Re: Which TI does your school require
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On Aug 05, 1996 00:34:31 in article <Re: Which TI does your school
require>, 'scwolfe@ix.netcom.com(Steven Wolfe)' wrote:
>In <3204DF04.1944@tenet.edu> Richard Taylor <rtaylor@tenet.edu> writes:
>
>>
>>And there is just no reason to buy a TI-82; it's replacement, the
>>TI-83, is so superior that the 82 shouldn't even be considered.
>
>I can think of one good reason: cost. Check the price comparison at
>ticalc.org, then consider that there are (free) programs for the 82 to
>handle statistics and complex numbers (I've seen 'em somewhere). Now,
>since the intention of this comparison is for school rather than for
>programmers, we can ignore that aspect. There you go: while it is
>futile to argue which is "better", the 82 is cheaper, and capable of
>almost just as much given the fact that it is programmable. If one can
>afford an 83, I have no problem with that. But for students, who may
>want to save their money for other things, while the 83 is, as you say,
>"superior", is it really necessary to spend the extra money?
>
Remembering that the price difference between the 82 and 83 isn't that
great (another $5 on a $80 calculator doesn't make that much a difference),
some of the features of the 83, such as different graph styles, are very
useful for math students. And considering the fact that the vast majority
of math students (or at least those I know) don't program their calculators
or have access to a Graph Link to download programs, it often helps to have
these features built in. I agree that if the extra features make absolutely
no difference to you, then save the five dollars, but price alone shouldn't
be the determining factor when the difference is relatively small.
-Jason
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