What features would you like to see in a graphing calculator?
Pages: 12
What features would you like to see in a graphing calculator? I mean honestly. Recall the best God damned calculator you've ever used, the worst calculator you've ever used. What made the best one so golden? What was wrong with the worst one? What DIDN'T you like about the best one?
Best: My friend had a calculator that had an equation solver and simplifier built into it, reminded me of a little Mathematica. If Mathematica counts as a graphing calculator then surely that's the best though :p
Worst: There's some TI-8x something calculators that have this "math print" option, which slows down input output tremendously to just be able to have smaller fonts for exponents and stuff.
Everything that's in the 83 or 84 is generally good enough for me, equation solving and advanced 3D graphing can be done in mathematica.
PS Any calculator that isn't a graphing one is soo annoying to use in comparison. Only being able to enter one row of text at a time, or only being able to enter one phrase at a time with it required you to type the number and THEN have to press sqrt or sin or whatever.
Worst: There's some TI-8x something calculators that have this "math print" option, which slows down input output tremendously to just be able to have smaller fonts for exponents and stuff.
Everything that's in the 83 or 84 is generally good enough for me, equation solving and advanced 3D graphing can be done in mathematica.
PS Any calculator that isn't a graphing one is soo annoying to use in comparison. Only being able to enter one row of text at a time, or only being able to enter one phrase at a time with it required you to type the number and THEN have to press sqrt or sin or whatever.
Last edited on
Ganado, I know EXACTLY what you mean when you say that you type the number first, then press sin or sqrt! I HATE calculators like that!
Are you working on an actual, physical device?
Or is this a program?
(My recommendation will vary depending.)
Or is this a program?
(My recommendation will vary depending.)
One that can run Quake.
There are calculators that do that? I haven't really touched much outside of the TI-8x range.
That sounds ridiculous, lol.
| I HATE calculators like that! |
That sounds ridiculous, lol.
One whose price is its cost multiplied by a constant lower than 10. I mean, we live in a world where you can get Maxima on phones; cheap ones, at that. How can a company have the balls to sell calculators at those prices?
LOL, I like http://www.myscript.com/calculator/
But it is fairly underpowered in some ways. (For example, it can't handle the quadratic formula.)
If this app were able to graph functions that would be amazing!
For an actual device, it should make it very easy to adjust your output, complete with a very good guess to start and indications on whether what you are seeing is realistic (as in, continuous, etc).
Anyone who has ever had to use a TI-anything to graph stuff knows what a pain it is to play with the graph.
But it is fairly underpowered in some ways. (For example, it can't handle the quadratic formula.)
If this app were able to graph functions that would be amazing!
For an actual device, it should make it very easy to adjust your output, complete with a very good guess to start and indications on whether what you are seeing is realistic (as in, continuous, etc).
Anyone who has ever had to use a TI-anything to graph stuff knows what a pain it is to play with the graph.
Note- Microsoft Word works great as a calculator.
https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=17786
https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=17786
Wolfram Alpha is good. I like the way it automatically gives you all kinds of extra information.
What you're looking for is the HP Prime: http://www8.hp.com/us/en/products/calculators/product-detail.html?oid=5367463
This is a modern calculator, developed with modern tools, using a modern interface. It has a color, high res, multi-touch screen, it's fast and has lots of memory.
There is an active and vibrant community of HP calculator enthusiasts at hpmuseum.org. There have been many discussions on the "best" calculator design.
Although it isn't a graphing calculator, another one to look at is the wp34s: http://sourceforge.net/projects/wp34s/
This is a re-purposed HP 30b or 20b. The software was written completely by volunteers and the result is an RPN calculator for the modern day. It has tons of features, and really fantastic programming abilities. This is *the* calculator to have if you need to program quick formulas and such.
This is a modern calculator, developed with modern tools, using a modern interface. It has a color, high res, multi-touch screen, it's fast and has lots of memory.
There is an active and vibrant community of HP calculator enthusiasts at hpmuseum.org. There have been many discussions on the "best" calculator design.
Although it isn't a graphing calculator, another one to look at is the wp34s: http://sourceforge.net/projects/wp34s/
This is a re-purposed HP 30b or 20b. The software was written completely by volunteers and the result is an RPN calculator for the modern day. It has tons of features, and really fantastic programming abilities. This is *the* calculator to have if you need to program quick formulas and such.
Wait... is there any purpose to graphing calculators in the era of smartphones? Why not just get an app?
I actually kind of miss mine. Sold it a few years back cause I needed the cash. I just like how it felt to use.
| Wait... is there any purpose to graphing calculators in the era of smartphones? Why not just get an app? |
They are becoming an increasingly niche market, but there some reasons:
- very long battery life
- physical keys make them useable in extreme conditions (outside with gloves)
- As previously mentioned, standardized tests often won't let you use a phone.
- Many schools won't let you use a phone, and it isn't practical to require students to have a smart phone.
Also, where else is your average comp-sci college student going to get to play with Z80 assembly?
Pages: 12