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Texas Instruments Nspire CX CAS Graphing Calculator US$142 + Approx $10 Postage

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Texas Instruments Nspire CX CAS Graphing Calculator US$142 + Approx $10 PostageAffiliate
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2ndeffort on 14/01/2013 - 20:34 amazon.com (1043 clicks)
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Mt son is going into year 10 in a couple of weeks. The school booklist specifies one of these calculators but the booklist has them costing $240 ish form the school's book supplier. A quick look locally has OW selling them for $195 and another calculator shop in Melb a couple of bucks cheaper. I found one in the US for about $100 but it was from a swap/trade shop with no international postage (so would need a mail forwarder). A quick look on Amazon and found this link. Postage to OZ is about $10 (I bought something else with it so not sure exact cost for just the calculator).

Anybody with teenagers at the business end of High school needing one of these on their school book list, try Amazon.

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  • stickyfingers on 14/01/2013 - 20:40
    +6

    Which year 10 student needs a graphics calculator!?

    • tonyjzx on 14/01/2013 - 20:42
      +2

      budding wayne swans

      or is that a graphing potato?

    • kwchaz on 14/01/2013 - 20:48
      +4

      Pretty much every private school ever? :(
      (Whatever they call Maths B and C in other states)

      • stickyfingers on 15/01/2013 - 15:02
        -2

        In Queensland you don't do math B or C in year 10, just math core and math extension.

        • stickyfingers on 15/01/2013 - 20:01

          Thanks for the neg mate. I actually just finished year 10 at a private school too. I know you don't.

        • kwchaz on 15/01/2013 - 21:08

          Wasn't me. D:

        • stickyfingers on 16/01/2013 - 01:03
          -1

          Haha, didn't mean you!! Sorry!

    • simulacrum on 15/01/2013 - 11:29

      Anyone who plans to use one in their VCE studies - I certainly found it useful for Specialist Maths back in the day. Best to get used to it before you get into the ordeal of VCE.. though there are heaps of students that choose to undertake units 1 & 2 of one of their VCE maths subjects in year 10.

  • diddy50 on 14/01/2013 - 20:43
    +2

    Geeze my graphics calc was way less awesome back in the day…. Most we could do was run snake and some other crap. These look awesome.

    Wouldn't it be better to have a program written by Texas Instruments for a tablet instead of a stand alone device these days?

    • justtoreply on 15/01/2013 - 12:28

      I remember coding minesweeper on my casio 9850 GB+

      And a worm game, kinda like snake except you could draw a background of your own choosing then you had to get your worm to the end without hitting anything

      And…
      Yeah, I'm a nerd :)

  • Santa on 14/01/2013 - 20:45
    +5

    I've never heard of graphing calculators being specified for use in high schools (in NSW).

    My question would be if this calculator is even approved for use in formal examinations.
    Vic: http://www.vcaa.vic.edu.au/Pages/vce/studies/mathematics/app…
    NSW: http://www.boardofstudies.nsw.edu.au/hsc_exams/calculators.h…

    It would appear that this model would not be approved for use in HSC exams in NSW.

    • JR63 on 14/01/2013 - 20:50
      +1

      Graphing calculators have been used in Victoria's VCE for a while I think.

      • ryang on 14/01/2013 - 21:44
        +3

        Yep, I remember having one in my VCE exams, and that was over 10 years ago now…

      • simulacrum on 15/01/2013 - 11:24

        Used a TI-83 back in 2000, for both Math Methods and Specialist Maths.

    • Ace on 14/01/2013 - 21:05

      Graphics calculators aren't permitted in HSC exams but that doesn't mean the course doesn't require them.

      Also, students studying General Mathematics in NSW are permitted to use this calculator (although it's probably a waste of $$$ for a gen math student) http://www.boardofstudies.nsw.edu.au/hsc_exams/calculators-g…

  • 2ndeffort on 14/01/2013 - 20:45

    Last year thay had us buy them all iPads, not sure why they couldnt just have an iPad App that does the Calculator thing. Maybe because they couldnt trust the kids not to use their ipads to cheat in exams? Anyhoo, the teachers are free to specify shiny expensive things on the booklist, I am just the poor chump that has to buy one!

    In terms of eligibility, my son is going to school in Victoria. I assume the teachers at the school have the eligibility criteria for calculators/exams sorted.

    • simulacrum on 15/01/2013 - 11:35

      Not sure about the iPad thing.. that sounds like the school trying to look tech-savvy.

      Graphing calculators are good because they'll need to use them for VCE. The VCE people specify them because the device has no internet access and its easy for the invigilators to clear the calculators' memories before the VCE exams to prevent cheating.

      • justtoreply on 15/01/2013 - 12:30

        When I did it (TEE in WA), exams allowed you to use the calculator memory to store notes!
        (it was 32kb BTW, although you were also allowed 2 calculators)

        I figured they did that because it was slow to access the memory and this way everyone was on a level playing field.

