Texas Instruments TI-89 Titanium Graphing Calculator
by Texas Instruments
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Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of Texas Instruments TI-89 Titanium Graphing Calculator
Customer Review: Good symbolic math for a handheld
Summary: 5 Stars
I'm a grad student in physical chemistry and I use it a lot, both for my symbolic calculations, as well as my numerical ones.
It's powerful, and has many functions - excellent for linear algebra, symbolic integration even on some improper integrals (the ones with infinite boundaries that converge), Fourier transforms, equation solving of any kind, differential equation solving, symbolic differentiation, complex number arithmetic, number base conversions, etc. For some functions that do not exist, you can download a program in TI BASIC off of many websites or write your own code in C and compile it in TI-GCC, the TI compiler, and put it on the calculator.
User support is the best in the market, because TI is a very popular brand and many people own as their high end handheld calculator either this or the simpler TI-89, with which the Titanium is entirely compatible. Its user manual is decent and provides a good introduction to a beginner. Besides, a simple search on the many support forums will answer any questions.
Like with all handhelds, the bottleneck is generally the user input speed, not the calculator's speed. Nevertheless, this calculator has the slight disadvantage of being rather slow for complex operations which the user can automate, because it's running on a 16 MHz ARM processor. Graphics are very slow for the levels of complexity that my figures require, so I don't even bother with it on the TI 89 Titanium. For those tasks, you're better off using Mathematica or Matlab on your computer. Remember this is a handheld calculator, not some supercomputer.
In summary:
PROS:
1. good user support;
2. many add-on programs available;
3. easy to create your own programs, especially in C;
4. good diversity of pre-installed commands: calculus, linear algebra, spreadsheet capability;
5. large screen (if not largest in this category);
6. easy to master (took me 2 weeks).
CONS:
1. slower than others on the market, like HP 50g, although you might not necessarily notice;
2. lack of a real equation editor - you must type your formulas in on one line, which leads me to lose track of parenthesis matching sometimes.
Customer Review: Very good for Statistics and Finance too...
Summary: 5 Stars
I saw many reviewers for advanced math and engineering. I just want to add that it is also very good for stat and finance. It can be calculated with almost (I'm saying this because I haven't tried every single one yet ;-) every calculation with this TI-89. The plus side is that it has bigger screen and we can change any value anytime without starting over... especially good for multiple problems solving.
At first, I intendeded to purchase TI-BAII+ required by the professor but decided to trade this TI-89 Titanium with my old original TI-89. Both have flash applications for Statistics with List Editor and Finance as well as Data/Metrix Editor. For finance, you can get PV, FV, i, PMT, NPV, IRR, etc.
You can also download guide books from TI's website. This is a life saver for most business classes.... I used TI-89 from advanced algebra, pre- and calculus, fin & managerial accounting, economics, 2 statistics, and financial management... 10 courses altogether ;-) And this IT-89 costs about the same price of a business text book! Of course, you'll need to know the concepts and how to use this calculator first.
If you're wondering which one to choose between original TI89 and this new Titanium, I recommend original if you've vision problem. Original TI89 has deep purple and dark blue colors for "2nd" and "diamond" keys. This new one has very pale blue and light green keys, hard to look at if you need combination keys. SO do for "the fonts" and "alpha" key. As the manufacturer mentioned, this one has more memory and can be used USB cable.
Just a tip for the two reviewers below and others about fraction and decimal switching (.25 - 1/4 switching) :
Reviewer: MaxiMiner and Reviewer: cool dude (Stockholm)
Just use a "period" between the calculation (if you have all whole numbers) and you'll see decimals in the result without changing the "mode" you preferred. If you have any decimals between the calculations, you'll automatically see decimals. It works for every graphing calculator. I got that tip from a Math Lab Asst. in my algebra lab.
Customer Review: Highly Powerful, Versatile Graphing Utility
Summary: 5 Stars
Before buying this TI-89 Titanium, I had been using a TI-86 (now discontinued) for about five or six years. I was hesitant to make the switch because I was so satisfied with my previous calculator, but was convinced of the 89's usefulness within the first week of using it.
