Considering getting a graphing calculator (in the near future) that has the ability to solve for any variable for just about any type of equation.
Calculator must NOT use ONLY proprietary battery/cell. Calculator should use readily available batteries/cells instead.
Calculator does not necessarily have to have a color display screen.
Calculator should be reliable/durable.
Calculator should be no more than about $100 (USD).
I’ve looked at several graphing calculators but have yet to find one that might be suitable.
The Texas Instruments TI-84 Plus CE was eliminated because it uses a proprietary battery (pack) ONLY. Also the drawing of graphs can be slow, I believe. And it is a bit on the expensive side.
The Casio PRIZM FX-CG50 is a possible contender, but I don’t really have enough detail about this calculators ability.
Anyone have experience with the Casio calculator and its capabilities?
I’m quite happy with the Numworks running Upsilon open FW, though it runs on an internal lipo not meant to be replaceable in operation. But it’s USB rechargeable and lasts for quite a while.
Looks pretty nice. I just gave the app a try, and for a new user, it’s much easier to pick up than the old HP calculators. Here it is calculating some of Anduril’s ramp shapes:
two buyer bewares come to mind- mine (I believe N0100 HW rev.) uses a vertical LCD sideways and it causes some eye strain, plus due to the calculator being certified for various exams, from some point in the FW development onwards the developers implemented a bootloader lock that makes custom FW volatile, any new unit bought now will have this. I believe there’s a workaround, I’ve gotten around it by not updating the factory FW, which on my unit was old enough to not have this antifeature implemented yet, before flashing Upsilon.
Do you need it to be necessarily in the form of a graphing calculator? If you have a phone or iPad or laptop then WolframAlpha does a much better job than any graphing calculator out there.
If so please disregard this comment–I haven’t had the displeasure to touch an actual graphing calculator since college. IMO they are way too expensive for what they do, which is to serve as a teaching aid, not a real tool.
This saddens me, physical calculator form factor can offer so much better ergonomy than a phone but there seem to be very few calculators meant as engineering or scientific tools as opposed to classroom devices with artificially crippled functionality to prevent ‘cheating’.
If possible I use one of my physical HP 50g, HP 48G, HP 42S or HP 11C. If none of them are available, I fall back to free42 or emu48 on my phone. Do you see a pattern there?
These calculators were not made for education, but for actual use by engineers. And they are RPN/RPL.
Plus42, an extended version of Free42 with many new features, includes a solver that is compatible with the HP17BII and it supports trig functions. The kernel with desktop UI is open source and free, mobile interfaces are closed source and paid to support the developer and prevent clones.