        • simulacrum on 20/01/2013 - 14:34

          yeah as long as everyone is on an even playing field its fair. From memory I think we were allowed to bring in a two-sided a4 sheet of notes.

          The problem with graphing calcs is the programs you can write (or copy off other people's calculators) which could really take the some of the maths skills out of it for the easier subjects.

  • Steptoe on 14/01/2013 - 20:54
    +2

    It's got nothing on the CASIO fx550. Can it type SHELL OIL?

    • Ace on 15/01/2013 - 05:21

      710 77345

  • kazines on 14/01/2013 - 21:20

    http://www.officeworks.com.au/retail/products/Office-Supplie…

    out of stock from officeworks atm

    but yeah $195 local

  • macamaca on 14/01/2013 - 22:09

    Save $40 by buying online from the US? Hmmm, not worth the risk IMHO.
    Also, my son was told he can use the older model (not colour) from last year.

  • [Deactivated] on 14/01/2013 - 22:17
    +1

    Ahhh..Dope Wars in Maths…

  • senorclean on 14/01/2013 - 22:36

    www.xkcd.com/768/

    Though this was relevant :p we built ir comms modules for our ti83 calc back in the day.. year 10 didn't really need the powah, but mine came in handy for 11 and 12 (and engineering at uni of course)

  • effgee on 14/01/2013 - 23:24

    Pretty sure my kid "needs" the colour version http://www.amazon.com/TI-Nspire-Handheld-Graphing-Calculator…
    ….that doesn't ship to Aus.

    I'd be concerned about shipping time & warranty buying from Amazon (not to mention "plug in wall adaptor" having US plug), but nice find. Before xmas I found the colour one locally for $185 and a drive to Knoxfield, compared to Landmark's ask of $230. Calculator King have it $195 with free shipping. http://www.calculatorking.com.au/calculators/cas/ti-nspire-c…

    Personally I think a graphing calc is a woftam, there's always a pc nearby if you need to graph. But I'm not fighting it, since the teachers will teach to the calc, and presumably kids will work out how to play games on them, so everyone's happy except us suckers who have to fork out the $200-odd. I've only used my HP 15C twice in the last 20 years, but it still works fine - I bet this will be dead shortly after the 3 years warranty expires.

    • 2ndeffort on 14/01/2013 - 23:57
      +2

      I am pretty sure the one I bought and put the link up for has the colour display. From the product description on Amazon - "Color-code equations, objects, points and lines on the full-color, backlit display"

      Good points, Landmark are a rip off for almost everything, a true testament to my belief that the most expensive thing in life is convenience. As for the power adapter, as a good Ozbargainer, almost every power point in my house has an overseas power adapter hanging out of it from the various Mobile Phones, Tablets, RC Helicopters and other various electronic refuse impulse bought off the OZB links.

      • kissfan24 on 15/01/2013 - 08:34

        The one you bought is the same as the CAS one effgee put up in the calculator king link and different to the amazon link. You have bought the correct one and I think you got a great deal, plus these calculators can be charged through a USB port on a laptop so there are no issues there anyway

      • effgee on 15/01/2013 - 10:35

        The USB charging & stated 3 yr warranty is convincing me.

        How long did delivery take from Amazon ?

        • kissfan24 on 15/01/2013 - 11:16

          When I bought from Amazon it took about 8 days to get to Melbourne (I got mine a while ago though)

        • effgee on 16/01/2013 - 11:39

          Gaaah ! Now that I finally go to order it, I get the classic

          "We're sorry. This item can't be shipped to your selected destination. You may either change the shipping address or delete the item from your order. "

          even when I use a street address. Presumably they've changed suppliers (says "Sold by: SchoolMart ")
          So much for 'amazon crack' :(

        • effgee on 17/01/2013 - 23:46

          nevermind, its come back in stock "from Amazon" for $2 more, but allows shipping even to my PO box.

          Ordered, and thanks again to 2ndeffort and kissfan24.

          fyi shipping was $10.80

    • kissfan24 on 15/01/2013 - 08:30
      +2

      Effgee… the calculator you have linked to at amazon is not the same calculator as the one you referred to in the calculatorking link. The one you have linked to at Amazon is the CX and the one at calculator king is the CX CAS. The CX CAS is a computer algebra system calculator and can be used for VCE mathematics in Victoria. CAS means (in simplest terms) that the calculator can do symbolic manipulation whereas the CX version whilst still having the colour screen cannot do the symbolic manipulation (Many US tests only allow these as otherwise it would be crazy to buy them over a CAS version)

      I would check that the calculator you bought is the correct one though… Since you said Knoxfield I would assume you are in Victoria and therefore you would more than likely have to make sure your version is the CAS version.

