Texas Instruments TI-36X Pro Engineering/Scientific Calculator | 9.7 Inch | Black.

Satisfactory

I bought this calculator for the FE exam. Until then I used a TI-83 graphing calculator, and since then I have only used this TI-36x. Thats how great it is. The muti-line display is great. You can also scroll through previous calculations, even after pressing clear. Its great for multi-step calculations. The operations on this calculator are really intuitive. If youre calculating integrals, it gives you an integral symbol to plug your limits and equation into. Same with square roots, fractions, exponents, everything. It will also do things like statistics models, where it asks for the inputs one at a time. It solves matrices, converts units, takes cross products, solves systems of equations, has useful constants pre-loaded, does combinations and permutations... I just wish I had bought this calculator sooner. It just takes a few minutes of playing around to find all these features. I just have two minor complaints: 1) the fraction/decimal toggle button is right beneath the addition button, where Im used to the enter button being. When I was first using the calculator I would often push that button by mistake at the end of the calculation. It doesnt actually DO anything in that case, so I would just have to delete the symbol and press enter. Now that Im used to the calculator, I hardly ever make this mistake. 2) If the input or series of calculations is longer than the width of the screen, the calculator will just continue pushing the line to the right, rather than continuing on the next line. It just makes it so that I cant see my whole input on the screen and I have to scroll back through to review. GREAT calculator for science or engineering majors. If youre buying it for the FE or PE, make sure you give yourself a few weeks to play around with it and get used to all the features and where to find them. Skim the users manual too, so youre aware of all the awesome things this beauty can do.

I got this while taking civil engineering courses and it has been able to do everything Ive needed for those courses. It is a process to learn all the functions, but I think thats expected.

Very good product

I now have two of these calculators along with a Casio and HP. I took it upon myself to try all three leading up to my EIT exam. I almost always reach for the TI-36XPRO. It should be noted that there is a bug in the calculator regarding how it handles mixed fractions. Ive never considered this an issue for me personally because I calculate everything to a desired amount of decimal values. Even with the bug I consider this calculator worthy of 4.5 Stars. It is still very odd that TI hasnt attempted to address this issue with newer makes or models. I rounded up to 5 instead of giving it 4 stars. The multi-tap functions can seem tedious at first but consider that youll almost never have to dig through the calculators menus for most of your functions. The pros over the Casio are the multi tap and clearer button layouts and button prints. The Casio button layout and print are frustrating to even look at at. The same goes for the HP. This calculator is at par with the HP except it doesnt require the RPN learning curve which can be significant for some. I see the RPN debate as this...RPN observes order of operation which is the way you calculate. The Ti 36 and Casio inputs are linear which is similar to the way you write. You might write 10 lines of math for every couple of calculator calculations which means the linear input is probably more common and easier for your brain to input initially. A linear input calculator doesnt stop you from inputting calculations according to order of operation either which is where linear input calculators are better than RPN. With RPN you stuck to one input logic. The final Pro for this calculator is cost. I have two of these and will order a third one soon. All three calculators should cost me the same as one HP.

TI-36X Pro calculator (A non-graphing scientific calculator) I originally reviewed a TI-30XS Multi-View and a Casio FX-115ES when I took the Professional Engineer exam because they were the only ones available at the time that I could use without too much difficulty. I took 3-4 months before the exam to familiarize myself with the calculator before I took the actual exam. I felt the Casio FX-115ES was far superior, although the TI-30XS MV had a much cleaner interface and a sensible layout. But the FX-115ES was very easy to use once you got used to the menu/layout as Casio hasnt changed its scientific calculators very much over the years. Many of the features I favored in the FX-115ES were not available in the TI-30XS MV such as complex numbers and handling matrices, and even working with different base numbers. The TI-36X Pro seems to have resolved many, if not all, of the TI-30XS MV shortcomings. Had the 36X Pro been available in late 2008, I would have most likely used it for the exam along with my FX-115ES as a backup calculator. The 36X Pro interface/layout is similar to the TI-30XS MV which makes it easy to use. The answers default in approximations (decimals) versus exact numbers (fractions) with the FX-115ES. This makes it easier for engineers since I always had to press the convert key on the FX-115ES. The TI-36X Pro treats complex numbers the same way as the FX-115ES, just make sure to set it in the Complex mode for polar or rectangular values. I still prefer the TI-89s treatment of complex numbers without having to deal with different modes (square root of -1 = i without going to any different modes), but it isnt too hard to change a few settings in the 36X Pro and it even has a key for i albeit it is a multi-tap key, but it works in the REAL mode. Different number bases with the 36XP Pro require navigating more menu layers versus the FX-115ES. With the Casio, you could directly switch between DEC, HEX, BIN, etc... whereas the TI 36X Pro requires you to convert the values. Again, this isnt a big deal it is just a matter of a few extra seconds of time. The TI 36X Pro has a better menu, but the FX-115ES is more direct. I guess that is probably a Japanese trait as well! The TI-36X Pro has lots of conversions and constants, and they are actually described in the menu which makes it very easy to use versus the cryptic FX-115ES. Again, the FX-115ES can be more direct - but that is the same for Microsoft DOS or Unix. They can be very quick and direct, but no one wants to use cryptic commands. A GUI or touch-screen is far more intuitive and that is where the TI-36X Pro shines. However, the TI-36X Pro conversions are very basic and limited to some common conversions. For exams, this isnt as big of a problem. For scientific or engineering work, I would prefer more conversions available on the spot. The multi-tap keys on the 36X Pro are an excellent idea. TI probably had to do this because they ran out of room for more buttons or a 3rd key. The multi-tap keys are easy to use, just repeatedly press them until you get the command you want. The color scheme of the calculator itself is an improvement over the TI-30XS MV. The 30 was white with a teal/blue green color. The white has now turned yellow, and the 30 always looked like a kids calculator. The TI-36X Pro is a black/dark gray motif and there are 7 keys coated with a metallic color. It makes it hard to read the symbols, but TI did etch the 6 keys with their commands. My only guess as to why they did this was that the keys tend to rub smooth with repeated use. I had my TI-86 for the longest time since 1996, and most of the keys were polished smooth by the time it started to malfunction and use up batteries in a few days. So the etching/molded keys arent a bad idea - I just wish they used a more visible/contrasting scheme for those keys. The solar assist comes in handy for exams because you dont have to worry about changing your batteries too often. Although TI does mention this is just a solar assist to lengthen the battery life probably by using whatever photovoltaic source you can get via the cell but relying mainly on the CR2032 lithium coin cell. I removed the battery and the calculator refused to turn on even under direct sunlight. So apparently the calculator does run on the CR2032 battery and utilizes some assistance from the solar cells. I am not a big fan of the hard case, as it clips at the bottom and top. I prefer the slide case of the TI graphing calculators although the 30XS/36X Pro case has better retention. Its not going to come apart in a backpack. To sum it up, Id recommend the TI 36X Pro in situations where you cannot use a graphing calculator. I am still split on the Casio FX-115ES and the TI-36X Pro, although I feel both are on-par in terms of features. The TI-36X Pro is definitely more user friendly. Overall: 4/5 stars

