Texas Instruments TI-36X Pro Engineering/Scientific Calculator | 9.7 Inch | Black. by Texas Instruments

This calculator packs a punch, and I love it. I used to primarily use a TI-84 as a physics major, but I had to purchase this calculator (TI-36X) for an engineering course. I was surprised to discover how useful it is, so I now use this primarily for both lab and lecture courses.

It is easily portable and does not require a charging cord, so I never have to worry about not having a charged calculator for an exam. There are several useful functions I use often–the definite integral function being one of them. This calculator can also solve simple systems of equations. These are great for double checking hand calculations during an exam or lab. The rational number function is also great, and it will provide answers as fractions that can be turned into decimals. I am also able to switch back and forth between scientific and engineering mode, which is also very convenient for expressing answers in SI units with prefixes.

Although it may seem like a “downgrade” from my TI-84, I really do not see it that way. I like having a simple calculator for exams and daily use. Compared to my TI-84, I am able to crunch numbers more quickly, in my opinion. Of course, I still use both calculators, but this one is my favorite of the two for these reasons.

The only problem I have really ever experienced with this calculator is that there is a limit to the number of “entries” that you can type at once. I ran into this problem while computing several exponentials at once, but things can always be broken down into separate calculations.

Esta es la primera calculadora de Texas Instruments que pruebo después de toda la vida utilizar Casio y tenía algo de miedo de que no me fuera a acostumbrar a la distribución de las teclas o funciones pero la verdad fue una transición muy sencilla y estoy mucho más a gusto con ella.

Este modelo es perfecto desde prepa hasta universidad, resuelve ecuaciones, derivadas, integrales, matrices y cálculos estadísticos, es muy completa, equivalente a una 991 de Casio.

Comparación Casio Vs TI

Ventajas
• Historial, tanto resultados como operaciones que se guarda incluso después de apagarla, esto es la cosa más útil que he visto para problemas en los que tienes que hacer varios pasos, es muy cómodo tenerlos anotados en la misma calcu y volver a escribirlos con una tecla, para mí esto fue lo más decisivo para probarla
• Teclas muy intuitivas: la distribución se ve rara al inicio pero sólo es agarrarle, por ejemplo la tecla que tiene Pi le das una vez y poner Pi, otra vez y es e, una vez más y es i, se me hace más rápido y menos complicado que el shift + tecla de las Casio.

Contras:
• El menos no funciona como signo negativo, son 2 teclas diferentes, al inicio se te puede ir y que no salga una operación por lo mismo
• Si quieres notación científica tienes que ponerlo en la configuración, no hay una opción intermedia de que a partir de tantos decimales se ponga en automático, entonces me ha pasado algunas operaciones que el resultado es por ejemplo 1.6393627×10^-8 y si no activo notación científica me lo muestra como 0.000000001, entonces esto es un poquito molesto, pero es rápido cambiar la configuración y ya que la operación se guarda en el historial no es algo tan malo.

Need the read the manual as this calculator has so many functions, recommended for any science nerd like me!

I bought this calculator for the FE exam. Until then I used a TI-83 graphing calculator, and since then I have only used this TI-36x. That’s how great it is.

The muti-line display is great. You can also scroll through previous calculations, even after pressing clear. It’s great for multi-step calculations.

The operations on this calculator are really intuitive. If you’re calculating integrals, it gives you an integral symbol to plug your limits and equation into. Same with square roots, fractions, exponents, everything. It will also do things like statistics models, where it asks for the inputs one at a time. It solves matrices, converts units, takes cross products, solves systems of equations, has useful constants pre-loaded, does combinations and permutations… I just wish I had bought this calculator sooner. It just takes a few minutes of playing around to find all these features.

I just have two minor complaints:

1) the fraction/decimal toggle button is right beneath the addition button, where I’m used to the “enter” button being. When I was first using the calculator I would often push that button by mistake at the end of the calculation. It doesn’t actually DO anything in that case, so I would just have to delete the symbol and press enter. Now that I’m used to the calculator, I hardly ever make this mistake.

2) If the input or series of calculations is longer than the width of the screen, the calculator will just continue pushing the line to the right, rather than continuing on the next line. It just makes it so that I can’t see my whole input on the screen and I have to scroll back through to review.

GREAT calculator for science or engineering majors. If you’re buying it for the FE or PE, make sure you give yourself a few weeks to play around with it and get used to all the features and where to find them. Skim the user’s manual too, so you’re aware of all the awesome things this beauty can do.

I am a 3rd-year Engineering student, and this calculator has become my goto calculator for exams. I own at least 7 or 8 scientific calculators (lost count now), and 3 graphing calculators: these include the HP 50G Graphing calculator, the Sharp EL-516 and I have also used the Casio 115/991ES in the past (same calculator, just different branding between the US and Canada). The Sharp and Casio calculators are the most direct comparisons, while graphing calculators are obviously usually seen in a separate league.

