What calculator for calc bc and multivar?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Our school asked us to buy Ti-84 so that’s what I bought

unfortunate effect of TI's graphing calculator monopoly, but with Desmos gaining traction, it won’t last much longer

Desmos only works if connected to internet, a non starter for secure exams. The alternative is fenced off Desmos that require a technological solution, not easily implemented.

Desmos is great for graphing, but sucks for very basic defining, manipulating and programming variables and functions. That’s critical for high level problem solving, and success at the AP exams.

Graphing calculators won’t go away soon in the educational market. For speed during an exam a physical button calculator is much faster, I’d rather have that instead of clicking through menus.

It seems you're unaware that all SAT exams across the U.S. are now digital, and the same goes for AP exams via Bluebook—both of which require a stable internet connection. No internet, no exam. Desmos doesn’t need anything more than that same connection.

A basic Desmos tutorial would show you how to define variables and use a wide range of custom programming functions that the TI calculators simply can't compete with. TI is built on 30-year-old tech, while Desmos is a modern, cloud-based platform that's constantly evolving—there’s really no comparison.

It's a slow death but TI calcs will phase out of schools. But you can save yours and cherish it.

Then have your kid forgo the TI at the Calculus exam, problem solved, hope he does well. It’s stupid to not take advantage of what’s available and allowed, but you don’t seem to care.

Desmos will become obsolete in the next century because of Numpy, and ChatGPT. Who cares? It’s about what’s needed now to be successful, which is what OP asked. Your suggestion to not buy any graphing calculator is incredibly dumb. I hope you’ll agree with this assertion.

Yeah it’s a slow death for TI calculators, keyword being slow. The kid is taking Calculus BC this year and Multivariable next year. Buy the calculator already. When I won’t touch the calculator for one full year, I’ll sell it used for half price or I’ll donate it to kids in need of “bread and milk”.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

It seems you're unaware that all SAT exams across the U.S. are now digital, and the same goes for AP exams via Bluebook—both of which require a stable internet connection. No internet, no exam. Desmos doesn’t need anything more than that same connection.

I was going to say the exact same thing. My son used demos for both the AB BC Cal exam (in addition to a TI-84 plus) and the SAT.

So you still bought a graphing calculator. What’s your point exactly, because you don’t make much sense. Yes, I’m aware there are built in calculators for the AP exam. It’s dumb to not use a graphing calculator, and equally dumb to not use Desmos if either is convenient.

The point is get the graphing calculator with the most capabilities, and learn how to use it to the fullest extent, it’s basically going to solve the calculator questions for you with minimal effort if you know how to set up questions correctly.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:TI-Nspire CX II CAS.

It’s the TI flagship, far more capable than TI 84, which will probably work just fine, but why not get an extra advantage if it’s allowed.

There’s a learning curve to Tinspire, but there are many resources out there, and it will save a lot of time. Virtually any calculator question on AP can be done with one input if set up correctly with zero chance of making careless mistakes. Only caveat is that it’s not allowed on ACT, but the model without CAS (computer algebra system) is. CAS solves symbol equations, nice to have in some instances.

HP Prime for an alternative with a nicer input interface and screen, but fewer learning resources.

+1 for the Tinspire 2 cas. It’s a godsend. You can do everything with a few clicks, store variables, take derivatives and integrate, while the peasants in the class toil away buttoning on their ti84s.

With CAS, you forgot an integral, no problem, it will give you the answer, tricky limits, there’s a function for it, need to solve an equation use solve for symbolic, nsolve for numerical.

Only downside is you can’t follow the teacher for input, but it’s not that big of a deal to figure it out.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

It seems you're unaware that all SAT exams across the U.S. are now digital, and the same goes for AP exams via Bluebook—both of which require a stable internet connection. No internet, no exam. Desmos doesn’t need anything more than that same connection.

I was going to say the exact same thing. My son used demos for both the AB BC Cal exam (in addition to a TI-84 plus) and the SAT.

Students find desmos much easier to type in the calc expression using mouse and keyboard, instead of learning the sequence of keys in TI-84. Using the mouse allows for direct clicking on graphs to find coordinates, while the archaic TI-84 with tiny screen size requires complex menu navigation. Drawing something as simple as a parabola is at least a dozen keys where as desmos can show the graphical representation by simple cut and paste of the expression from another window, and multiple graphs can be compared in color, while conveniently viewing in full size monitor.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:TI-Nspire CX II CAS.

