Hello all, I am going off to college next year and I am getting a new calculator to get me through my college years. I haven't decided what my major will be, but I have decided that it is time for a new calculator. I have had a TI-84 for a while and it has served me well, but it is getting out dated. I want a calculator that will get me through all my college math and science classes so I have been seriously considering the latest and greatest from TI, but I have heard that this new calculator wouldn't be any good for uppper level math classes like Calc 2, which I plan to take next year. Most people say that it is only good for geometry and lower level high school math classes. Is the Nspire any good for college classes?
I don't think the TI-Nspire (CAS) offers things like polar and 3-D graphing at the moment (yet the TI-84+ can do polar graphing, and 3-D and even differential equation graphing too, with the help of
Graph3). You might want to consider getting a TI-89 Titanium, which currently has better mathematical capabilities, such as polar and 3-D graphing, and differential equation solving.
No TI graphing calculators have the built-in ability to find Laplace and Fourier transforms, although I think some Casio calculators, like the Classpad 330, do (you probably won't really need to find transforms like these unless you go into advanced engineering, physics, or mathematics - something related to probability theory).
Also, in Calculus 2, your teacher might not even want you to have a calculator that can symbolically find derivatives and integrals, like the Ti-89 Titanium or TI-Nspire CAS, so you may want to just wait and see if you really need a new calculator.
Bfr is quite right. The TI-Nspire CAS (do not even consider buying a "basic" Nspire for college) is, at least at this point, inferior to the TI-89 Titanium. It is more oriented towards teachers and the classroom than towards students. I would suggest buying the Student edition of Mathematica, as it is an excellent program and will undoubtedly have every feature you will need for undergraduate study in mathematics. (Remember that some uncommon features are in "Packages" that you have to load before using.) It is also quite possible that your college will have a "site license" for the program that will allow you to use it for free.
Of course, having a calculator at the ready will come in handy. Pick the Nspire CAS if you want to take a chance, or stick with the good old 89 Titanium.
Best of luck to you!