I won’t compare this to TI’s other scientific calculators, because this is simply the most powerful scientific calculator that TI makes.

PROS compared to Sharp/Casio’s most advanced scientific calculators:
1) Multiline display, and the interface actually uses the multi-lines. If you look at the Casios and Sharps, they use the mult-lines for displaying fractions and the last answer, but never display more than the last answer. In comparison, this TI-36X Pro uses all four lines, so that the last three answers/equations can all be displayed. It’s much more like a graphing calculator in this respect.

2) One single mode for all functions; no need to switch between complex mode, normal mode, polynomial mode etc., like the Sharp and Casios do. It’s merely for historic reasons that the Casios and Sharps still do this, and it makes so much more sense to have everything done in one mode (like a graphing calculator).

3) Solid, tactile buttons that have a slight “click” when you push them. I really like this, because I don’t even need to be looking at the keys to know whether my keypress has registered or not. I find with the Casios and Sharps (particularly the Sharps) that they have keys that are really easily depressed, and don’t give you great feedback on whether they’ve been clicked.

4) Really, really good interface. If you have ever used a graphing calculator from TI, you will feel right at home. The matrix equations, polynomial solver and and linear equation solver all have graphing calculator-like input, which should be both very familiar to many users, as well as intuitive for those new to TI UI design. For example, the polynomial solver is like a computer wizard, taking you through the steps for entering the coefficients of your equation. Really easy to use.

5) Cycling through functions with a single button is pretty innovative, and I think faster than using the 2nd function or (even worse) relying on entering another mode or menu. For example, in order to access ASIN, you just hit the SIN/ASIN button twice to cycle to ASIN. It’s really easy and doesn’t require you to use two separate buttons.

6) Really good definite integration and derivation. It works really well, and is faster than my Sharp (I performed a side-by-side comparison multiple times for speed).

CONS
1) The intuitive interface comes at the expense of a few more button clicks in a few situations. For example, the polynomial solver is dummy-proof for entering your coefficients, but I generally feel that the Casio and Sharp calculators can accomplish the same thing with 1-2 less clicks occasionally.

2) Variables (other than ‘x’) are difficult to access. The variables are all stored under one button, which you cycle through. ‘x’ is easy to access since it is the first variable, but to access ‘z’, you need three button clicks. To access ‘b’ requires 6 button clicks. I would have preferred an alpha key for access keyboard variables, or a menu with number shortcuts.

3) The silver buttons and silver rocker colour are poor. I know that many other reviews have complained about this too, and it is a bit annoying. It definitely doesn’t make the calculator unusable or anything, but they are a bit hard to read, and I personally also feel that they look out-of-place on a calculator that otherwise has rather dull (and more professional) colours.

4) This is a personal pet peeve, but above the “enter” button on the button-right, the TI-36X Pro has a Decimal/Fraction conversion button instead of the “multiplication” operator button; instead, the operator buttons have all been shifted up by one. TI has many other calculators, and most of them have the operator buttons right above the Enter key… which makes sense to me, since they are frequently used. I would have preferred to have the Decimal/Fraction conversion button above the operator keys, to make this keyboard more standard in comparison to other TI and HP calculator layouts. I sometimes hit the conversion key instead of the “addition” operator key as I am used to from other calculators (as a side-note, TI and HP prefer the single-column 1×4 layout of operator keys, whereas Casio and Sharp prefer the 2×2 layout of operator keys. You can easily adjust to either, although I personally prefer the TI/HP layout, as it’s easier to access single-handed I think).

PROS to graphing calculators
What really pushes this calculator over-the-edge for me is that it feels like a graphing calculator in many respects; the interface is intuitive, the line display maximizes all your command history… and it does this while focussing on the main features you might need, such as matrix calculations or solving polynomial expressions. Obviously this can’t do graphing, since it isn’t a graphing calculator, but it does have a “function table” where you can enter a function and it automatically gives you the y values for an interval of x. That allows you to quickly plot a function’s general curve on paper using the provided xy points. Very useful, and for this I have been able to stop needing a graphing calculator. Not only are graphing calculators not allowed on many exams, but some of the more advanced functions on graphing calculators (ie. matrixes) actually require fewer button presses to do on the TI-36X Pro. And I’m tired of changing batteries on a graphing calculator. In other words, I can actually accomplish stuff faster and more reliably on the TI-36X Pro.

Honestly, this is a fabulous calculator. The Casio and Sharp calculators have been around far longer, so that’s why you may hear some older users advocating for them, but the TI-36X Pro embraces a more intuitive UI with single-mode operation, and packs a few graphing calculator features which cover 99% of everything I do on a calculator in Engineering. I highly recommend this calculator for anyone in need of the most powerful scientific calculator on the market, or a graphing calculator user who finds that they don’t need all that functionality and just want something a bit lighter to carry with them.