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

So, I needed this 36X for a Calculus based Physics-2 class. Who knows why this teacher allows this, but not the graphing type calculators. This does so much of what my N-Spire does. Sure, the N-Spire CASdoes more, but really, I just dont think it does much more that gets used on a daily basis. In fact, Ive been using my TI-36X now more and more as a daily driver. When I want to plug and chug numbers, the TI-36X is now my go to calculator. Most of the time, the TI N-Spire just made things take longer to do. Even turning the thing on takes longer. It was like the N-Spire CAS did so much, that it was just in its own way. At that point its in my way. I need to take a class on how to use it. I bought an instructional book and its like 500 pages thick. Matrices; I gave up and grabbed my TI-84. The TI 36X to me is just a higher end, plain old scientific calculator. It doesnt graph, which is kind of its thing because it does just about everything else. Diff Eq., Systems of Eq., vectors (dot and cross products), Integrals, derivatives, blah, blah, blah. It just doesnt have a graphing function. If youre kind of past that, then this will do you just fine. If you dont need it, but need something with more higher end functions, then this is good. I came from a TI-84 and used it for everything for years. It was fine. I thought the N-spire was a step up, but I personally have found that I just need a solid, predictable, easy calculator, and this 36X seems to fit the bill. I motor through Thermodynamics, Physics-2 and Differential equations now no problem. That makes me happy. Its light, its solar, its got a little bigger screen than most, and its easy. Oh, and really cheap at $20! Thats 15% of what I paid for my TI N-Spire CAS. Unless we can work out our differences through better communication and counseling, I have a feeling there is going to be a N-Spire CAS divorce here soon...

I needed a scientific calculator to do complex calculations for a Ham Radio license exam. The big positive for me in this case is that you cant program and store formulas in the calculator, or it wouldnt be allowed to be used on the test. This may be a huge drawback for other uses, but in this instance it was a plus. There was a learning curve to learn how to actually use and format entries, but it wasnt terrible. The book that comes with it is decent in that regard. Hard to beat for the price. Solar powered. The display is primitive, but easy enough to read.

...ruined by chrome buttons with chrome debossed symbols (HORRIBLE IDEA!!!). Other than that, it performs as expected . I bought this to replace my aging TI-30X II S for exams that dont allow me to use my TI-nspire. I have nothing to say about the functioning of the calculator that hasnt already been mentioned hundreds of times in these reviews. I will say, the white out hack mentioned elsewhere in the reviews for this product was brilliant. I decided to take it a tad further and use nail polish instead and it came out great. I swiped the paint on each button with the nail polish brush and removed the excess with a clean dry Q-tip. I followed that up by using another clean Q-tip with a tiny dab of polish remover to clean any remaining thin haze of polish from the buttons until I reached the result in the pictures. I performed each step on all buttons before moving to the next step. i.e. paint, paint, paint...,remove, remove, remove..., clean, clean, clean... The whole process took about10 minutes. Warning: my wifes polish remover is a generic brand with only 96% percent acetone. Not sure how the full strength would effect the plastic even with just a little. Tread Carefully.

If youre STEM and you dont have this calculator you are making a grave mistake. You cant use graphing calculators on many of the higher-level tests, and this calculator is very powerful with lots of built in constants and great floating point accuracy. It will also automatically simplify fractions for you and give results in exact fractional terms (especially trig functions) that most calculators would output as an approximated value (i.e. cos(30) = sqrt(3)/2 whereas a TI-84 or TI-30 would give 0.866). You can hit the key above enter to get the approximated value from that. Remember, you cant just use the table function to get this because your calculator will output an imprecise result. - Not with the TI-36X pro. Table function for days. Make sure you memorize Avagadros number, you need that to calculate molar mass and molecules. - 2nd > constant > 4 > enter = 3.02214179e23 Dont get in the habit of storing values to memory with your TI-84, you wont be able to do that on the test - 8 constants you can store to calculate values to greater accuracy than if you spent the time to type in 10-digit values. I often get a more precise result than some of my professors who use lower grade calculators (verified by Wolfram Alpha/etc; obviously half the time I get a different result Im just wrong =] ) And Im just a sophomore scratching the surface of this things capabilities, a couple of my professors and a friend of mine with a B.S. in Applied Mathematics say it never stops being useful late into your career.

This calculator is great and is, at the time of this review, allowed for use on the FE Exam. I love the fraction button and how easy it is to find everything. It also lets you see what you are typing, unlike the TI-X30. This calculator has all the features that I would actually use on my TI-84 without all the extra fancy stuff.

