What's a good scientific calculator for sixth grader?

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TXHokie

Platinum Member
Nov 16, 1999
2,558
176
106
First year the school requires a scientific calculator for our sixth grader. What's a good one to get these days? These things sure have gone a long way back since the last time I needed one in college decades ago. I was rocking back then with a TI-55 programmable that took me thru high school and college. Now there's all these fancy graphing calc that I'm not sure is overkill or not or will these $20 ones do the job and I'd have to upgrade down the line. Any tips?
 
B

bignateyk

Lifer
Apr 22, 2002
11,288
7
0
TI-83+

I have a few sitting around I'll give you at a good price :D

Somehow they haven't changed a bit in 15 years and they're still selling them for the same price.
 
Kadarin

Kadarin

Lifer
Nov 23, 2001
44,296
16
81
I'd say HP15C, but I'm old school. Not sure if they even exist anymore, but RPN was great :)
 
H

hemi79

Member
Jun 27, 2013
51
0
66
Well it is the 6th grade, but i am a big fan of CASIO calculators. The FX-115ES or the FX-115ES Plus are excellent. I am not a fan of TI equipment, largely because i feel they require more steps for everything and because they were slow machines in my days (and they could have not been but they kept getting money for it). HP has some nice ones but i dont like their execute approach. I think its great that you are giving this some attention. Emphasizing this issue with your child i think will make him critical to discover the right instrument for his likings down the road.

I went through them all, but i have a thing for calculators its almost a hobby, i recommend Casio.

p.s. i just used the Casio fx-115 plus to pass my EIT exam. Its so simple yet you can do so much with it.
 
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nanette1985

Diamond Member
Oct 12, 2005
4,209
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I asked my daughter the math teacher She says - is it for math class or for a science class? Her advice was to go for your basic TI 30XA which costs about ten bucks at amazon, staples, walmart etc.

She also suggests that you teach him how to use it.

Good luck.
 
Last edited:
IronWing

IronWing

No Lifer
Jul 20, 2001
72,031
32,277
136
TI-30.2.jpg


I thought a side-by-side would be interesting to see what has changed.
 
Ken g6

Ken g6

Programming Moderator, Elite Member
Moderator
Dec 11, 1999
16,577
4,492
75
Too bad they don't make the HP-42S anymore.

200px-Hp42s_face.jpeg


It wasn't a graphing calculator, unless you programmed it to be one. :twisted:
 
T

TXHokie

Platinum Member
Nov 16, 1999
2,558
176
106
Looks like a trip to the store is in order to see how these things feel in hand. Thanks all for the recommendations, this will give me a good list at least to look at. It's mostly for pre-Algebra math and probably will last til high school when/if a graphing calculator is needed.
Wow, I actually had one of those TI-30 pictured there until it took a dive from my desk in high school. I feel old now.
 
crashtestdummy

crashtestdummy

Platinum Member
Feb 18, 2010
2,893
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TXHokie said:
Looks like a trip to the store is in order to see how these things feel in hand. Thanks all for the recommendations, this will give me a good list at least to look at. It's mostly for pre-Algebra math and probably will last til high school when/if a graphing calculator is needed.
Wow, I actually had one of those TI-30 pictured there until it took a dive from my desk in high school. I feel old now.
Click to expand...

Yeah, the Ti-30 will probably do just fine. I had the old Ti-25x and that lasted me all the way through college in an engineering program. I now have this guy, mostly because the 25x died from too many drops.
 
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