy.
Just use an 84. Those things are pure gold. Nspire is honestly trash
/thread
>Nspire is honestly trash
Why?
Math student here, we are not allowed to use calculators.
Daily reminder, if you need a calculator (especially a graphing calculator) then you are a brainlet.
I can do most of the things with pen and paper as with graphing calculator but using the calc saves huge amounts of time
For science, all you need is a basic calculator with a natural display. Anything else you should be doing on a computer in something like python. Graphing calculators are cumbersome and basically useless with their limited computing power.
t. Physicist.
We are allowed to have graphing calculators in matriculation examination but no computers
TI-89 Titanium
In the exams i've taken we've never needed a graphing calculator. We hardly even need a calculator at all. If there's any stuff that requires a computer we're usually handed a print out of the apropriate commands run in matlab or w/e. Figuring out the behaviour of a function is something we're trained to do analytically, as one should.
A Ti-82 is like $5 on ebay.
Just because your school was like that doesn't mean every other one is the same. My college didn't permit calculators on exams in physics or math courses, but there's a competing school of thought that emphasizes teaching students to approach problems visually and geometrically using graphing calculators rather than algebraically. My high school used that method, and I found it very useful. It's easy to work out the general behavior of a function analytically, but it's nice to be able to just plug it in to the calculator and get an actual plot with actual numbers. Or to generate a table of values. Or make quick changes and see the results.
Of course matlab is the way to go for anything particularly complex, but for simpler things I find a calculator more convenient. Even without using the graphing functionality, I prefer graphing calculators over basic scientific calculators because the larger screens allow for much better user interfaces.
My 18-year-old TI-83 finally gave up the ghost a few weeks ago, so this thread is useful.
The TI-73, which can be flashed to a 83+ I think, is only 20 dollars. 25 Dollars can buy the original nspire case too.
cas*
No hesitation.
My calculator is free
It's called a MATLAB campus wide license!
This
Anything more than a $15 basic calculator (ie graphing calculators) was not needed for any of my engineering classes. My exams banned any electronics including calculators - there was no computation in any of my exams, just units and symbols.
When I had to do actual calculations, such as my undergrad thesis and any projects, we could use computers and simulation software (AutoCAD, Aspen, etc.) to run our calculations.
these anons have the correct answer. CAS functions will make sure you don't fuck up your math on tests
in this day and age of smartphones why are people still asking about graphical calculators
legit question
What d'you mean by "natural display"?
I'm wondering this too.
...
Graphing calculators are for high schoolers and children, learn Matlab or Mathematica like a real mathematician.
Matlab or Mathematica? Is either better for certain purposes?
Casio FX-991EX master race.
In my university graphical calculators were banned from any exam I can recall.
Anyway one of these days I might put one of these graphing calculator emulators on my smartphone.
bump
Just download wabbit emu and use your phone idiot. Physical calculators are a scam
I'd hate to use my phone as a calculator. I'd happily pay $100 for the decades old hardware in a new TI-84 just to not have to use a touchscreen.
TI graph calcs are overpriced. Walmart used to have a Casio one for $40-something. They no longer have it, but you can prob. get it on Amazon or something.
I studied physics and I never needed a fucking calculator that went beyond basic mathematical operations and functions. It's a waste of money. Just pirate Mathematica or MATLAB or just use Python if you want to play around with graphs and numbers (PLUS you gather actually useful skills on the way). Graphical calculators are a scam.
MATLAB: Linear algebra, numerical operations, simulations, stuff like that
Mathematica: Analytic stuff, symbolical integration, solution of differential equations and whatnot, simplification of formulae
HP 50G master race
There are some advanced scientifics with spreadsheet-capable displays that may be an option if you don't want or need graphing.
A CHALLENGER APPEARS
Pic related is best handheld calculator. It does literally everything that a brainlet's graphing calculator can do except graph, and it's cheap af. Just use a PC if you need a real CAS.
It's too bad HP's latest RPN scientifics have bugs in their trig functions (yes, really) or I'd recommend those instead.
seconded.
if this doesn't do it, you should be using a computer.
Mathematica is more than capable of doing linear algebra and numerical calculations. In fact I would say it has more features than matlab. Usually matlab just tries to copy mathematica features.
The yellow print on silver seems hard to read. I think I saw a black one some time.
> Falling for the calculator meme.
>not just installing Matlab, Octave, Mathematica on a small laptop.
Yeah bud I'm sure that expensive calculator will increase your productivity so much!
[spoiler]just buy an HP[/spoiler]
can't you just use a basic scientific calculator and call it a day?
JUST USE A FUCKING PHONE
>Retro Calculator Thread?
Yes it requires a wall wart power supply
The fx-115ES has always been silver, as far as I know. You probably saw a lower end Casio model in the same family.
The yellow print is not very bright (it's more of a stale piss color) so the contrast with the silver body is fine.
Hell yeah mayne
no
Literally any advance math or science class will require either a computer or a basic scientific calculator, think TI 30 level. There really isn't an in between.
Accounting major. Same, went all the way through 2 Calculus courses and Trig. It's all just a meme from the 70's.
> high level maths and science
> needs calculator
The cp400 is dope. I have one and it's been perfect..
There is also a way to put pictures on it in case you need a chest sheet for a test
>cheat sheet
Brainlet detected.
Calculators can be fun gadgets. I think I'll get one next time it's on clearance or something.
Why would you buy a calculator if you're not in school? Just buy Mathematica or something.
>Just
we have literal pocket computers now, with more processing power and RAM than any meme calculator. Are there any MATLAB/Mathematica version for phones? If not, that's a niche market for all you developers.
I have one. Been my trusty buddy for the past 4 years.
>forgetting your computer is just a calculator
picked up pic related at a vintage shop by my house recently for two bucks. lent it to a friend shortly after and he used it on a digital logic exam
This is the only calculator they let us use anyways for exams, but I do like it.