ArtsAutosBooksBusinessEducationEntertainmentFamilyFashionFoodGamesGenderHealthHolidaysHomeHubPagesPersonal FinancePetsPoliticsReligionSportsTechnologyTravel

Best Scientific and Graphing Calculators

Updated on July 5, 2018

Which are the best scientific and graphing calculators? How do I decide which scientific calculator to buy? Which are the best graphing calculators on sale today?

This review has some of the best scientific and graphing calculators and a buying guide with all the "need to know" information to help you make your final decision.

Buying a Scientific Calculator

TI-Nspire CX CAS
TI-Nspire CX CAS

Scientific Calculator Displays

Check what size display suits you best. The simplest calculators offer a one or two lined display but the better ones offer much bigger, multi-line displays which can be useful when solving equations and necessary for visualizing graphs.

All scientific calculators have black and white ("monochrome") displays except the latest Texas model, the TI Inspire CX CAS, which has the best full-colour high-resolution display on the market and the newest Casio model, the Casio Prizm (the first scientific calculator to offer a color display), which displays 65,000 colors.

Texas Instruments Nspire CX CAS Graphing Calculator
Texas Instruments Nspire CX CAS Graphing Calculator
- Easy to read with a back-lit, colour screen with crisp images which can be read in all lighting conditions. - Large screen size and very slim body - Very fast processing with a new operating system called "3.1" which performs calculations and produces even 3-D images very fast. - Huge 100 MB storage memory ("ROM") / 64MB operating memory ("RAM") - The only graphing calculator that is Rechargeable via plug adaptor or USB! - Approved for use in many official exams and tests.
 
You may need to buy an SD Card for your scientific calculator
You may need to buy an SD Card for your scientific calculator

Memory Capacity in Scientific Calculators

A key difference between scientific calculators is how much memory is available to the user to store equations, applications, vectors and formulas. This is often referred to as ROM memory.

RAM memory, in contrast, is how much memory the calculator can use while performing calculations. A low RAM memory can mean slower processing times.

One of the calculators with most ROM memory is the Texas TI CX CAS with 100MB, as well as 64MB RAM memory.

Bear in mind that if the calculator comes with an SD port, you can also really boost your memory using that - many calculators, such as the HP 50g accept SD cards of up to 2 Gig.

Important! You'll have to buy the SD memory card separately.

HP 50g Graphing Calculator
HP 50g Graphing Calculator
A very powerful calculator with thousands of functions and usages, with USB, SD and infra-red connectivity. The SD capability is particularly useful as you can expand the calculator's storage memory to a massive 2 Gig.
 
Common trigonometry functions
Common trigonometry functions

Scientific Calculator Functions

The best scientific calculators come with many functions, basically the more you spend the more complete it is going to be. However, if you know for sure you won't be using even half of the functions the calculator offers, save some money and buy one with less!

Top-end calculators offer programming functions to solve very complex problems and automate procedures (many of these programs can be downloaded from the Internet) and graphing functions so that you can solve Maths problems using graphs.

Some advanced functions that might be offered are:

- Statistical and probability calculations

- Calculus operations

- Complex numbers

- Hexadecimal, binary, and octal calculations, including basic Boolean math

- Equation solving

- Unit conversion

- Graphing functions

- Programming functions

Basic scientific calculator functions include the following:

- Trigonometry functions

- Fractions

- Scientific notation

- Floating point arithmetic

- Logarithmic functions, using bases 10 and "e"

- Exponential functions and roots higher than just square root

- Rapid access to constants such as pi and "e"

If you are only going to use financial functions, do not buy a graphing calculator since many brands manufacture actual financial calculators, which will have more financial functions than a graphing calculator. Many would agree that the best financial calculator is the HP 12 Platinum.

Unboxing Texas TI CX CAS
Unboxing Texas TI CX CAS

Connectivity in Scientific Calculators

You'll be wanting to transfer files to and from your scientific calculator in order to use them on your computer or as a way of managing the memory left on your calculator.

The best calculators can be connected to your computer via a USB port, which is the most practical option and the USB cable is usually included with the calculator.

Another common connectivity option is through an SD port, which is a good way of boosting your memory at the same time. Check if the SD card is included or buy an SD card separately (especially if it is a gift!).

Many scientific calculators offer another port with which to connect two similar calculators together directly (without using a PC).

Some scientific calculators also offer an infra-red port but at the time of writing, wireless range was very short (10cm on the very best calculators)

Casio FX-CG10 PRIZM Color Graphing Calculator (Black)
Casio FX-CG10 PRIZM Color Graphing Calculator (Black)
The first-ever graphing calculator with a color screen (LCD, 65,536 colors), making graphs, equations and all your calculations easier to understand and much more attractive! Introduced the new Picture-Plot function which allows you to feed your calculator with real-life images and videos and create graphs over them. USB capability.
 
More information on RPN (Reverse Polish Notation)
More information on RPN (Reverse Polish Notation) | Source

Scientific Calculator Entry Modes

- Algebraic is the standard entry mode for scientific calculators.

