Buying Guide for Hand Held Calculators

Buying Guide for Hand Held Calculators

As the new school year approaches, many people are preparing to buy calculators for their children. The market offers numerous models with varying features. Here is a guide to help you understand the basics.

Graphing Calculators
Typically, most high school students in standard high school level math classes will need a Graphing Calculator. The real issue is deciding which features to choose. All calculators have two types of storage; Random Access Memory (RAM) and Read-Only Memory (ROM). ROM is permanent memory that stays when the calculator is turned off. The machine's operating system lives in ROM, but its calculation data lives in RAM. The difference between these types of memory is whether information is lost when the calculator is turned off. For example, if 2 + 2 were entered the calculation would happen in RAM, but the program that performs the calculation is stored in ROM. Once the calculator is running, it will need a lot of memory to temporarily store data for computations (RAM). Typically, graphical calculators need to have between 32 KB and 256 KB of RAM to perform well. Of course, the more RAM your calculator has, the more information can be processed simultaneously and higher end models will usually have more RAM.

Standard ROM memory is static and cannot be changed. However, most better calculators now offer Flash ROM memory, which is reprogrammable. This technology enables the calculator to be upgraded with new software and operating systems through the internet post purchase much like the hard drive of a computer. Flash ROM memory also allows students to toggle between multiple software applications like a computer that can toggle between Microsoft Word and Excel. This is convenient for students who have multiple math classes. Here is a list of high quality graphing calculators with Flash ROM memory; TI-83 Plus, TI-83 Plus Silver Edition, TI-89 and the Voyager 200.