I have a TI-89....

Also, for anyone who knows anything about computers, here is mine:
Dell Inspiron 1520
2 GB Ram
2.16 GHz Core 2 Duo
Integrated Video Processor
High Def Sound Card
160gb Harddrive
14.1" screen

Is that good enough for Freshman and Sophomore years?

BUT DOES YOUR COMPUTER HAS INTERNETS?!

When I TAed a freshman calculus course in 2006, everyone used TI-89s. I don't know whether there's been a dramatic breakthrough in graphing calculators in the last 3 years, but if not, you should be fine.

TI-89 is the way to go as far as engineering students are concerned.

It's the best calculator to have. In fact, if you're an electrical engineering student; you shouldn't be looking at other calculators!

- Class of '07: Electrical Engineering

The TI-89 is highly recommended.

It doesn't really matter what your computer can do. Any software you need for your course work will be available in the open access labs, or in one of the engineering labs.

TI-89 and you are fine. Get programs from A+

As long as you are never more than 15 minutes from Texags, your college career will be gravy.

I wouldn't rely on the TI-89 TOOO much because I had many profs that would not let you use it - only a TI-30X or equivalent. Plus, you can only use that type of calculator on the FE exam when you take it so learn your calculus without using the 89 as a crutch.

Good luck in engineering - I envy the thought of being a freshman again at A&M, but not the thought of being a freshman engineering major at A&M.

Whatever calc you use, learn to use it quickly. I preferred my HP-32SII scientific because I was so much faster on that. I only pulled out a graphing calc for matrix math.

HP-15c was state of the art when I at A&M. The best calc I ever had.

If you're an engineer and have anything less than a Ti-89, you are a complete sucker
.

The personal computer you own really doesn't matter much. Your department will have a computer lab with more powerful desktops that are regularly kept up-to-date with the best hardware and software. You won't use your personal computer for much more than word processing and spreadsheets.

quote:

---

If you're an engineer and have anything less than a Ti-89, you are a complete sucker

---

Eh, to each their own. I never found myself wishing for a TI-89.

I have a TI-83... and haven't used it once. I'm a computer science major, so maybe it's different for everyone else. After getting a math minor, taking two chemistry and two physics classes, I've never been allowed to use anything other than a basic calculator on tests (exponents and square roots, ooo fancy).

Like I said, it may be different for whatever they're majoring in.

As for the computer, there's not exactly a lot of hardware needed to access the internet / perform basic word processing and spreadsheet tasks. It should be fine.

[This message has been edited by AG_CS (edited 7/9/2009 11:44p).]

Im personally a fan of the TI-89 Titanium myself, get one from Ebay instead of at a store, you will save some cash.

In electrical engineering, there is quite a bit of phasor stuff and the profs expect you to have a calculator that can do phasors itself. I didnt have a calculator that could do that and it was a pain in the butt, because the time for the test was based on you having a calculator that could do it. I usually just left the circuit equations in complex form and then wrote "use calculator to convert if I had one" after that. Id lose a few points a problem, but it was better than sitting there converting it myself and not answering other questions. Although solving it even in complex form without a calculator was much harder than the kids who had programs to solve the stuff for them.

As for the laptop .. seriously all you are going to do with that thing is spreadsheets, look at porn/internet. If you can find a copy of Matlab and/or Maple (I figure Rahe for DiffEQ still uses Maple due to the fact that the Matlab vector field kernel also being Maple), I guess it would be useful to have both of those programs in your room, but honestly you just might as well get used to Blocker or Wiesenbaker computer labs (the other labs on campus are just full of loud people goofing off or doing their monkey coloring book assignments). The lab in the basement of Wiesenbaker is IMO the best computer lab on campus, its quiet with people doing serious work and there are usually computers free, because all the grad students in Wiesenbaker also have their own computers upstairs in their labs .. at least I know I used my own computer in my lab when I was a grad student.

[This message has been edited by Randy03 (edited 7/10/2009 7:05a).]

Oh and the first 5 semesters of engineering are stupid. There will always be too much work to do for you to actually do it all, thats part of the process, to see how you figure out what to do and what not to do, or what you need to do "good" and what you can do "okay". If you actually have the aptitude and work ethic to graduate with an engineering degree, the amount of work it takes to get to a "grade level" of an assignment is logarithmic, where the X-axis is time invested. There gets to be a point where you need to say .. screw perfect, 85-90% is good enough because the time investment past that point brings diminishing returns and that time would be better spent on getting other assignments to a similiar niveau.

