Purchase advice questions

[Ron Ross]

To add my 2 cents.

As suggested by Dave Britton, a Ti-86 might be just the ticket for you. It is the direct upgrade of the Ti-85 (which was Ti's first real competition to the Hp 48S series calculator). It has 128K of RAM and is on par with the Hp 48G+ calculator.

If you want RPN and power, the Hp 50G is the best option (and it has an algebraic mode, in case you decide to avoid RPN).

For your son, I would still suggest an Hp Prime (Hp's answer to the Ti Nspire). It is better and more versatile and boots up in a second (the Ti seems to take about 10 seconds, both are annoying, the Ti is unbearable as a calculator). Why an Hp Prime? Because Hp seems to be committed to this calculator vs they are dropping the Hp 50G, so you son may not readily find one later in school if his first calculator is broken, lost or stolen. And the Hp Prime has an excellent quality feel, reminiscent of the best calculators Hp made during the 80s and 90s, certainly better than anything Hp has made in the last 15 years (feels much better than the Hp 50G, quality wise).

If you decide to just buy a calculator (and not a graphing model, for yourself or your son), the Hp 35s is still readily available and is pretty good. No I/O, but that is intentional to keep it test compliant.

If you are or become a calculator connoisseur, the Hp 32sii would be a great choice. However, these are horded by nearly all of us, and usually sell for a premium. This is the predecessor the Hp 35s. It has FAR LESS RAM, so why would I suggest this? It is a twenty year + calculator ie if you were to buy in like new condition, it should last for 20+ years (where the Hp 35s would probably last about 3-5 years of college engineering use). The Pioneer line (Hp 32sii, among others) calculators were an excellent calculator line, second only to the Voyager line in build and quality. Then why didn't I recommend a Voyager? Voyagers have a landscape format with an older keycode programming paradigm. Both families are the best calculators ever made, quality wise. Coming in a close second to the Voyager line is damn good. The Hp 12c is a Voyager line calculator still in production (over 35 years in production as an FYI).