[jcdenton]

Hi All....I dont post often since I prefer to read more. Although I would like your advice on this as I know this is a great place to ask questions and not get flamed away.

I'm looking for a handheld calculator that can handle spreadsheet. I was looking for something with hard keys and I could only find this that suits the above criteria: http://education.ti.com/us/product/t.../features.html
Texas Instrument 89 Titanium.

Holy hell it has a lot of features I don't need. I'm just looking for spreadsheet capability with hardkeys to input numbers and get automatic calculations based on the parameters I input.

I need to use spreadsheet because I make many, new complex calculations often. Any suggestions besides what I found?

 

[PFKMan23]

For that I thkn the TI89 is fine. Do you use it for anyting else? I mean are you in school, taking any class or such?

 

[jcdenton]

Nope not in school. I sell precious metals. Which are sold my grams, ounce, lbs, kilos and gods know how many conversions i need to do.

Often I need to convert something from grams to lbs, USD to Euro and a bunch of other technical stuff. Cost calculations. I would find all of this easier with a spreadsheet...but I need hardkeys and easy input.

 

[PinkFloyd]

These are pretty accurate, very compact and portable too...

 

[jcdenton]

Quote:

Originally Posted by PinkFloyd These are pretty accurate, very compact and portable too...

lol nice one. I use a similar mode everyday, every second. Fingers hurt

 

[Lazarus Short]

Quote:

Originally Posted by PinkFloyd These are pretty accurate, very compact and portable too...

I just LOVE Nixie tubes! I have two desk calculators myself with nixies. Let me know if you ever want to sell that Sharp...

Laz

 

[chych]

The TI-89 is pretty much *THE* calculator for engineering/science/math people. Especially with its symbolic ability, it's a very useful calculator, that can do some ridiculous things.

 

[ADS]

I've always been a big fan of HP calculators, especially the HP48. I've used it throughout my engineering education, and it's always been wonderful. I'm a big fan of RPN.

 

[DoNotBugMe]

I own a TI-83, 86, and 89 and am happy with them all. The 89 really sets the bar for all calculators. Too bad TI has a stranglehold on this market, because they've gotta lazy and have refused to make any truly meaningful changes for the past few years. Perhaps a model with a higher resolution screen for starters? These calcs aren't just for games. Having more accurately depicted graphs would be nice. A color screen would be a huge boon for 3D graphics and modeling. And a faster processor would speed up those horrid generation times.

The 89 is feature loaded, but more importantly, it hands-down has the best user interface of any calculator I've used (I've used HP's too), and that's a key thing to consider.

 

[hekoman]

I have used: TI-82,83,85,86 and 89. And let me just say that the 89 really spoiled me when it comes to calculaters (well at lesat to what I have used). Everything I have needed a calculator for the 89 could do, it is just a great calculator. And even though I really don't use mine anymore, I still feel the strnge urge to hold on to it.

 

[Leto Atreides II]

The 89 is nice and easy to use, tons of great programs, and it's pretty powerful to boot. There is an easy to use C compiler and IDE specifically for it. I have one, along with an 86 and 83+, and the 89 is my favorite calculator. In particular I like a program called txtrider, which is sort of like rich text for the calculator (multiple font sizes, pictures, fast scrolling, ect.)

I would not call the 89's interface good, but it is definitely the best of a bad lot. See the units menu for a place that it really sucks.

The HP series have their own advantages, and they use postfix which can be a lot faster to type in. They are a bit harder to program, but are extremely powerful.

Both series have a huge library of third party software of all kinds, but the TI has the most: ticalc.org.

HOWEVER, I would recommend against either one if you're taking high school or college math classes, unless you have the discipline to learn how to do it without the calculator. If you do need one for class, remember that a lot of exams allow the 89 but disallow it's qwerty brethren.

 

[CMacDaddy]

What about a PDA? Dont they have Palm Office or something?

 

[discord]

Is that new look for the TI-89s? I thought it looked different and more like a TI-83 but more fancy of course.

 

[RedLeader]

the 89 is atm the be all and end all of calculators. You wont be disappointed

 

[blip]

For your use I'd think a PDA might be more effective...

But hey if you want a calculator, the TI-89 is great! I wouldn't have made it through math in highschool or in college without this little beast helping me a long!

Seriously a little judicious programing and this calculator made short work of most any math exam I ever took! Not that I was doing anything terribly advanced... but I know I came to class every day terrified that they would ban its use on tests.