N/A calling Calculator Nerds - what's the best graphing calculator these days?

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Brad W

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OK, I know there are some calculator nerds here, I remember some discussions in the past....

I'm wondering..... today, what is considered to be the absolute top-tier best scientific calculator these days? most accurate, fast processor, best function and logic, and whatever else is 'best'
as if money is no object.... what are the young engineers at top-tier engineering jobs using these days? or do they even use calculators anymore?...is everything done by PC?​
and if money is an object, what seems to be the go-to compromise? (like top tier student level)​

Back in my day, from what I knew and was exposed to it was HP. This was back in the days long before graphing calculators. I used an 11C all through school and then for a long time at work. Their lowest end 11C for me only because that was what I could afford.
I've been using an HP35s a work for the last bunch of years, only because that was just about the only RPN calculator I could find when I decided to stop using my museum piece 11C (The LCD started bleeding around the edges, + I was looking for a multiline display). Well actually I bought some other HP model that lasted only a year or two...piece of junk. This 35s is better. For the work I do now a simple middle school level casio would work but my brain thinks RPN. I just don't need anything better and have little desire to learn a new graphing calculator full of functions that I'll never use.
Anyway, I just have a pretty solid idea that HP is no longer the thing to have. Seems like they have abandoned that market.

Anyway, I got myself into a calculator rabbit hole last night. My son just finished his freshman year. Just taking the required freshman junk classes. Undecided major but is on track to do some sort of engineering. He took Calc1 his freshman year and is taking Calc 2 over the summer and was doing homework yesterday. I caught him using his iPhone as a calculator! He never bought a better one...sees no need at this point.
I told him that he needs to order a calcular now, so that he can start learning how to use it before he gets into his real classes!

I certainly don't want to choose it for him...but seeing as how I once was a calculator nerd or at least a 'wana-be'... I want to know for myself, and so that I can better advise him...
Seems like TI is almost the only game in town now
& I'll admit to being alarmed by that because TI used to be pretty much 'garbage' (press 9 once and get 9999999..., anyone remember that?)
So am I missing something?
 
The kids in HS still use the TI-series.
 
Oh, yeah, the famous TI multipress.

Sorry, other than that, the only calculator I used for decades was the HP20S with batteries that last almost a decade.

I can’t remember when or where I got it, but it still works.

TI graphing calculators seems to be the brand that our high schools recommend, but I’m not sure of the motivations behind that.


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Matthew said:
Oh, yeah, the famous TI multipress.

Sorry, other than that, the only calculator I used for decades was the HP20S with batteries that last almost a decade.

I can’t remember when or where I got it, but it still works.

TI graphing calculators seems to be the brand that our high schools recommend, but I’m not sure of the motivations behind that.


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yeah...the batteries in my 11C lasted forever too.
My 35S batteries go a long time too but not nearly as long as those older ones (maybe 2-3 years of heavy use, I don't keep track)

that 20S... looks funny to my eye...an HP with an equals button. what is that???
 
Brad W said:
yeah...the batteries in my 11C lasted forever too.
My 35S batteries go a long time too but not nearly as long as those older ones (maybe 2-3 years of heavy use, I don't keep track)

that 20S... looks funny to my eye...an HP with an equals button. what is that???
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Yeah, probably the only non-RPN HP made.
 
I used a TI-89 in high school and college. It wasn't permissible for SAT/ACT tests, but it was the cream of the crop in the early-00s. The TI Nspire CX II CAS is pretty much the top tier model today it appears. Full color, lots of user memory, and able to use/code basic programming languages like Python. That said, most every professional is going to use MS Excel with add-ons for statistical analysis or engineering layouts, or similar applications that are task-specific for running simulations and data modeling. Not many engineers on the floor with a calculator punching in data points.
 
Or an iPad with the iPen or whatever it's called.
 
I believe the TI-94 (?) is the model my spouse's middle school provides her math students.
 
Haven’t touched a graphing calculator since high school. Everything is part of a larger calculation in Matlab/python/pick your language of choice here.

Google for incredibly basic math and jupyter notebooks for everything else in my current gig, matlab in grad school and other jobs
 
I had an HP28S, which was arguably the best graphing calculator ever. Had. The plastic case finally fatigued and broke at the battery cover. Graphing calculators are sort of irrelevant these days. It's not much more effort to lug a small laptop around than a full size HP calculator. For that matter I very rarely even use a handheld calculator. I have the Excalibur RPN calculator on both my home and work computers.

I borrowed a friend's HP48GX with the survey pack to take the California civil PE exam. I don't think I had to work a survey problem in the national 8 hour but there is a 4 hour survey exam you have to take in CA. It saved my bacon. My degree was in ME, not CE.
 
Isn't this akin to asking what the best typewriter is? I have not had a need for a graphing calculator since getting out of school, but I would expect that any modern smartphone would have multiple apps to choose from that could run circles around any standalone calculator. Unless smartphones aren't allowed in class or during tests to combat cheating.

In which case I would guess that upperclassmen would have their finger on the pulse of the technology and have the hands-on experience to know what the top options are.
 
Related to this, what's the best Windows calculator app? The one in Windows 10 now is terrible.

I do have a few Casio scientific calculators which I fairly often use, but I like being able to use a calculator on the computer because of the ease of copy & paste.
 
Most of the engineering students I know use their computer. Or their phone with a calculator app. A few might have a graphing calculator but it’s rare I see them use it. Heck, even back in engineering school 3 decades ago the hp48 was popular, but I hardly ever used the graphing function. Just good old RPN
 
I got two engineering degrees with a slide rule!
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If you run an iPhone or iPad there’s an app called iHP48 that emulates the old HP48. I have an HP50 something or other and it’s a pos. I like the fact it’s there on my phone when I need it.
 
CaptainXap said:
Related to this, what's the best Windows calculator app? The one in Windows 10 now is terrible.

I do have a few Casio scientific calculators which I fairly often use, but I like being able to use a calculator on the computer because of the ease of copy & paste.
Click to expand...
Excalibur.
 
well this is interesting... maybe he's right and doesn't need one! I have never really needed a graphing calculator myself..... but I guess this old dinosaur just thought that's where everything went. I guess it did...a few decades ago....but has mostly moved on!

Thinking about it now, I guess it does make sense to use a computer for the heavy lifting. I use my calculator daily but mostly just simple multiplication and addition....and some basic trig a few times a week. From my perspective having a GOOD calculator handy for that stuff is still necessary, but yeah I suppose you can do that on your phone instead.
 
I don’t like using my phone as a calculator. The touchscreen doesn’t give the same tactile feedback as a real button.

When I was working I did a lot of trig on my HP calculator. But the heavy lifting of statistics was done with Excel since that usually required large tables of data. Sometimes I’d work out the process on the calculator and then use the spreadsheet for the analysis. MATLAB was something I tried using but just never got too deep into.
 
He mày or may not be able to use his phone or iPad during a test.
 
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