It’s the TI flagship, far more capable than TI 84, which will probably work just fine, but why not get an extra advantage if it’s allowed.

There’s a learning curve to Tinspire, but there are many resources out there, and it will save a lot of time. Virtually any calculator question on AP can be done with one input if set up correctly with zero chance of making careless mistakes. Only caveat is that it’s not allowed on ACT, but the model without CAS (computer algebra system) is. CAS solves symbol equations, nice to have in some instances.

HP Prime for an alternative with a nicer input interface and screen, but fewer learning resources.

+1 for the Tinspire 2 cas. It’s a godsend. You can do everything with a few clicks, store variables, take derivatives and integrate, while the peasants in the class toil away buttoning on their ti84s.

With CAS, you forgot an integral, no problem, it will give you the answer, tricky limits, there’s a function for it, need to solve an equation use solve for symbolic, nsolve for numerical.

Only downside is you can’t follow the teacher for input, but it’s not that big of a deal to figure it out.

All that effort fumbling with midget calculators, only to look over and see the student next to them using Desmos—just pointing, clicking, and effortlessly exploring vibrant graphs on a laptop screen

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

It seems you're unaware that all SAT exams across the U.S. are now digital, and the same goes for AP exams via Bluebook—both of which require a stable internet connection. No internet, no exam. Desmos doesn’t need anything more than that same connection.

I was going to say the exact same thing. My son used demos for both the AB BC Cal exam (in addition to a TI-84 plus) and the SAT.

Students find desmos much easier to type in the calc expression using mouse and keyboard, instead of learning the sequence of keys in TI-84. Using the mouse allows for direct clicking on graphs to find coordinates, while the archaic TI-84 with tiny screen size requires complex menu navigation. Drawing something as simple as a parabola is at least a dozen keys where as desmos can show the graphical representation by simple cut and paste of the expression from another window, and multiple graphs can be compared in color, while conveniently viewing in full size monitor.

Were there a lot of parabolas and pretty graphs questions on the 2025 AP Calculus BC and Multivariable exams? I didn’t see much. It’s nice to have any calculation at your fingertips with zero chance of making a mistake. Not critical, but nice. Calculator FRQ 1 and 2, can be done entirely on the TI Nspire in about 5 minutes each.

Enjoy your Desmos multicolored art, I might suggest a set of crayons to go with it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

It seems you're unaware that all SAT exams across the U.S. are now digital, and the same goes for AP exams via Bluebook—both of which require a stable internet connection. No internet, no exam. Desmos doesn’t need anything more than that same connection.

I was going to say the exact same thing. My son used demos for both the AB BC Cal exam (in addition to a TI-84 plus) and the SAT.

Students find desmos much easier to type in the calc expression using mouse and keyboard, instead of learning the sequence of keys in TI-84. Using the mouse allows for direct clicking on graphs to find coordinates, while the archaic TI-84 with tiny screen size requires complex menu navigation. Drawing something as simple as a parabola is at least a dozen keys where as desmos can show the graphical representation by simple cut and paste of the expression from another window, and multiple graphs can be compared in color, while conveniently viewing in full size monitor.

Why do parents with kindergarten kids give their opinion on Calculus BC exams? You don’t buy a graphing calculator for the multicolor vibrant display, you buy to solve questions effectively at the exam.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

It seems you're unaware that all SAT exams across the U.S. are now digital, and the same goes for AP exams via Bluebook—both of which require a stable internet connection. No internet, no exam. Desmos doesn’t need anything more than that same connection.

I was going to say the exact same thing. My son used demos for both the AB BC Cal exam (in addition to a TI-84 plus) and the SAT.

Students find desmos much easier to type in the calc expression using mouse and keyboard, instead of learning the sequence of keys in TI-84. Using the mouse allows for direct clicking on graphs to find coordinates, while the archaic TI-84 with tiny screen size requires complex menu navigation. Drawing something as simple as a parabola is at least a dozen keys where as desmos can show the graphical representation by simple cut and paste of the expression from another window, and multiple graphs can be compared in color, while conveniently viewing in full size monitor.

