Help Me Replace My Calculator
October 7, 2007 9:33 AM Subscribe
Calculator-filter: My beloved casio fx-115s is dying after about 20 years of use. I need to replace it. Tell me what to get as a replacement.
I am not interested in a graphing calculator; these are too bulky for me to carry around while teaching, and are frankly more powerful than I need. I just need a basic scientific calculator, say 25 bucks or less. What "cheap" calculator do you like best, and what features about it make you like it?
I am not interested in a graphing calculator; these are too bulky for me to carry around while teaching, and are frankly more powerful than I need. I just need a basic scientific calculator, say 25 bucks or less. What "cheap" calculator do you like best, and what features about it make you like it?
I like the TI-30 series (whatever the latest iteration of it is) - I bought one a few years back just to have a cheap calculator I could pull out when I needed to figure something out quickly, and it does the job well. It feels snappier than most calculators I've used for some reason, too.
posted by wanderingmind at 10:11 AM on October 7, 2007
posted by wanderingmind at 10:11 AM on October 7, 2007
I really, really like the current cheap Casio scientific calculators. I have a Casio FX-115, which has a two-line display and the nicest visual algebraic support I've come across. It cost about $14.
There's another model with an even better 3-line display. That'll cost you all of 20 bucks or so.
posted by killdevil at 10:55 AM on October 7, 2007
There's another model with an even better 3-line display. That'll cost you all of 20 bucks or so.
posted by killdevil at 10:55 AM on October 7, 2007
I see that you had an fx-115s. Mine is actually the "FX-115MSPlus," with Visually Perfect Algebraic Method support (VPAM). It's currently sold in Staples, Target, Wal-Mart, etc.
posted by killdevil at 10:58 AM on October 7, 2007
posted by killdevil at 10:58 AM on October 7, 2007
The Ti-30X II allows input like a graphing calculator, such as the caret^button (+parentheses), and costs less than $20. It also has a solar option on most models.
For a free graphing calculator, download the amazing graphcalc for your desktop. It lacks a few statistical features, but uses a mouse to navigate and offers a savable or printable screen sized list of all calculations for the session. Graphcalc's wikipedia page.
posted by Brian B. at 2:44 PM on October 7, 2007
For a free graphing calculator, download the amazing graphcalc for your desktop. It lacks a few statistical features, but uses a mouse to navigate and offers a savable or printable screen sized list of all calculations for the session. Graphcalc's wikipedia page.
posted by Brian B. at 2:44 PM on October 7, 2007
I would highly recommend that you stick with the S-VPAM line of the Casio calculators. I find the "natural display" of the newer models a little confusing. I currently use the non-solar powered version of the FX-300MS and it is a great little calculator.
Say NO to "natural display", especially if you're used to an older model. I have a number of friends who bought the new style of the calculators only to revert back to the older models within a week or two.
posted by cholly at 1:39 AM on October 8, 2007
Say NO to "natural display", especially if you're used to an older model. I have a number of friends who bought the new style of the calculators only to revert back to the older models within a week or two.
posted by cholly at 1:39 AM on October 8, 2007
Response by poster: For anyone who reads this once it's archived, I bought the
fx-115 ES for $17.99 at Target. It does have the natural display that cholly disliked so much, but it had some great features that I have not seen before on a nongraphing calculator:
a) it does numerical integration
b) it will do arithmetic with a few matrices (no larger than 3 x 3)
c) it seems to have the Standard Normal Distribution stored in it.
These sold me. I am now training myself to use it as quickly as I could use the old one.
posted by wittgenstein at 11:50 AM on October 16, 2007
fx-115 ES for $17.99 at Target. It does have the natural display that cholly disliked so much, but it had some great features that I have not seen before on a nongraphing calculator:
a) it does numerical integration
b) it will do arithmetic with a few matrices (no larger than 3 x 3)
c) it seems to have the Standard Normal Distribution stored in it.
These sold me. I am now training myself to use it as quickly as I could use the old one.
posted by wittgenstein at 11:50 AM on October 16, 2007
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posted by jet_silver at 10:06 AM on October 7, 2007