TI-Nspire CX Handheld Review & Giveaway

About T.I.-Nspire:

COLOR SCREEN, THIN DESIGN, RECHARGEABLE BATTERY Stay mobile, continue learning – Transfer class assignments from handheld to computer (PC & Mac®). Complete work outside of school using student software. On the desktop at home or a laptop on the bus, at the library, coffee shop...wherever.

Watch the Video
•	Visualize in full color – Color-code equations, objects, points and lines on the full-color, backlit display. Make faster, stronger connections between equations, graphs and geometric representations on screen.
•	Real-world images** – Use digital images or your own photos. Overlay and color-code math and science concepts. Discover real-world connections.
•	Recharge with ease – The TI-Nspire Rechargeable Battery, installed with the handheld, is expected to last up to two weeks of normal use on a single charge. No alkaline batteries needed.
•	Calculate in style – The sleek TI-Nspire CX handheld is the thinnest and lightest TI graphing calculator model to date. It's also the brightest with a high-resolution, full-color display that makes it easy to see every exponent, variable and line.
•	3D Graphing – Graph and rotate (manually and automatically) 3D functions. Change the wire or surface color of your 3D graph.

My Thoughts:

Let me start by saying that I was so frustrated last semester going back to school because I am a math education major and my calculator, a TI-83 Plus Silver Edition, was lost somewhere in the get married mess. I looked for it all last semester and couldn't find it anywhere.

As I prepared for this semester I was thrilled that TI agreed to send me a calculator to review and share with all of you! The TI-Nspire CX they sent me has quickly become my right hand. E has often commented over the last few weeks about the fact that this calculator is never out of my sight.

There is so much I love about this calculator. I wish I could show you all the awesome things it could do but that post would take you days to read and most of you, that is unless you're a math freak like I am, would quickly give up reading because you wouldn't care. So let me just highlight a few of my favorite features.

The color screen is the first thing that really caught my attention. The fact that I can graph two lines in different colors and see which matches which function is simply genius! This is so helpful when trying to compare two functions.

The second thing I noticed was the way it displays your equations and answer, in real form! This drives E crazy when he uses it but for me this is awesome! I love that you don't have to try to figure out exactly what you put into the calculator because it shows it to you in exactly the same format you would use if you were writing it on paper. This is probably the part I am most excited to use in my classroom

One other feature I'm just discovered is that it can draw pictures and calculate angles, areas and other measurements. This is way cool because you can upload an image and then have students use the image to find an area, line, or length. I am so excited to learn more about this and use it in my classroom as part of our real world applications.

Now, I do have to tell you about the two things I don't like really quick. One is the fact that the only owner's manual for this is online. This is ok but can make it hard to figure things out when you are in class without a computer. The second thing will not be a big deal for most people, it is that every once in a while I get an error that says I need the higher version to complete the function (See image). For most people this will not matter but if you really want a calculator to use for life I recommend spending the extra $10 and getting the CAS version.

As a side note, all these images I made myself using the computer software that comes with the TI-Nspire. It looks just like the calculator and you can move all your documents from one to the other and do all these things in either place.

Giveaway:

TI has generously offered to give one Kerrific reader a TI-Nspire CX Handheld of their very own. Please use the rafflecopter form below to enter.