Beware not to buy HP Prime, if you are engineer!

[Maximilian Hohmann]

Hello!

Engineering comes in an almost infinite variety of flavors, especially after university is over and one works on the job. In my case a Ti59 was sufficient to see me through everything from high school to ph.d. Very little programming was required during that time (mostly in a course on numerical methods for solving differential equations and to evaluate some wind-tunnel and turbine engine measurements).
On the various jobs I have had after university I didn't need a pocket calculator at all. Ever. The work was all done on computers, the bigger the better. The only possible use for a calculator would have been to sum up my project hours so that I could invoice my employers, but I preferred to use Lotus 1-2-3 (later Excel) for that because it would print the invoice right on A4 paper instead of cash-register thermal paper stripes...

Could I have used a HP prime instead of my Ti59? Of course, but I think that writing a little keystroke program required to calibrate a series of laboratory measurements is a lot easier on a Ti59 (of HP67 or 41) than on a Prime or Ti Nspire.
Would a HP Prime have given me an advantage at university? Not regarding the calculations but it would certainly have eliminated the worries of ending up with a discharged battery during an exam which was a real threat because some of our exams lasted longer than the calculator's batteries.