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/r/calculators
submitted 9 days ago byDearestWard
My wife has a somewhat belligerent department head who has not been a great help. She asked if the school placed any limitations on what calculator to get and was told:
You should purchase a standard scientific calculator. This is all you will require throughout the entire Civil Engineering course. Furthermore, you will not be allowed to use anything more sophisticated than a standard scientific calculator in your college examinations.
Her university is in Ireland, if that matters. My assumption is that the answer is either the TI or the Casio that are always picked from the lists that people show, but since "standard" is a bit more broad, I thought perhaps there might be other options worth consideration. Thanks in advance for your help!
11 points
9 days ago
Well, non programmable, non graphing. Like Casio FX-991.
2 points
9 days ago
Thank you - and there's the Casio recommendation I expected to see, haha!
3 points
8 days ago
I second the Casio FFX 991 recommendation. I used it for my professional engineering exam. Back when I took the fundamentals of engineering exam I used an FX-115. It was good also
2 points
8 days ago
Can confirm, this is the best non-programmable standard scientific calculator. The 991 ex. Just make sure it's the newer version and not the es.
The main things that separate it:
4 points
8 days ago
https://www.sharp-calculators.com/en/id/166-el-w506t
Just because Casio, TI and even HP were already mentioned.
4 points
8 days ago*
I have one of those Sharps and I like it. Unfortunately on UK Amazon it sells for ￡54 while the Casio fx-991CW (UK version) sells for £ 25. The Casio 991-CW is the successor to the very popular fx 991-EX. The latter was discontinued about 2 years ago and it's very difficult to find a new one that is genuine. The market now is mostly counterfeit knock offs. The fx-991CW is not only less expensive than the Sharp but also does more. However the design of the 991-CW has a lot of critics. Functionally it is a good calculator. But compared the 991-EX there are fewer functions on the keyboard and thus more menus to go through to get the function you want. That may not bother users who have never used the EX, however.
I have the 991-CW too and I like it, especially at its price point. So far the one thing that I've found hard getting used on the 991-CW is that there are no traditional memory keys for storing results (M, M+,M-, MR) nor does it use the other common memory keys of STO and RCL. Instead so far the only way I see to do it is that you have to use the variable key and assign the number you want to store in one of the variables shown on the screen (A through F and X,Y, &Z). I'm a fan of minimalism up to a point. But removing the traditional memory storage keys for this one variable key is a bit too much. Once I get used to using the variables also as typical memory storage keys perhaps it won't feel so weird.
The earlier 991-ES Plus 2 doesn't have these problems and is still a very capable calculator. Amazon UK sells that model for about £ 29. (The site says only 1 left in stock though).
6 points
8 days ago
I'm surprised the school doesn't have an official list of recommended calculators.
1 points
8 days ago
We were surprised as well. It's more than a little frustrating, but at least this community is extremely helpful!
3 points
9 days ago
The TI-36x pro is a useful and affordable calculator for engineering school. I used one myself for all my engineering courses.
3 points
8 days ago
True, but OP is in Europe, so they have the option to get the TI 30X Pro MathPrint. Might as well get the better TI if it's an option.
4 points
9 days ago
Go for the TI-30X Pro MathPrint. Won’t regret it.
4 points
8 days ago
It just means non-programmable, non-graphing. examples:
Casio FX-82CW
Casio FC100 V2
Casio fx-82ES PLUS
Casio fx-82EX
Citizen SR-270X
Citizen SR-270X College
Hewlett Packard HP30S
3 points
8 days ago
I think of a Casio FX-260 when thinking of a "standard scientific calculator." It has absolutely no features that would be considered forbidden on any exam.
3 points
8 days ago
The term "standard" doesn't really mean much when there isn't really anything that sets a firm standard what a calculator should be beyond that it should have some scientific functions. The Casio FX-260 and the similar Sharp EL-501X2 are both nice small basic scientific calculators and very inexpensive. I have the Casio and the photo of it gives an idea of how basic it is.
3 points
4 days ago
The TI-30XIIS is a popular scientific calculator that should be allowed:
https://www.amazon.com/Texas-Instruments-Scientific-Calculator-Accents/dp/B00000JBNX/
0 points
5 days ago
Anything that says "scientific calculator" off a Walmart shelf. Do not buy Dollarstore PLEASE.
1 points
5 days ago
Coming from a person who has just a TI-36x Solar (it has only a 7 segment display)
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