Texas Instruments TI-89 Titanium Scientific Calculator

Strengths: AP Calculus, AP Physics, and Engineering Capabilities.

Weaknesses: Software (TI-Connect) to put programs on the calculator could be easier to use for those not computer oriented.

Summary: For a few years, I had the TI-86, and for graphing purposes and playing games of course, this was all that I needed to do. But when I went into Calculus, graphing alone was not enough. The TI-89 Titanium performs integrals and derivatives, and with Calculus Tool (program that you can download from the TI website) you can even do implicit differentiation. Also, with another download it is possible to do volumes by disks and washers.

Now that we have put some very helpful calculus function behind, it is a very helpful physics and engineering tool. From 34 physics (including circuits) constants (from -1.602 X 10 to the 23 to Avogadro's Number) to graphing analysis of buildings for civil engineers, this calculator can do it all.

The interface of the calculator is the best. I was continually clinging onto the TI-86 through the calculus year until finally me friends convinced me otherwise right before the exam. But even more convincing was just how the calculator worked. Instead of getting a large decimal for the cos of Pi/2, you get real answers like (radical 2) /2. (The format looks like it would in a math text book.) Also amazing about it is the simplicity to use it. The manual is a little less than 300 pages, but the calculator does so many functions that if you are looking for specific functions, then you can simply skip many sections that may not be of use to you (after all, we are all not nuclear physicists!).

One difference between the TI-89 and TI-89 Titanium is memory. The Titanium holds upwards of 500KB of ram, as the TI site says, which is much more than just the 89. This way, you can download a lot more physics, math, and game programs in case you ever get bored in History 101 (for the most games, go to ticalc.org). And this brings us to the transfer ability. The Titanium, unlike the regular 89, has a USB port for connectivity, so you do not have to use those old serial ports anymore. The calculator comes with the USB cable for connecting it to your computer along with a USB unit-to-unit USB cable link directly to other Titaniums. Concerning the transfer process from computer to Calculator, the software (it comes with it) is easy to setup, but can be difficult to use if you do not know whether to archive the file to you r calculator or send it as ram. But even before that, sometimes the program fails to communicate with the calculator so you may have to unplug it and plug it in again before it will work completely. But again, if you can find someone that already has all of the programs, you can just use the unit-to-unit cable and get the programs from them.

Therefore, if you are looking for the integral of the ln (2x) + e to the 2x +25x or just plain multiplication, the TI-89 Titanium can do it all quickly ans easily, providing non decimal answers unless you want it to (love that feature). With the TI-89 Titanium you are control!