Thanks, finally, a useful reply. Cutting and pasting is critical to avoid inattention mistakes.

[Anonymous]

It depends what you want out of the calculator. You can get what the calculus class is using, our high school recommends TI-83, TI-84 or TI-89. A graphing calculator is also essential in AP Statistics.

As it was pointed out, College Board banned Computer Algebra Systems (CAS) from SAT in effect starting with August 2025, so if you want to use it for SAT, TI-89 is not allowed, or any other CAS calculator. Some AP exam only allow scientific calculators and others only 4 function calculators so check the published policy.

If you want to get something more sophisticated and capable you can use the CAS calculators, but you have to spend some time learning the menus and specific ways of doing things, which takes about a day spread around a few sessions.

If you care about graphing functions, HP Prime G2 is the best feature wise, most memory, power and a large touch screen (rare for graphing calculators), and has dedicated trigonometry buttons (sin, cos) which some find useful.

Also popular is TI-Nspire CAS, but graphing is clunky and has a rudimentary track pad to navigate the screen. The upside is that it has a ton of polished features, small snippets of capability, built in functions that make life easier. It has some project organization features that make it useful for longer questions where you have to define functions and do substantial manipulation. If you care about features, get this model.

Casio and Sharp have a lineup of calculators but they are not too popular in our area. Casio fx-GC500 has a huge screen but the stylus use is not permitted on the exam.

[Anonymous]

I'm from the stone ages of the 2000s but a TI 84 got me all the way through a math minor. For other stuff we used computer programs, so I wouldn't bother getting a separate device as the kid will almost certainly be working on a computer for anything more complex.

No joke, you can actually do a lot in good ol' Excel.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm from the stone ages of the 2000s but a TI 84 got me all the way through a math minor. For other stuff we used computer programs, so I wouldn't bother getting a separate device as the kid will almost certainly be working on a computer for anything more complex.

No joke, you can actually do a lot in good ol' Excel.

You can’t use computer programs for AP exams, which is what OP is asking for.

The difference between TI-84 and TI-Nspire is $30, not a large sum. They all do roughly the same things, the interface might be slightly different. They do have spreadsheets, handy for AP Statistics.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

It seems you're unaware that all SAT exams across the U.S. are now digital, and the same goes for AP exams via Bluebook—both of which require a stable internet connection. No internet, no exam. Desmos doesn’t need anything more than that same connection.

I was going to say the exact same thing. My son used demos for both the AB BC Cal exam (in addition to a TI-84 plus) and the SAT.

Did your son teach self Desmos or was it taught in school?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Our school asked us to buy Ti-84 so that’s what I bought

unfortunate effect of TI's graphing calculator monopoly, but with Desmos gaining traction, it won’t last much longer

Desmos only works if connected to internet, a non starter for secure exams. The alternative is fenced off Desmos that require a technological solution, not easily implemented.

Desmos is great for graphing, but sucks for very basic defining, manipulating and programming variables and functions. That’s critical for high level problem solving, and success at the AP exams.

Graphing calculators won’t go away soon in the educational market. For speed during an exam a physical button calculator is much faster, I’d rather have that instead of clicking through menus.

It seems you're unaware that all SAT exams across the U.S. are now digital, and the same goes for AP exams via Bluebook—both of which require a stable internet connection. No internet, no exam. Desmos doesn’t need anything more than that same connection.

A basic Desmos tutorial would show you how to define variables and use a wide range of custom programming functions that the TI calculators simply can't compete with. TI is built on 30-year-old tech, while Desmos is a modern, cloud-based platform that's constantly evolving—there’s really no comparison.

It's a slow death but TI calcs will phase out of schools. But you can save yours and cherish it.

I would caution against relying on Desmos only. My son took MAP that has a built in Desmos calculator for some time, but he didn’t see the menu button during the test. Handheld calculators build more familiarity because they’ve been used for years on homework’s, quizzes, tests.

My kid has Desmos on his iPad, he’ll mostly use this first, graphing, short calculations, for taking screenshots it is very convenient. For more involving calculations he’ll use TI-Nspire. Faster data input, which in Desmos kind of sucks, like any virtual keyboard app. Try doing an expected value from a table in Desmos and you’ll end up pulling your hair. Much easier on TI spreadsheets.