Thread: What type of calculator should i get?

I am doing an associate's degree in maths, and I am looking to purchase a graphing calculator to help with my studies and beyond. I am presently doing Pre-calculus, with intentions to move onto Calculus in my future studies. I have been trying to source an economical yet ideal texas instrument, that will be good enough for my use in pre-calculus, but will also be comprehensive for calculus and other topics in the future. Is there a big difference between the TI 83 plus, TI 84 plus silver edition, TI 89 Titanium, or the TI Nspire models??
Check the comparisons in the link below...

which should i get? Should i work with the cost factor as well? or should i ignore the cost as a factor and invest in quality and features? Would a more advanced one be too advanced for use now? I am not looking to purchase another calculator after this one in a hurry.

Which Calculator Is Right for Me? by Texas Instruments -US and Canada

I'm pretty sure any of those 6 calculators would do the job. Maybe you should ask your teacher, but really just get something in the middle price range you don't want to waste your money on a load of fancy features which you'll never use.

The Casio Classpad 330 is great for teaching, with CAS and pda-style interface it does a very good job. You don't have to spend as much time doing calculations on paper, which means you can spend your resources on solving problems instead.
I upgraded from the Texas TI-83+ to the Classpad just recently and I'm surprised at how fast it works. 3D plotting is done in an instant. I hear people compare the Nspire to the Classpad (see: Classpad Vs. Ti Nspire: Which Is Better Folks? - Universal Casio Forum) saying that the latter has more functions but less memory.
Personally I highly recommend the Classpad 330 though it might be a bit expensive.

I won't let my students use integral calculators on the exams or the quizzes. I only let them use TI-30's which are always on sale for about $10. (I also have abouot 20 of them that I pass out during the exams/quizzes.) That's what I use too. But, if your teacher wants you to use a calculator to integrate, then this is the wrong calculator for you.

Thanks guys, but this is more for my personal use, not that my teacher suggested we get one at all... I guess i should find out if there is any particular model that's banned at the school, but for me, i also intend to teach later on, so it will be useful in the long run.