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What calculator should I get for college?

I am going to be a freshman (planning on going into nursing) in the fall and need a calculator. TI 89 is highly recommended for math majors, but it's rather expensive. We have a TI 85 my dad used when he went to college, but I find it abstruse. Is the TI 89 version used frequently in college or is there an earlier version that could be used instead? Could this also be an investment to my 2 younger brothers? (22 months and 6 years younger)

Public Comments

1. The TI-89 is really only useful if you're going to take calculus and more advanced math courses, and nursing students aren't expect to take calculus. You'd be fine with a TI-83.
2. I'm in college and I use the TI 89 Titanium. I love it! It makes math so simple. You won't regret it. Try to find one on Amazon. I found one there for the same price as a TI 83 or 84.
3. I would not buy a calculator at all unless you have been told exactly what to buy for courses you are taking. I know of a number of professors and departments which require a specific calculator. They are often listed along with required textbooks on the syllabus. It is also the case that calculators seem to change fairly regularly, rendering certain ones obsolete. Frankly, I would wait until you get to college and sign up for classes. Bring the money with you, and buy what you need, rather than trying to be overprepared. As to whether it could work for your brothers, it is possible that the older one could use it, but that will depend on what he ends up studying and where. As to the younger one, six years is a long time for electronics to be useful. For all you know, by the time he goes to college, these things will be available as apps on whatever the successor to the iPhone is at that time.
4. I currently own a TI-89 Titanium and I do really like that calculator, but I only used it for my last year in college. Starting in high school and up to my senior year of university I used at TI-83 Plus (total of 6 years). I only bought a new one because my old one was damaged in my luggage on an international flight. The 89 is really powerful and was useful for engineering because of functions like unit conversion, but the old 83 I had served me well for my most intensive courses (calculus, physics, mechanics, fluids, thermodynamics, circuits, etc). I replaced the 83 with an 89 because I thought that since I was on my way to professional engineering I might need the better calculator, but now that I've had it for a year I don't believe that it was really necessary. So I recommend to you the TI-83 or TI-84.