Texas Instruments TI-89 Titanium Graphing Calculator (packaging may differ)

I bought the TI-89 Titanium to be compatible with a fellow engineer--it is great to be able to share code and math solutions for the same model of calculator. This is a switch for me, since I have always been a Hewlett-Packard fan. I have at least one of almost every model of HP graphing calculator, and many other models, going all the way back to 1972 and the HP 35. It never occurred to me that the TI-89 series could actually be competitive with HP. Well, it is! This calculator has some very nice features, and a few features that the similarly capable HP 49G does not. I'll leave it to the buyer to explore the manuals and figure some of that out for themselves. But I will definitely note that the Home screen edit/command line has superior behavior in several ways to the HP 49G. One of those is the retention of the last problem, equation or expression entered by the user. That means you can simply solve the first problem, then move the cursor around in the problem, replace a variable, change a sign, or make any other edit needed to evaluate the problem in different ways, without having to copy the equation/expression from the history (as you would have to do with the HP 49G).The HP 49G has more memory than the TI-89 Titanium (mine is a HW4 edition), and a more feature-rich file system (more like a PC). TI partially compensates for simpler filesystem by having apps show only files appropriate for the app you are using at the time, which helps avoid visual clutter. The TI-89 Titanium has a lot of useful, very high quality apps, preinstalled.Both models have a CAS and about 800 scientific functions, constants, and unit conversions but, while unit conversions are faster and easier on the HP 49G, unit math is better on the TI 89 Titanium if what you expect the calculator to do is simplify units to the most practical SI or SAE unit. As an example, if you multiply 200,000_Pa by 1_l, the simple answer is 200e3_Pa*l, but the most practical SI unit resulting from that product is the Joule. The TI-89 Titanium correctly substitutes units and answers with 200e3_J, while the HP 49G (and later RPL graphers) renders the easiest, but least helpful, answer of 200_kPa*l--the correct answer, but left in inconvenient units. (The 49G does have the advantage of having metric/engineering power-of-3 prefixes, such as k, M, G, m, n, etc.)In a way, the TI-89 series is as much a personal digital assistant (PDA) as it is a graphing calculator. This is the result of having numerous useful record-keeping applications, a clock/calendar, event scheduler, task manager, personal contact database, etc. The Titanium also comes preloaded with EE*Pro, a professional-quality problem solver app aimed primarily at electrical engineering professionals. The closest preloaded application HP shipped with a later model of the 49G series, the HP 50g, was a library of powerful equations copied from the HP 48G series, and an interactive Periodic Table of the Elements for chemistry. Don't get me wrong, those are very useful, and the Periodic Table app is better than ones I've seen for TI. But, the TI-89 series was marketed to students and professionals alike as more than just a graphing calculator with a CAS. It is a PDA. In 2020, that seems a silly point to make, given smartphones of today. But in 1999, when both the HP 49G and the TI-89 series were made, the TI appears to have been a better fit for students and, depending on the disciplines, maybe better for engineers. In most respects, the I prefer the HP, but some features of the TI are eye-opening ideas that explain to me why TI is still making graphing calculators for the US market today, while HP has fallen out of the business in the US, even after the release of the formidable and capable HP Prime (which is, in my opinion, superior to the TI-Nspire CX series). TI showed a better design balance with the 89 series, making the flagship graphing calculators fit either the student or the professional technical user, and most apps for the TI-89 series are of very high quality.One more point I will make, is that both are programmable; the TI-89 Titanium is natively programmable in TI BASIC, while the HP 49G is natively programmable in HP Basic and in UserRPL. HP Basic (not BASIC) is limited compared with TI's M68000 BASIC, but HP RPL is more powerful, more elegant, faster for most programs, and more efficient than TI's BASIC. However, TI BASIC is pretty intuitive, while RPL is considerably harder to learn if the user is not already familiar with Reverse Polish Notation and the HP stack or the Forth programming language (and its stack).Overall it is quite a toss up between the two. But if one were to ask me which brand to go with today, my answer would most probably be, "Go with TI. Get one of the TI-Nspire CX models if you are in high school or college and don't plan to use the calculator in a career, but get the TI-89 Titanium if you plan to keep using it beyond school and into your career." I am pleased with the design, speed, and ease of learning on the TI.

An effect and powerful tool for career! If you engage in the field about engineering, mathematic, statistics or business, Texas Instrument Ti-89 is a pretty powerful tool can help you. It combined almost all the functions if you need process calculation. You can use it to do simply calculation and work through calculus. It provides powerful assistance if you learn.Functions: It provides multiple functions such as calculus, finance and statistics, etc. You can access different functions in easy way. You can obtain various forms of answer as you need. For example, in mathematic field, you can select to get answer form as numerical, matrix and liner algebra when you enter simple numerical equation. For finance field, you can use its program to get rate of interest, NPV easily. You can use it in simple way whatever you study in finance, engineering or statistics. It has covered all the functions you desire as a calculator.Quality: It seems a little expensive than other calculators and some people choose another due to price consideration. But if you own it, you will know the benefit you get more than money. It does not have any malfunction since I owned it about four years ago. It was fell to floor several times and nothing happen. The clear screen with comprehensive steps also offer you opportunity to see how you go through your questions previously.Convenience: I intended to studied engineering before and I took calculus class. Ti-89 provided me the way to test my answers with matrix, graph and integral. I changed my mind to study finance finally and it required financial calculator. I took statistics class at the same time and Ti-89 was useful in that class. I discovered Ti-89 also has finance function so I do not need buy new calculator and bring those together every day. Every time you want to do calculation, Ti-89 can satisfy all you need and you do not need seek another.Ti-89 is a product that gather wisdom of Ti-89 to satisfy the daily use. You can obtain impeccable function, good quality and convenience with one-time payment. It will define help you with study and career and you cannot miss that.

My daughter asked for this for her birthday. She loves to learn and loves to be challenged mentally, she used it on her SAT worked great good price. Great product functionality was perfect. Good battery life good color. Good brightness would highly recommend.