Great calculator. Easy complex arithmetic. Calculate rectangular or polar coordinates directly. All my electronics students have one

I hate math with a passion, but I am so glad I have this calculator.

I bought this calculator for my upcoming FE Exam in October 2013. I have been using it for the past couple of months to get acquainted and to study. When I was in school I used the TI-89 Titanium religiously. Unfortunately thats not permitted on the FE exam so I chose this one. Upon using it I must say that for a non-graphic calculator its fantastic. The shortcut keys (for exponents, powers of 10, fractions, etc.) are a nice touch. The built in equation solver, polynomial equation solver, system of equation solver certainly shave a lot of time off of my calculations concerning static equilibrium, quadratic equations and circuits. This calculator also does Matrices, up to 3x3 and vectors in three dimensions. It even has popular constants (permittivity, Boltzmann, Ideal Gas, standard atm, etc) built in along with a whole conversion menu. On top of that it does numerical integration and numerical derivatives and plenty of other things Im probably not going to mention. I consider it to be more user friendly than the TI-89 Titanium because of the shortcut keys and nice interface. For example, to calculate a determinant on the TI-89 you must press 2nd, MATH then scroll to Matrix, then select Det( and press enter. Then you have to remember the syntax which is det([a1, a2, a3][b1, b2, b3][c1, c2, c3]) and finally press enter. On the Ti-36X Pro all you have to do is press 2nd, Matrix and scroll to edit and enter how many columns and rows you want in the specified matrix, press enter and then put in your values. Then once the values are saved you go back to the Matrix menu and select Determinant and put in the name of the matrix where you saved the information. Pretty slick for a smaller calculator. The four line display provides enough room to see what your doing and the text is fairly large which I like. With the bigger calculators you usually have to squint to see some numbers, especially in low-light situations. This calculator also features Mathprint. This means that fractions, integrals and most other mathematical notation shows up as its supposed to. However if you dont like this there is a feature to turn it off. This is especially useful for when youre calculating something like a parallel resistance circuit and you want to see that big fraction to make sure you didnt make a mistake. Of course no review is complete without listing the gripes. Theres not too many problems with this calculator however there are something that really bug me. The first one being that there is no option to toggle insert like the TI-89 has. Usually I find myself needed to edit an equation that I just entered. Therefore I have to press second, then insert and put whatever I needed into the equation. Not a big deal but can get annoying at times. Second, I dont like the chrome arithmetic buttons. At times I find myself hitting the subtract button when I wanted to do some addition. However I solved this problem by running a fine-tipped sharpie over the buttons and rubbing off the excess on the surface. Now the symbols have a black color in contrast with the chrome. Much easier to see and I suggest this method if anyone else has this problem. Third, you must press a button multiple times to get what you need. For example say I want to type a complex number (3+5i) on the screen. I press 3, +, 5 and then I have to press the pi, e, i key three times just to get the i symbol. Can be a bit annoying/frustrating and you might make a mistake if youve had way too much caffeine as I normally do. Although I suppose they had to do this to consolidate space in the design process so I can respect that. Just a little annoying but I guess it comes with the territory. This can add a bit of time to the learning curve if youre not used to these multipress buttons. Thats basically it. For a non-graphing calculator I give it a 9/10. Comparing budget calculators, Ive had the TI-30Xa and the Ti-30XIIS before and this one blows them out of the water obviously, hence the name TI-36X PRO. Ive never had a Casio calculator so I cant compare. With this many features and usability at the price of $17 or so its certainly an exemplary buy. A great budget engineering calculator and certainly the best to use on the FE exam in my opinion. Go with this one!

I needed to take a math class called Elements of Calculus. It covers Elementary Functions, Finite Mathematics and single variable Calculus. This is the book