Ask Slashdot: Cheap Second Calculators For Tests?

Rich0 writes "I own an HP 48 calculator that I'm quite content with, but soon I'll need to take a certification exam where this calculator will not be welcome. I'm sure this is a common problem for those who own higher-end calculators. Sure, I could just buy a random $15 calculator with a few trig functions, but I was wondering who makes the best moderately-priced calculators for somebody who already has and appreciates a programmable calculator and just needs something simple. Bonus points if the calculator can handle polar vector arithmetic and unit conversions, but it has to be simple enough that virtually any exam would accept its use."

Calculator

[Anonymous Coward]

I believe the TI-36X Pro would probably do what you are looking for. It is approved for use on Professional Engineer tests, from what I have read.

My 2 cents

[thatkid_2002]

I have a TI-36X Pro for basically the same reasons you outlined. It's quite affordable too, and if you're in the US (I'm not) then it is really easy to find.

NCEES Calculator Policy

[Anonymous Coward]

Check out the NCEES Calculator Policy [ncees.org].

I had a non-programmable calculator in college but it died and I didn't need a calculator at work. I bought a TI-30Xa for when I took the state professional engineering exam. I am still using this calculator as an engineering professor. Plenty of capability.

HP-11C

[prz]

I would suggest the HP-11C. It's available on ebay, and is not $15 cheap, but it is an RPN programmable scientific, of less complexity than the HP-48. I am an RPN fan, so I would go the extra mile to get an RPN calculator.

Re:My 2 cents

[Anonymous Coward]

That's not a programming error. It's a convention error.

If you look at the wikipedia article, the calculator is trying to say pi * 12.5^2 = 625 pi/4, which is the correct answer, if you assume a multiplication between the fraction and the number before it. It's 625 quarters of a pi. That's the way most people would read that in Europe, too. It's just it also LOOKS like a mixed fraction, and if read as a mixed fraction, the result would be wrong, but that isn't what's the calculator software authors intended.

Re:Calculator

[skutterbob]

I have a ti-36 solar... if you're taking the PE exam check the NECEES website,http://ncees.org/exams/calculator-policy/ that is the definitive site for what is allowed. Get the calculator a few weeks ahead of time if possible take a short practice exam with it... since you "know" your normal calc. (which btw is not allowed) Heck have a spare anyway... I had 2. shit happens Engineers Prepare for anything ;)

Get a Casio!

[EETech1]

I have 2 Casio FX-115ESPlus calcs, and I use them all the time. One at my desk, one in my toolbox. I think I paid $12.99 for them, and they are available everywhere.

I like RPN, but the Casio textbook entry input works very well, and comes in handy when I have more important things on my mind.

www.casio.com/products/Calculators_%26_Dictionaries/Fraction_%26_Scientific/FX-115ESPLUS/

They also rank very highly for accuracy.

http://www.rskey.org/~mwsebastian/miscprj/forensics.htm [rskey.org]

voidware.com/calcs/torturetest.htm

RPN calcs- esp 35s

[jensend]

Given that you like your 48, you might want to look at the details of the allowed calculator lists for the specific tests you have in mind and see which other HP RPN calculators would fit the bill.

The 35s is allowed on a number of tests where fancier calculators aren't, including the NCEES. Not the cheapest, but capable. Its support for polar complex numbers covers what you seem to be asking for.

It's the successor to the 33s, which had an odd keyboard but was otherwise ok, which in turn was the successor to the 32S/32SII. Those are still quite capable calculators if you find one around. Enough people considered the 42S to be the best calculator ever made that it goes for absurd prices on ebay.