      Also unless your child is doing some sort of advanced mathematics they dont really need it… and if they are doing advanced mathematics then it wont be a "woftam" if the teacher actually teaches the course properly as your child will need to learn to utilise this calcultor for Exam 2 in year 12 (Especially in Mathematical Methods CAS 3&4)

      • effgee on 15/01/2013 - 10:32

        Thanks for clarifying - my bad. I'm not familiar with Ti's naming convention, and of course the Landmark list is intentionally light on for detail. The photo is a giveaway.

        I haven't bought yet. The book list definitely says "Calculator Texas TI-Nspire CX CAS Touchpad Colour".

        Symbolic algebra is awesome - I remember being super impressed when I played with Mathematica ~12 years ago. I guess I'm having a whinge that these calculators erode some skills, just like conventional calculators have resulted in a population with almost zero "mental arithmetic" skills. As suggested by comments below, kids are being taught how to use a specific calculator which IMHO detracts from the focus on the maths.

        I accept that I'm paying for software running on exam-compatible hardware (assuming the school is across the rules, having specified the same calc for yr 12 VCE).

        • kissfan24 on 15/01/2013 - 11:31

          No problems. I have had so many parents buy the wrong calculators because of this in the past. But if the booklist asks for the "TI-Nspire CX CAS touchpad colour" then just ensure you buy the one that says CAS especially if your child decides to do Maths Methods.

          I agree with part of the comment you made about skills as so many students have such poor arithmetic skills these days, but with these new calculators and the way VCE exams are set if they dont know how to do things themselves without the calculator they will struggle doing the things required with them.

          I know what you mean by your comment "kids are being taught how to use a specific calculator which IMHO detracts from the focus on the maths" but in my opinion depends on the teacher. Some are lazy and just teach students procedures on the calculator (Not why you are doing it… Just how to do it) and they learn nothing. I know with my methods class I teach my students to do everything by hand/mentally/by first principles, to start with and then the calculator becomes an extension which through the CAS and also its precision can help them to do things faster and engage in extension work they wouldn't be able to do without it (Matrices, Decimal point accuracy on graphs etc).

          Having said that I teach at a school that utilises the classpad but I still prefer the TI-Nspire CAS range and think that it is a brilliant calculator and a great investment. Good luck with it all and hopefully if you order from amazon it arrives promptly!

    • ryang on 15/01/2013 - 21:35

      My eldest needed one of these as well, but they didn't "need" the colour one. There were 3 options listed, including the older model mono one..

      Which I managed to score for $30 from - http://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/86535

  • ilikeit on 14/01/2013 - 23:30

    If it can't do a picture graph I don't want it.

  • berger on 15/01/2013 - 01:20
    +1

    5318008. That's all my calculator is school was good for. Type it in, turn upside down. Immaturity +1

    • berger on 15/01/2013 - 01:22

      Not sure what I did there.. From above..Turn upside down, immaturity +1

      • Ace on 15/01/2013 - 05:21
        +1

        You're going to 1134

  • willdog123 on 15/01/2013 - 01:51
    -1

    BAD IDEA guys, unless this is the same calculator that they use in "your" school, when the teacher teaches you how to use the calculator, whoever that dosent have the same calculator will be like wtf, and the teacher ain't gonna individually teach ur child lol.

    • kissfan24 on 15/01/2013 - 08:46

      I dont think its a bad idea at all, and based on Victorian prices this is actually quite a good idea. There are usually two calculators predominantly used in Victoria at the moment (some use others like HP but they are a very small minority) and those two types are:

      Texas Instruments - (Mainly TI-Nspire) & Casio (Mainly Classpad)

      There are different versions of each of these calculators but all versions are allowed in class, it just makes it harder for the students with older calculators when a teacher is teaching shortcuts on a newer version and that student doesnt have the same buttons (However its not that hard for a student to find with most things if they take initiative).

      IF the booklist lists this calculator - TI-Nspire CX CAS - then that is obviously the one the teacher elected for (or the school did) and 2nd effort saved a decent amount of money and got the calculator required for class

      • 2ndeffort on 15/01/2013 - 15:05

        My Calculator search was basically a cut and paste job off the booklist. Before this I didnt know one calculator from another. I did a bit of research to make sure I was getting the right model of course but I am not randomly buying a calculator because I think it is a good deal. kissfan is right, this is the specific model that was specified and, going by the textbooks set for Victoria it looks like there are only 2 or so that are used by all the schools.

  • gk0r on 15/01/2013 - 08:57

    I am going to +1 this for all the parents out there to get them on the amazon-crack. It's good stuff, once you start it's impossible to quit :)

    • effgee on 15/01/2013 - 11:04

      I appreciate the thought, but surely you're preaching to the converted, here on ozb ?

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