- RPN (Reverse Polish Notation) is more complex but when learnt can save you keystrokes and thus time. Offered by HP models.

- Mathematical Display means that equations can be entered as written. Casio used to call this Natural Display or Natural Textbook Display but now uses Natural-VPAM; SHARP calls this WriteView or Equation Editor; for HP this translates as Equation Writer.

Battery Power in Scientific Calculators

The more basic scientific calculator models use a combination of a regular lithium cell and a solar cell, whereas the more powerful graphing calculators will use AAA or AA alkaline batteries (sometimes in combination with lithium battery cells) to power the larger screens, which either have to be constantly replaced or recharged.

The Texas TI CX CAS however has completely changed this with its internal battery that can be recharged just like a mobile phone - you just plug it into the wall with the battery adaptor included (or through the USB port to your computer) and it will re-charge itself and lasts up to 2 weeks on a single charge.

After-Sales Support for Scientific Calculators

All three major brands, Texas, Casio and HP, offer great support on their websites where you can take part in workshops, download programs and watch training videos to learn how to make the most of your scientific calculator.

Vote Now!

The purpose of this poll is to see what the general public believes is the best scientific calculator brand. Vote in this scientific calculator survey if you have an opinion on the subject!

Best Scientific Calculator Brands

See results
working

This website uses cookies

As a user in the EEA, your approval is needed on a few things. To provide a better website experience, hubpages.com uses cookies (and other similar technologies) and may collect, process, and share personal data. Please choose which areas of our service you consent to our doing so.

For more information on managing or withdrawing consents and how we handle data, visit our Privacy Policy at: https://corp.maven.io/privacy-policy

Show Details
Necessary
HubPages Device IDThis is used to identify particular browsers or devices when the access the service, and is used for security reasons.
LoginThis is necessary to sign in to the HubPages Service.
Google RecaptchaThis is used to prevent bots and spam. (Privacy Policy)
AkismetThis is used to detect comment spam. (Privacy Policy)
HubPages Google AnalyticsThis is used to provide data on traffic to our website, all personally identifyable data is anonymized. (Privacy Policy)
HubPages Traffic PixelThis is used to collect data on traffic to articles and other pages on our site. Unless you are signed in to a HubPages account, all personally identifiable information is anonymized.
Amazon Web ServicesThis is a cloud services platform that we used to host our service. (Privacy Policy)
CloudflareThis is a cloud CDN service that we use to efficiently deliver files required for our service to operate such as javascript, cascading style sheets, images, and videos. (Privacy Policy)
Google Hosted LibrariesJavascript software libraries such as jQuery are loaded at endpoints on the googleapis.com or gstatic.com domains, for performance and efficiency reasons. (Privacy Policy)
Features
Google Custom SearchThis is feature allows you to search the site. (Privacy Policy)
Google MapsSome articles have Google Maps embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
Google ChartsThis is used to display charts and graphs on articles and the author center. (Privacy Policy)
Google AdSense Host APIThis service allows you to sign up for or associate a Google AdSense account with HubPages, so that you can earn money from ads on your articles. No data is shared unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
Google YouTubeSome articles have YouTube videos embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
VimeoSome articles have Vimeo videos embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
PaypalThis is used for a registered author who enrolls in the HubPages Earnings program and requests to be paid via PayPal. No data is shared with Paypal unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
Facebook LoginYou can use this to streamline signing up for, or signing in to your Hubpages account. No data is shared with Facebook unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
MavenThis supports the Maven widget and search functionality. (Privacy Policy)
Marketing
Google AdSenseThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Google DoubleClickGoogle provides ad serving technology and runs an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Index ExchangeThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
SovrnThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Facebook AdsThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Amazon Unified Ad MarketplaceThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
AppNexusThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
OpenxThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Rubicon ProjectThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
TripleLiftThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Say MediaWe partner with Say Media to deliver ad campaigns on our sites. (Privacy Policy)
Remarketing PixelsWe may use remarketing pixels from advertising networks such as Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Facebook in order to advertise the HubPages Service to people that have visited our sites.
Conversion Tracking PixelsWe may use conversion tracking pixels from advertising networks such as Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Facebook in order to identify when an advertisement has successfully resulted in the desired action, such as signing up for the HubPages Service or publishing an article on the HubPages Service.
Statistics
Author Google AnalyticsThis is used to provide traffic data and reports to the authors of articles on the HubPages Service. (Privacy Policy)
ComscoreComScore is a media measurement and analytics company providing marketing data and analytics to enterprises, media and advertising agencies, and publishers. Non-consent will result in ComScore only processing obfuscated personal data. (Privacy Policy)
Amazon Tracking PixelSome articles display amazon products as part of the Amazon Affiliate program, this pixel provides traffic statistics for those products (Privacy Policy)
ClickscoThis is a data management platform studying reader behavior (Privacy Policy)