Hate Math? Like Math? You'll Like This Calculator!

I bought this calculator several years ago while I was in middle school. I needed to get a scientific calculator for an 8th-grade algebra class and the teacher recommended two calculators, this TI model and a Casio. I was able to get this one for a little more than $10 at Wal*Mart while most of the rest of the class spent about $25 for the Casio. Interestingly, the TI model had more features. While this calculator may be useful to many people, I think it is best suited to students taking their first few high-school level mathematics courses: algebra, geometry, algebra II, "Course I" if you live in New York, etc. By precalculus, you will most likely begin considering a more advanced graphing calculator.

Stuff in the calculator that algebra students will like

You can convert fractions to decimals and decimals to fractions very easily. You can solve those probability problems such as "If Johnny flips a coin five times what is the probability that it will be heads three or more times?" It does factorials, square roots, cube roots, and squares of numbers with one button, and with a few more keypresses you can figure out any number raised to any power, or any root of a number. "What is 125 to the 1/3rd power" will no longer baffle the beginning algebra student. I think it can even do negative exponents. Finally, it can do a few basic metric conversions: Celsius to Fahrenheit, centimeters to inches, liters to gallons, kilograms to pounds, and grams to ounces. These kinds of conversions will save a lot of students in earth science, science survey, or general science (again, courses usually taken in the first two years of high school). Also, for geometry, a very exact approximation of pi is built into the calculator. The most unique feature I've seen is the backspace button, which similar to a computer will erase just the last number you entered in case you make a mistake with data entry. This is a great time-saver on exams.

Stuff in the calculator I don't like
The memory functions are hard to use. Unlike a plain old calculator where you use M+, MC, and MRC, this one has STO to enter a number into one of the memories, RCL to display the contents of a memory, and SUM to add the currently displayed number to a memory. There are three memory slots and you need to indicate which one you want to access immediately after using one of these memory keys or nothing will happen. The only other complaint I have is that the plastic cover for the calculator can be completely detached from the unit and is easily broken or misplaced. After about a year of heavy use, the calculator will still work fine but the cover might not stay firmly locked onto the calculator anymore.

Overall, the good features (there are many more that are too detailed to list here) far outweigh the negatives, though they do exist. It is very difficult to find this calculator model in stores now because few people buy it. Don't try to save a few bucks and buy a lower model TI scientific calculator like the 25 or the 30; the few extra bucks you spend on this one are really worth it.