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RonMexico
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Calculator advice for stats / accounting / MBA program 28 Mar 2010, 02:52
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Can anyone recommend a quality calculator that will fit the bill not only for a basic statistics class, but for accounting and the MBA program in general?

I leave on a military deployment in a few days, so the first good response can be redeemed for a free lunch or round of drinks.......
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Calculator advice for stats / accounting / MBA program 28 Mar 2010, 06:19
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You don't need one.

You'll do all your calculations on your laptop.

I have a regular old scientific calculator that I occasionally use when I don't want to use my laptop for a simple calculation.

RF
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Jerz
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Calculator advice for stats / accounting / MBA program 28 Mar 2010, 07:00
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Agree. A good scientific calculator will be fine for those times you don't feel like pulling out the laptop to do some quick math. The complicated math in statistics or finance (there really isn't any complicated math in accounting) is all done in Excel or specialized stats programs like Stata or SPSS.

I don't think it's worth it to pay the extra $$ for a fancy graphing or financial calculator. I have an HP-12C and have never used any of the functions other than add/subtract/mult/div in class.
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Calculator advice for stats / accounting / MBA program 28 Mar 2010, 07:59
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HP 17BII+ is what I use. Easy and versatile, works fine for stats and finance courses. Depending on your program, you might be only able to use your calculator for exams, so it might pay to spend the extra $ vs. your typical scientific calc. The Solver capability is pretty key on exams where time matters--just saves lots of keystrokes.

I also have an HP50g, but it's overkill for the amount of algebra and calculus we do. And it's enormous. The former engineers in our class use their scientific calcs, but I wouldn't buy one new for b-school.
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Calculator advice for stats / accounting / MBA program 29 Mar 2010, 06:37
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Great advice, one and all.

I should have added a caveat to my post; I HAVE to complete an online "Statistics 101" class before Wharton will have me in (I got a B in stats back when Bob Dole was running for President). I have a classic, smart-kid-in-11th-grade TI-83 calculator that I assume will be fine for stats, but I don't mind buying something that will get a bit more use without unfolding the laptop and making microsoft noises in the library.

Sounds like the HP-17 will work for the 5 or so times I actually use it. Drinks are on me.
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Calculator advice for stats / accounting / MBA program 29 Mar 2010, 10:49
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I havent used the other HP calculators, but I would say get the Texas Instruments BA-II Plus instead of the HP12c. You enter in equations like you would on a normal calculator, it doesnt use reverse polish notation, which is kind of annoying if you arent used to it. I think some of the HPs have algebraic now, but I use the TI calculators.

Amazon has a very good deal on the BA-II Professional.
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Calculator advice for stats / accounting / MBA program 29 Mar 2010, 15:20
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Agreed. For the "real world" too, the BAII+ Pro is the way to go. I've found it great for both school (MAcc) and my job. You won't really need more beyond Excel even for stats when you're working; TI-83 should be sufficient if the highest level you need to go is for stats (TI-89 and -92 are better for calculus).


Ginetta
I havent used the other HP calculators, but I would say get the Texas Instruments BA-II Plus instead of the HP12c. You enter in equations like you would on a normal calculator, it doesnt use reverse polish notation, which is kind of annoying if you arent used to it. I think some of the HPs have algebraic now, but I use the TI calculators.

Amazon has a very good deal on the BA-II Professional.
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Calculator advice for stats / accounting / MBA program 29 Mar 2010, 16:51
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RonMexico
Great advice, one and all.

I should have added a caveat to my post; I HAVE to complete an online "Statistics 101" class before Wharton will have me in (I got a B in stats back when Bob Dole was running for President). I have a classic, smart-kid-in-11th-grade TI-83 calculator that I assume will be fine for stats, but I don't mind buying something that will get a bit more use without unfolding the laptop and making microsoft noises in the library.

Sounds like the HP-17 will work for the 5 or so times I actually use it. Drinks are on me.
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Your TI-83 will be fine for stats - anything in stats more complicated than algebra requires a laptop anyway. Plenty of people in my stats classes had those or similar graphing calculators and were just fine.
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Calculator advice for stats / accounting / MBA program 29 Mar 2010, 17:32
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Can't speak to MBA specifically but I have used the aforementioned TI BAII Plus Pro throughout the CFA process and it is much more friendly than the HP, without the bulk and superfluous functionality of a TI-83. Then again, you can't play Snake on a BAII...ah, memories. Brings me back to 9th grade.
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Calculator advice for stats / accounting / MBA program 19 May 2015, 23:45
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HELLO,
Hewlett Packard 10BII or the Texas Instruments BAII Plus. These for the most part cost about $30 to $35, however you might at times discover them discounted for less. These are extraordinary financial calculators that will handle everything that you will probably require. In the event that you are an undergraduate finance major, an MBA understudy, or finance professional, then it might possibly be a decent choice to go for a higher-end model. Still, remember that you are presumably more inclined to utilize a spreadsheet for most issues, so a fancy calculator may be more than you require.
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