Oh and dont get too stressed out if you get bad grades, only worry that you float on the corpses of the kids who are going to fail out, if the class average is a 40 on a test and you make an 80, you made a 110 after the grades are curved. I think with the curve I made around a 120 or so in CHEM107 (Darensbourg F99). Again, its not your actual grade or how good the work is, it is how good it is in comparison to the rest of the people in your class, most of them will be gone in two years and then it you will actually have to work harder on individual assignments, because the required comparative quality will be higher due to all of the underperforming students moving on to other majors.

If you are one of the 20% of so that makes it to the upper level from those that start in the college of engineering, good for you. Otherwise, you should start to explore what else you are interested in and dont be bull-headed to the point where you are going to stick out engineering if it isnt working for you (or you cant hack it). A lot of people stay in too long and ruin their GPAs and then get all depressed and emotional and have to leave school and stuff, or cant get into other attractive easier majors (read business) because they ruined their GPA. A lot of kids who might make in the 1.0-2.0 range in engineering became 4.0 business students, but their cumulative GPA might have never cracked 3.0 again because they hung in there too long.

[This message has been edited by Randy03 (edited 7/10/2009 7:28a).]

Thanks for weighing in with your arrogance Randy. Couldn't have an engineering thread without ya!

I dont think there is anything that I posted that is anything but 100% true ..

For some people the truth hurts when it hits too close to home.

The TI-89 is the best.
If you can master all its functions it will make your life a LOT easier.

Also i agree with all the comments from Randy03.
i graduated in '07 with a EE degree and the first semesters were some killers, but after you realize you can not do all the work you have to prioritize among classes(4 hour credit classes).

I am doing fine with only a Ti-84 as a junior AERO.

Sure a ti84 is fine but a ti 89 makes everything much easier.

+1 Randy

Pretty much truth

I used a TI-83 my first several years of college. My prof for fluid dynamics wanted us to have a calculator with an equation solver. I had just used graphical method before. So I get the 89, whip it out on the next exam, and type in the final equation into the solver and click solve. And I wait, and wait, and wait. Well enough of that, get out the ol reliable 83 and solve it quickly with graphical. The 89 finally solved it by the end of the test and got it right. It worked fine after that without the hour delay, not sure what I did. Moral of the story though is to walk in to a test with enough fire power to solve any equation.

Computer wise, I was that kid who went to the computer lab and used those for class.

Just get a TI-89. I don't see why you wouldn't. Yes, it's expensive but the return is well worth it from using it everyday for 4 years.

It's not ideal that you can't use the graphing calculators on the FE exam but it's not really a problem.

quote:

---

Just get a TI-89. I don't see why you wouldn't.

---

I was much faster on a scientific than I would have been on a TI-89. I learned to use RPN notation in high school calculator competitions, and I preferred that to SAN. I understand why people like their TI-89's, but I'm not sure why they feel the need to look down on people who have a different opinion.

I had (and still use) a TI-83. Equation Solver? Bah!! That's what your matrix function is for.

While its true that graphing calcs arent allowed on the FE, the percentage of non-Civils that take the FE is very low. I think less than 20% of electricals take it, the company that does the tests has all the statistics on how many of each major takes it and how many pass it.

Personally, I dont think that you should get an engineering degree if you cant pass the FE, its a professional degree, one of the only professional undergrad degrees and Id be for a lobby that made it US law that no one could use "engineer" in their job title unless they had at least passed the FE. It would put a lot more pressure on crappy schools like tech who graduate a lot of "engineers" but many of them could not pass the FE, whereas A&M has a very high pass ratio.

It would be a similar metric to evaluating engineering schools, as potential law students (another professional degree), judge how prepared the students are when they graduate by how high the bar pass rate is from that school (when adjusted for state to state differences on the difficulty of the bar).

Anyhow .. so unless you are one of the 20% that actually gets an engineering degree and then one of the 20% that actually takes the FE (now we are at 4% of all students who started in engineering), you shouldnt worry about it TI89 is the right calculator for you.

quote:

---

I wouldn't rely on the TI-89 TOOO much because I had many profs that would not let you use it - only a TI-30X or equivalent. Plus, you can only use that type of calculator on the FE exam when you take it so learn your calculus without using the 89 as a crutch...

---

This. Many people who "learn" the material using a TI-89 end up royally screwed when test time comes and only a basic calculator is allowed. I would recommend actually LEARNING the math. However, AFTER learning the material, a TI-89 (or equivalent) would be a very useful tool to complete homework assignments, projects, etc... - or even tests where the calculator is allowed.


SUMMARY:

1. Actually LEARN the material and be able to do it without relying on the calculator.

2. After learning it, the TI-89 is more than adequate to handle the homework, projects, tests (where allowed), etc...