Ordered this for my other half. Said that her previous one lasted over 4 years. No problem and seems well made.

It worked well for me some keys you gotta ask the teacher about

Its a great calculator, here is what i can and cant do as an tech student. Cheap, just 20 bucks. And if id had it before, life wouldve been way much easier, soon i wont need it anyway, since ill be doing signal processing. CAN DO: -Operate determinant, inverse , transpose, Identity matrix., operate in a straight line all your matrices. -Circuit Solve of three variables, you can simplify the circuit and solve the corresponding equations faster than a setup in matlab. -Vector operations, Constants! a ton of constants that you will need... Ke for example for electrical fields. -Not a cheat calculator but you can store results AND operations in the many variables it has (x,y,z,a,b,c and i think it has d too) -Statistical regression and stuff i didnt bother to read since i wont use. - Operate definite integrals with base x, just change whatever variable you have in terms of X. -It has all the inverse and hyperbolic trigonometrics functions which is just wonderful... CANT DO - Operate indefinite integrals, this is super important since many times youll be solving triple or double integrals and find yourself in a messy chore solving the indefinite and then the definite. - Cant operate variables in matrices, extremely tricky matrices may include variables, so you might want to input them just to know they cant be operated. - Cant operate transforms. This one ... i think they chose it to be this way because this calculator feels more than capable of doing this, just as the definite integral yet still its impossible, it doesnt even have a menu for that. THIS CALCULATOR WILL BE USEFUL FOR: BASIC CIRCUITRY INCLUDING AC, since it can change to polar and fasor. Linear Algebra Vector Mathematiccs Definite integral calculus Definite Differential Calculus Normal Algebra , just normal stuff... WONT BE USEFUL FOR: Indefinite integral and differential calculus. Multivariable Calculus Anything related to transforms , anything at all.

Great for what you need it for.. it’s barebones but works for 99% of standardized testing and college math/chemistry classes.

For this review, Im going to be comparing the TI-36X Pro (from here on shortened to TI for the sake of brevity) and the Casio fx-115 ES (shorted to Casio). Both calculators are excellent, but whether or not the TIs shortcomings make up for the Casios features is up for debate. ------------------------------ What I like about the TI The buttons. Theyre far more clicky on the TI then on the Casio. Dont get me wrong, the Casios button are still pretty good, but theyre inferior to the TIs buttons. Calculation history. When you turn off the TI, all of the calculations youve done are saved inside the calculators memory. For example, you enter 2+2 and press enter. You then turn off the calculator. When you turn the calculator back on, you can scroll up and find that calculation saved, results and all. Add in the fact that this calculator even saves calculations that results in errors, and this calculator could be a potentially useful way to cheat on tests. Take the quadratic formula as a example, you can type it into the calculator a couple minutes before you take a test over it and pull it up right when your proctor walks away. Once you have it written down on your test, you can just clear the TIs memory and itll then be impossible to prove youre cheating. Im not saying you should do this, Im just saying you could do this. The Casio instantly erases your history the second you turn it off. It also does not save any calculations that results in a error. The anti-slip pads on the back. I have no idea what those little pads are called, but thats what Ill call them. Basically, there are four little pads on the back of the TI which creates friction and makes it almost impossible for the TI to slide on slick surfaces. The Casios plastic casing wouldve instantly slipped from the surface of a slick, angled surface. (It doesnt necessarily have to be a slick surface, just any surface that doesnt create friction, such as a wooden surface thats been waxed) ------------------------------- What I dont like about the TI The third button. On this calculator, Texas Instruments (the manufacturer of the TI) decided to put in a peculiar take on multi-purpose buttons. For example, there is one key on this calculator that, with one tap, inserts x, two taps inserts y, and so on. (x, y, z, t, a, b, c, d) There is also a 2nd button that, if clicked in conjunction with the previously mentioned button, brings up the clear var dialog. Because of that, a single button on this calculator could potentially do eight different functions. The Casio only has 1st, 2nd, and 3rd buttons. The maximum number of functions a button on the Casio could do is three. The way Texas Instruments decided to implement mixed fractions. I dont really want to get all technical, and someone else can probably explain the problem far better then I could. Just do a Google search for Supposed TI-36X Pro Error. (Include the parenthesis. Yes, you heard that right, include the parenthesis.) In practice, I dont find that bug to be very bothersome. I rarely use mixed fractions. The Casio doesnt exhibit this problem. ------------------------------ Overall, you cant go wrong with either calculators. Its just a matter of whether or not youre willing to accept the TIs faults in exchange for its features. The price difference is negligible, at least at the time of writing. The TI was more expensive by about $5.