Calculator Recommendations

[Coco_Clark]

My 20 year old graphing calculator is finally dead.  Big line down the screen.  It's a Texas instrument TI 89, and I was just going to buy another just like it.  But there's a TI 84 that's in color, and a CAS that's cheaper and says it does more.  Now I'm doubting myself.  

Is there a calculator that just blows the others out of the water?  

[Clarita]

If possible I would try out the one you are looking at. I bought a new TI-89 in 2010 and I didn't like the new one as much. It felt slower than my old trusty TI-89 from 2000. Then when I started working I realized I only needed the scientific calculator located on my phone. All complicated calculations I needed to do for my STEM job would be done by the simulation software, excel or some math program.

[Coco_Clark]

This would be for my current high school students, who don't have phones yet. 

I have ds12 in AOPS Introduction to Algebra (hasn't needed a calc yet, but I assume will soon), ds13 in public school Algebra 1 (teacher recommends one about halfway through the year), dd14 in Saxon Pre-A (won't need one for quite a while I think), and ds14 in Derek Owens Algebra 2 (the current calculator user).

I may even end up with two calculators depending how needs fall.

Edited November 4, 2022 by Coco_Clark

[ScoutTN]

My Dd has used a TI-84 Plus CE and been happy with it.

[Arcadia]

On 11/3/2022 at 6:09 PM, Coco_Clark said:

My 20 year old graphing calculator is finally dead.  Big line down the screen.  It's a Texas instrument TI 89, and I was just going to buy another just like it.  But there's a TI 84 that's in color, and a CAS that's cheaper and says it does more. 

If your kids are going to use the calculator for ACT, the TI89 and the Nspire CAS are not allowed 
https://www.act.org/content/dam/act/unsecured/documents/ACT-calculator-policy.pdf

[regentrude]

On 11/3/2022 at 8:47 PM, Coco_Clark said:

This would be for my current high school students, who don't have phones yet. 

I have ds12 in AOPS Introduction to Algebra (hasn't needed a calc yet, but I assume will soon), ds13 in public school Algebra 1 (teacher recommends one about halfway through the year), dd14 in Saxon Pre-A (won't need one for quite a while I think), and ds14 in Derek Owens Algebra 2 (the current calculator user).

I may even end up with two calculators depending how needs fall.

My kids made it through high school, ACT+SAT, and their physics degrees with a $9 scientific calculator like this one:

https://a.co/d/6mpXFTl

AoPS won't need a calculator more than a handful of times throughout the entire sequence.
The only thing that requires a graphing calculator is AP Calc.

[Roadrunner]

Mine loves his $10 Casio and refuses to use the graphing calculator. But he was forced to use the graphing one for his AP Calculus but is since back to his old beat up Walmart Casio now. 
 

[Malam]

For something fresh, check out https://www.numworks.com/. It's approved for AP/SAT/ACT exams yet can solve equations: https://www.numworks.com/resources/manual/solver/ and runs python. You can see an emulator here: https://www.numworks.com/simulator/. It also has a number of functions that can rival even top of the line CAS calculators: https://www.numworks.com/resources/manual/toolbox/

You could also get a non-graphing Casio-FX 115ES Plus for around $20 which can take them through an engineering degree into the Fundamentals of Engineering exam, which forbids graphing calculators,

Edited November 8, 2022 by Malam

[stripe]

I’d get a good scientific calculator w/o graphing, and worry about graphing later. Your kids seem pretty young. When I was in high school, AP Calc didn’t yet require a graphing calculator, so I never had one, and I absolutely loved the calculator I had (which, sadly, I have lost). I used it through college with no issues. I got my kids graphing calculators but they’re honestly hard to use, soooo many deeply nested menus and buttons to press. One kid loves that kind of stuff and delved deep into the manual and figured out how to do things, but they seem much slower and more awkward than I remember mine being. So unless you have kids who love to read manuals, I agree with the ever-amazing regentrude to look for a nice scientific calculator.

[mlktwins]

My boys love their cheap Casio, but are using their TI-84+ CE for AP stats this year.

[NittanyJen]

What do you think are their current plans? Do they plan to take the SAT or the ACT? Do they plan to take any AP courses such as AP Stats or AP Calc?

If they plan to take AP Calc or Stats and the SAT, I think either the TI-84 or a Casio fxg series will work very well.

If you have a seriously tech Geek kid, and have the budget for it, consider a TINspire, but if you plan on a standardized test or AP Physics or other courses, do check on the College Board site to see if the calculator they want is allowed on the exams they are likely to take.

They are all pretty simple to use, and finding your way around the menus is pretty straightforward— the functions are grouped pretty logically on all of the TI’s and Casios I have tried. It’s a bit harder to find your way around on an HP.

Given ease of use being I pretty similar, I like Casio for better speed and lower price. I like the TI because most textbooks give step by step directions for TI calculators. For a wow factor for running a quick and simple simulation to explore how concepts work, the Casio and TI are good, but the TINspire is the best in that category. Many book publishers have been including groups of applet/simulators available free online, too, for playing around with “What happens if I increase my sample size?” Types of scenarios.

It’s true that most computation is actually done on computers now, but I find it’s nice to be able to just be more portable with the textbook and calculator sometimes, and once you learn your way around a bit and see the logic to where things are found, the calculator is pretty quick for doing homework problems.