Calculator of choice? 1

[BadgerPE]

Hey all!

My trusty TI-83 Plus decided that it no longer wants to work so I am in the market for a new calculator. I still have my bare bones one from that I bought for the FE but I can't program it to do repetative equations. What is everyone's calc of choice? I am leaning towards a TI-89. My plan is to be in grad school within the next 5 years as well so I would want to use it for that as well.

 

[TED7]

Nokia N900 with AlmostReal Ti85 emulating a TI86, I have and prefer my Casio CFX-9850G but it doesnt fit in my pocket and as such never have it when I need it.

Designer of machine tools - user of modified screws

 

[MiketheEngineer]

Nothing against the Polish people - I am probably related to some - but Reverse Polish Notation just strikes me as an anomaly??

 

[IRstuff]

(what way)(an anomaly)(in?)

TTFN
faq731-376

 

[brandonbw]

HP 48GX, but it finally decided that the buttons would stop working. So now I am using the closest thing in feel, HP 35s, and should still be valid for the tests. I will also use a HP48 emulator on my Android phone if I forget my calculator. But its just not the same as a physical keyboard.

I love RPN.

B+W Engineering and Design
Los Angeles Civil and Structural Engineering

http://bwengr.com

 

[imagitec]

RPN is praised for speed, but speed has never been an issue for me in my work, nor was it while taking the PE exam.

Conversely, a meaningful visual representation (i.e., it looks like the equation I'd write out by hand), accuracy of entry, and the ability to easily verify that accuracy are of supreme importance, both in my work and taking the PE exam. So I've always preferred calculators with algebraic entry and a history or ticker-tape.

I no longer carry a dedicated calculator, just as I no longer carry a dedicated camera or music player; it's another task for my Android smartphone. Unfortunately, I haven't found what I would consider an excellent calculator app. They tend to mimic the old-school calculators to a fault - a jumble of fixed function buttons and a tiny window for input and output.

There is an app called Mathlab Calc that is being actively developed and shows promise. It uses a web-service as its calculation engine, however, so without an Internet connection, it doesn't work.

(The old Windows Mobile had some excellent math applications, including a version of the MathCAD-like SMath Studio and MathTablet.)

Rob Campbell, PE
Imagitec: Imagination - Expertise - Execution
imagitec.net

 

[zuccus]

I am still kicking it with the TI-85 that I bought in 1992. I found one at a garage sale a few weeks ago that I keep in the closet in case then one goes out.

 

[DHambley]

I have 3 powerful CAD progams at my fingertips on the PC, 4 if you include Excel, for all my complex calculations.
My calculator needs are as follows, "should cost less than $20". Yeah, I'm cheap but also, anything like taking a log or a sine is much quicker on a cheap calculator than typing the numbers into the PC. Anything more complex is more quickly accomplished by a CAD program.

 

[MacGyverS2000]

If you keep Google open on your desktop, quite a bit if "calculator" math is possible.

Dan - Owner

http://www.Hi-TecDesigns.com

 

[brandonbw]

It is surprising that a calculator on a phone wouldn't have a different interface, something more geared towards the technology.

I am so used to RPN that I don't know how to use a regular calculator very well. Its sometimes embarrassing if I have to use someone elses.

B+W Engineering and Design
Los Angeles Civil and Structural Engineering

http://bwengr.com

 

[imagitec]

You would think developers would take advantage of the technology, but I suppose there is marketing value in mimicing something someone is (or someone's mother or father was) familiar with in the real world. Check out the images of what the developer claims is the most popular Android calculator, RealCalc

 

[MacGyverS2000]

Thought that looked familiar (no pun intended), imageitec... that's the one I use on my Droid.

Dan - Owner

http://www.Hi-TecDesigns.com

 

[drawoh]

I tried using RPN when I was in college, but just couldn't get used to it. It felt unnatural to me. To this day I still use a Casio fx-4000P

Lucky you.

I miss my Casio FX4000P. It was stolen when someone broke into my car. They took my crappy old back-up pair of glasses and my briefcase. The Casio was in the briefcase, and worth perhaps $1.22CDN. The briefcase was new, and the only remotely valuable thing they got.

JHG

 

[HornTootinEE]

Used a TI-89 all the way through college, was great for converting polar to rectangular numbers and back, but you can do that with any "slightly advanced" scientific calculator.

I'd buy a cheapo TI, Casio, or HP and use Excel, MathCad, or similar if you need graphing capabilities.

 

[Maui]

drawoh, that sucks. But you can still find them on Ebay every so often. I'd suggest looking there. By the way, you should also search for the Radio Shack EC-4020. It's exactly the same calculator as the Casio fx-4000P as you can see here:

http://www.rskey.org/CMS/index.php/7?manufacturer=Radio+Shack&model=EC-4020

Maui

http://www.EngineeringMetallurgy.com

 

[DTOREC]

You can get a TI-83 emulator app for your phone, as long as you own a working TI-83.

 

[imagitec]

Here is a decent list of online graphing calculators, some of them fairly powerful.

I'm much more interested in a web app that provides a decent worksheet/engineering notebook interface like MathCAD or SMath Studio, even if it isn't WYSIWYG.

Rob
Imagitec: Imagination - Expertise - Execution

 

[MtnManBob]

I had a TI calculator when I first started college. The keyboard started flaking out on me in the middle of a final exam. At the end of that test I threw it into the trash and bought a HP-15c. Used it for 20 years before the enter key stopped functioning. Been using my dad's 11c for the past 3 years. When I saw HP was reissuing the 15c I bought 2. RPN just seems the most logical to me.

 

[JedClampett]

Same thing happened to me with a TI (55, I think). The 2 key started acting flaky. I would push it, and it would register twice. It ticked me off so much at work that I threw it in the trash. The next day, it was back on my desk. The cleaning lady must of figured that it fell in the trash by accident, so she pulled it out. So I had to wrap it up and put it under some other stuff, to finally kill it once and for all.

 

[maddocks]

I still use my HP 200LX. Does great equation solving for the missing variable and I have it stocked with all my short cut equations. You should see the look of the young engineers when I bring this puppy out at meetings...

 

[MacGyverS2000]

One of these days I'm going to learn to use an abacus... pull that puppy out in a meeting some day, do some fast and furious calculations, then proclaim everything is fine.

Which is going to be even more odd for me as I'm a programmer... beads, bits, whatever.

Dan - Owner

http://www.Hi-TecDesigns.com