Do the math...

First of all, let me start by telling you what this calculator won't do. It won't graph functions or equations for you, nor will it solve complex, multidimensional matrices. It won't calculate complex or two-variable statistics or probabilities for you, and it won't graph a coordinate set of cartesian coordinates on a scatter plot for you. Basically, this calculator is the absolute wrong choice if you anticipate having to do any kind of advanced or complex calculations, especially anything that might require graphing.

Now that we've gotten that out of the way, let me tell you a little bit about the capabilities of the Texas Instruments TI-30Xa. It's a small calculator with a ten-digit liquid-crystal display, and it performs basic scientific and trigonometric functions. You'll probably use this calculator most to do the following three kinds of things:

1. Basic Arithmetic. You know, adding, subtracting, multiplying, dividing, square roots, exponents, inverses, and the like. This calculator performs just about any basic calculation you can think of.

2. Basic Conversions. This is the type of little thing which, when done on a calculator rather than by hand, can save tons of time. In fact, most people don't even know how to do many of these conversions by hand. Conversions which this calculator can computer include fractions-decimals, degrees-radians-grads, and polar-rectangular.

3. Basic Trigonometric Functions. There are a lot of little things in Trig which can be a real pain in the butt to scribble out on paper, so you'll be glad to have this calculator. It can compute all the standard trigonometric functions (sine, cosine, tangent, etc.), as well as simple sums and basic probabilities. While the key sequences for this can be somewhat complicated and unintuitive, this calculator can even computer some single-variable statistics.

I would recommend the TI-30Xa to anyone who's taking a math class but doesn't have the need for a more expensive, graphing calculator. This calculator should do a great job for students taking any kind of basic algebra class, and it's just about a perfect fit for any high school or college Trig class. The TI-30Xa would probably be passable, but nothing more, in a higher-level Precalculus class. If you ever end up having to take Calculus, forget it; this calculator is not going to see you through that -- get a graphing calculator at that point.

The TI-30Xa can be purchased in both solar and battery-operated versions. The one that I have is a few years old, but it cost around $11 at the time I purchased it. Recently, I've seen this calculator priced for anywhere from about $10 to $25, depending on whether you buy it somewhere like a Wal-Mart (cheapest) versus a university bookstore (extremely overpriced).