Texas Instruments TI-89 Titanium Graphing Calculator
by Texas Instruments
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Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of Texas Instruments TI-89 Titanium Graphing Calculator
Customer Review: There are far better and cheaper options.
Summary: 3 Stars
**Updated 6/22/10 to include more freeware suggestions and fix up some sections**
Many reviews have focused on what the calculator can do, but that's not all you should consider when buying something. Can something else do it better? Can something else do it cheaper? The answer to both of these questions is yes. There are several superior, and it gets better...FREE options available.
So you probably know what this thing can do if you've read the description or the other reviews, so I won't repeat that. You'll get no argument from me that this calculator can do quite a bit. But let's put things in perspective here. There are several free programs that will do anything this calculator will and more. Just to rattle off a few: GeoGebra (great for 2D graphs and differentiation/integration, also great for classroom use because of interactive applets), Maxima (good CAS, 2D and 3D graphs, matrix algebra, etc), and Sage (I haven't tried this but it's supposedly very powerful). There's also the Wolfram Alpha site which is good for many quick computations. There is obviously a learning curve for these programs, but I'd expect the market for this product is fairly computer savvy to begin with.
Of course, if portability is your main concern and you don't have a laptop (an unlikely scenario nowadays), then a TI-89 is an option, but I can't think of any reason that a professional who needs a calculator would want this over some other choices. In particular, I don't know of any mathematician, engineer, or physicist who actually uses a portable graphing calculator (not that I know all that many in the first place). If they need quick calculations done, they'll use a scientific calculator or for more advanced needs, something like Mathematica or Maple, two programs that are far, far superior to this calculator, and of course more expensive.
This leaves the students and parents who are told that this calculator or something similar is a must-have, that it will be used throughout their entire career as a student. I'm a high school math teacher. Those claims are greatly exaggerated. If a scientific calculator isn't sufficient for classroom use it's a reflection of poor test design and lesson planning more than anything else. I understand that some students will still need one of these, as not every test is well designed, but make absolutely sure you're one of them before spending $140.
Put simply, this was a great calculator-maybe the best available-a decade ago or even 5 years ago, but times have changed quickly and TI's graphing calculators and prices haven't.
Customer Review: A mini mathematical computer in hand
Summary: 5 Stars
TI-89 is just an amazing as it supports external flash applications. When we say applications you get the power with no limits. This piece is expensive but is of worth.
Pros:
1. In itself it handles lot many things that a normal sci. calc. is not capable of.
2. It gives you the ultimate answer to most of the solutions/problems. No thorough steps.
3. The main advantage is: EXTERNAL APPLICATIONS :)
---a. You can download many applications suiting your mathematical need as well as your time-pass needs. People even download games like Doom and play over it uhhhhh...
---b. You can download Mathematical applications from ti89.com which is officially listed over Texas Instrument's website. I am not advertising here but those who are in need will find it out. These apps provide you step by step calculations. Woooow, worth it.
4. Is a calculator which can draw graphs
5. Is reliable for practice and preparation of exams. Works like a charm.
6. Memory inbuilt calc.
7. Menu driven operations. You must read the manual a bit for learning it's use. It's not a dis-advantage as any power device needs training for handling it.
8. Get at least a month before of any mathematical event, may be for work or school to get use to it.
Cons:
1. Expensive but worth it if you are willing to add external applications
2. Even applications are expensive
3. Sometimes the external application get hung so you need to be prepared for it. Technically, no idea how the operating system takes care of garbage collection. You may need to clean the memory or restart the calc.
4. Cheating is very much possible where you may be caught; as by pressing Apps buttons all applications are displayed. Don't do that...
5. Operations for this calculator may be different than the external application; so you may have to get use to both at the same time. For some users operating this device might be difficult as everything is in functions, but practice makes a man perfect and also a women :).
This calculator helped me in my Master's along with the external apps. I used it for resolving previous papers and it gave me the answers like charm. Really good to verify your answers.
This one is one of the best calculators available in the market and you won't repent on your purchase. It's strange to see a star rated by few guys for this calculator. I guess they need to learn basics first :).
Cheers and happy calculating...
Customer Review: Good symbolic math for a handheld
Summary: 5 Stars
I'm a grad student in physical chemistry and I use it a lot, both for my symbolic calculations, as well as my numerical ones.
It's powerful, and has many functions - excellent for linear algebra, symbolic integration even on some improper integrals (the ones with infinite boundaries that converge), Fourier transforms, equation solving of any kind, differential equation solving, symbolic differentiation, complex number arithmetic, number base conversions, etc. For some functions that do not exist, you can download a program in TI BASIC off of many websites or write your own code in C and compile it in TI-GCC, the TI compiler, and put it on the calculator.