The greatest improvement over the other lines of TI calculators (discluding the n-Spire series) is the Computer Algebra System (CAS). This comes in handy on a daily basis in my Physics and Calculus courses because it saves an unbelievable amount of time in grunt-work involving simplification of expressions and solving of equations. It is very easy to input equations manipulate variables with the way the menus are set up, and the system is quite fast and accurate.
Programming in the TI-89 is also streamlined as compared with the normal TI Calculator BASIC simply because of the added ability to pass arguments into programs and functions. Functions may also be defined in the homescreen and within the lines of a program.
As the built-in and downloadable features of this calculator are far too numerous for me to recount, I will say that they are all very easy to use, quick to learn, and useful in many different situations.
The only complaint I have about the calculator, in fact, has something to do with the CAS system and evaluating limits and such at infinity. Weird things can happen if you attempt to evaluate specific functions at infinity or differentiate or integrate specific equations. Because of this, you should verify that the calculator correctly evaluates or simplifies the type of equation or expression you enter. The errors in the system, however, are so few as to be considered negligible and will not be used on a daily basis anyway.
I highly recommend this calculator for anybody in any math or science class involving heavy usage of algebra or graphing. It is a very solid unit and can be used for many different purposes.
Customer Review: Excellent Calculator for Engineering
Summary: 5 Stars
At first I was a little apprehensive about upgrading from my TI84 Silver to the 89 Titanium. For somebody very accustomed to the 83/84 layout there's a few changes, for example some keys being on the other side, and some functions (trig for example) that are now accessible via the 2nd key instead of being primary buttons. On the other hand, it's been built to make working with multivariable systems significantly easier, and the higher-resolution screen makes viewing things a lot more precise.
The TI89 has a CAS (Computer Algebra System) built in, and although I haven't used it too much I've found its basic solving function to be quite the timesaver in my electrical engineering class, and I know it would have made chemistry easier in the past. There are so many things that this calculator can do it's almost at a ridiculous level.
That said, I would recommend this calculator for anybody taking advanced Calculus and higher-level math classes in college, or for anybody taking math-intensive science classes (AP Chem could have used some of this calculator's features), or for anybody planning on getting an engineering degree.
For any math before college calculus (including AP Calc), this calculator is not at all necessary, and in fact you would be better off with an 84. If you might be using data probes in conjunction with your calculator (chemistry, physics) then you might want to consider the 84 Silver edition, which can process the data a little faster.
As somebody who has used 83's and 84's for years, I can honestly say that switching over hasn't been bad. After only a few days of intermittent use I already knew where most things were.
It's a very solid calculator, with more features than most people need. Then again, I don't use half the features on my cell phone, either. Definitely a good calculator to consider if you're thinking of an upgrade or replacement.
Customer Review: Best graphing calculator on the market
Summary: 5 Stars
This is the culmination of the Texas Instruments's upper price range TI-92+, Voyage 200, TI-89 line. Although the N-Spire CAS is more powerful (>150 times the clock speed), more flexible, and more expensive, it has so far been rejected by TI's customers for its poor design and lack of programmability, which has been the TI calculators' greatest claim to superiority since TI's first graphing calculator was introduced in 1990. Until the N-Spire series matures, consider the TI-89 graphing calculator the most powerful calculator that Texas Instruments sells.
This calculator is not suitable for middle-school or high-school levels. The TI-84+ is much cheaper than the TI-89 and has everything those students will need. Although younger students certainly could appreciate the additional power of the TI-89, you're wasting your money if they're not going to take college level math or engineering classes.
The most remarkable difference beteween the TI-89 and the less expensive TI-83/83 Plus/84 Plus line is its ability to operate symbolically. Almost any function or operation can be run in terms of a general variable just as well as it can on an actual number, which is extremely useful in matrix manipulation. This is in contrast to the TI-84 Plus's ability to just substitute numerical values for variables. Also, on the TI-89 you can create your own functions in the BASIC editor, which allows you to use BASIC to compute values for graphing or anything else. And of course the 89 has the many more preprogrammed functions and little useful features that you would expect from a more expensive product.
It's definitely possible to get through college with an 84+, using it for computation while you do symbolic manipulation in your head, but the 89 will make your life easier and you'll appreciate its power; I miss all sorts of functions when I have to use an 83/84 and don't regret getting my 89.