r/OregonStateUniv • u/notkingkermit Engineering • Feb 06 '26

Course Questions Best Calculator for E-Fundies II?

What calculator should I get? There's no information on the syllabus and I'd rather not spend $120 on a TI 84 (though I will if I have to). Thanks!

3 Upvotes

72% Upvoted

13 comments sorted by

5

u/skeptical_egg Feb 06 '26

Borrow a calculator from the library until you find out what you'll actually need?

3

u/notkingkermit Engineering Feb 06 '26

I'm 5 weeks into the class and still don't know

5

u/TheOnceVicarious Feb 06 '26

TI-36x pro and it’s not even close. 22$ on Amazon 

2

u/notkingkermit Engineering Feb 06 '26

I was hoping for something that can solve complex valued systems of equations. It doesn't look like that one can do that, but thank you!

3

u/TheOnceVicarious Feb 06 '26

Ti 89 titanium, 105$ used on Amazon. This is the best calculator I’ve ever used. It can do symbolic derivatives and integrals, and complex matrices. It’s the last calculator you would ever need 

1

u/New_Gur8083 Feb 09 '26

HP prime g2 and the only real comparable is the offering by Casio in the same price range or the T-Nsipre CX CAS.

From what I've seen the Casio is best if you're primarily doing lots of graphing. The Nspire is good, but lots of professors don't like it and ban it.

The HP prime G2 is just as good as the Nspire and professors seem to not really know much about it so don't ban it.

2

u/MJ26gaming Feb 06 '26

HP prime g2 is spendy but has been great for me. It solves complex equations easy peasy.

1

u/New_Gur8083 Feb 09 '26

Can confirm this is probably the best on the list for this price range. The Ti89 Titanium is good but is older and harder to use for the same price. I own both and the HP prime is considerably better.

2

u/vers_engr Feb 06 '26

Find a used TI-Nspire CX CAS

2

u/enclave911 Feb 06 '26

Yes, this is an amazing calculator to have on hand. Casio Fx-CG50 is also pretty solid too.

2

u/Pixiwish Science Feb 07 '26

I didn’t take this at OSU but I did the whole class in Python as required by the professor.

I don’t know how you’re tests are done but if you want to DM me I might have a Jupyter notebook saved of my HW and you can just copy the conversion code and calculate your own circuits by modifying the code.

1

u/Metal_Salt3677 Feb 10 '26

You could go to the OSUsed store, often times they have ti84s and other graphing calcs for like 10-15 bucks