User support is the best in the market, because TI is a very popular brand and many people own as their high end handheld calculator either this or the simpler TI-89, with which the Titanium is entirely compatible. Its user manual is decent and provides a good introduction to a beginner. Besides, a simple search on the many support forums will answer any questions.
Like with all handhelds, the bottleneck is generally the user input speed, not the calculator's speed. Nevertheless, this calculator has the slight disadvantage of being rather slow for complex operations which the user can automate, because it's running on a 16 MHz ARM processor. Graphics are very slow for the levels of complexity that my figures require, so I don't even bother with it on the TI 89 Titanium. For those tasks, you're better off using Mathematica or Matlab on your computer. Remember this is a handheld calculator, not some supercomputer.
In summary:
PROS:
1. good user support;
2. many add-on programs available;
3. easy to create your own programs, especially in C;
4. good diversity of pre-installed commands: calculus, linear algebra, spreadsheet capability;
5. large screen (if not largest in this category);
6. easy to master (took me 2 weeks).
CONS:
1. slower than others on the market, like HP 50g, although you might not necessarily notice;
2. lack of a real equation editor - you must type your formulas in on one line, which leads me to lose track of parenthesis matching sometimes.
Customer Review: Very good for Statistics and Finance too...
Summary: 5 Stars
I saw many reviewers for advanced math and engineering. I just want to add that it is also very good for stat and finance. It can be calculated with almost (I'm saying this because I haven't tried every single one yet ;-) every calculation with this TI-89. The plus side is that it has bigger screen and we can change any value anytime without starting over... especially good for multiple problems solving.
At first, I intendeded to purchase TI-BAII+ required by the professor but decided to trade this TI-89 Titanium with my old original TI-89. Both have flash applications for Statistics with List Editor and Finance as well as Data/Metrix Editor. For finance, you can get PV, FV, i, PMT, NPV, IRR, etc.
You can also download guide books from TI's website. This is a life saver for most business classes.... I used TI-89 from advanced algebra, pre- and calculus, fin & managerial accounting, economics, 2 statistics, and financial management... 10 courses altogether ;-) And this IT-89 costs about the same price of a business text book! Of course, you'll need to know the concepts and how to use this calculator first.
If you're wondering which one to choose between original TI89 and this new Titanium, I recommend original if you've vision problem. Original TI89 has deep purple and dark blue colors for "2nd" and "diamond" keys. This new one has very pale blue and light green keys, hard to look at if you need combination keys. SO do for "the fonts" and "alpha" key. As the manufacturer mentioned, this one has more memory and can be used USB cable.
Just a tip for the two reviewers below and others about fraction and decimal switching (.25 - 1/4 switching) :
Reviewer: MaxiMiner and Reviewer: cool dude (Stockholm)
Just use a "period" between the calculation (if you have all whole numbers) and you'll see decimals in the result without changing the "mode" you preferred. If you have any decimals between the calculations, you'll automatically see decimals. It works for every graphing calculator. I got that tip from a Math Lab Asst. in my algebra lab.
Customer Review: Slow, poor graphics, awkward interface, bulky
Summary: 1 Stars
I've had this calculator for at least a couple of years now. I was really excited about it when I first bought it, but since then have come to grips with its failures. To begin with, while upping the memory it would have cost TI little to put a faster CPU in this thing; switching between graphics and the home screen or other modes is horribly tedious. The graphics are not only slow, but unnecessarily low-resolution and low contrast (decent color lcds would not have dramatically increased the price). Then compare this thing to a much more powerful gadget like a cell phone or ipod or pocket pc -- it is far bulkier than it needs to be (probably a design feature to help it survive the school market). Next there's the interface: in principal it has a lot of powerful features, but with the limited keypad and arrow keys (not just a 2nd button but a 3rd as well as alpha to reach extra features associated with each key). This would be much more useful if they stopped trying to make it compact and provided a full querty keyboard with separate numeric keypad. And it is about time for touchscreen, I think. Then there's the software... somewhere between the realm of the calculator and that of a computer, it lacks the best of either world. I think it is time for TI to step back, look around at modern electronic gadgetry, and develop an upgraded calculator which is rather closer to a small laptop than a calculator. Probably something based on the Windows CE (or even full Windows 7) operating system so that people can add their own software with relative ease, capable of running something like Mathematica and R so that it has competitive capabilities. I'm envisioning a calculator for the college student and working professional, not high school. Meanwhile, my 89 has developed this bug where it is impossible to shut off without pulling a battery, and it appears the only fix is to buy another calculator. For now I think I'll switch back to my old 82, long term I'm leaning towards a cheap & small laptop.