An A+ Tool: Review Of The HP Prime Graphing Calculator

Putting it through a test session, we can tell that the HP Prime graphing calculator is at the top of its class when it comes to presentation. This is a calculator specifically marketed toward educators and students. There are several education apps included with the calculator, which make it easy for students to plug in values and solve quadratic, trigonometric, and geometry equations with no added work.

The HP Prime graphing calculator includes a wireless delivery system, which enables the calculator to accept quizzes and polls designed by teachers. Teachers can also remotely enable an “exam mode,” which restricts certain settings on the calculator when it’s time for an in-class examination.

The hardware design on the HP prime deserves praise. At only half a pound, you’ll barely notice this device is in your hand. You could almost say it’s too light and could easily be knocked off your desk from an errant elbow while performing rapid other calculations on scrap paper or another computer monitor. Fortunately, there’s a screen protector included with the calculator that prevents any accidents from occurring.

The included lithium battery recharges with a basic micro-USB cable. Even if you’re a full-time math major, you shouldn’t need to worry about recharging the HP Prime more than once every eight days or so. Charge speed is about the same whether you use the wall charger or a USB port on a computer or laptop.

Unlike many of its competitors, the HP Prime graphing calculator includes a touchscreen interface for jumping in and out of different menus. With all of the mobile and gaming devices that focus on interactive menus incorporating touch, this should make the HP Prime a top choice for any student who wants their calculator to feel similar to every other device they currently own.

The touchscreen is incredibly responsive and should feel identical to anyone who spends their day messaging friends and family or taking a break with a video game. The buttons on the rest of the calculator will still see plenty of use, and you’ll need to educate yourself on when to use which interface – not every function is available on the touchscreen.

Compared to a lot of TI calculators, the touchscreen buttons that appear at the bottom of the screen are an amazing convenience that you won’t be able to live without if you ever go to another model. It might seem a bit confusing at first, especially if you’ve worked with other calculators in the past. Using the touchscreen to perform simple functions relevant to the open app will feel like home after a short time, and you won’t want to use another calculator that doesn’t have an identical feature.

While we’re on the subject of menus, this calculator reads like a dream. The HP Prime graphing calculator can be browsed equally with the keypad or the touchscreen, so if you’re still uneasy about using a touchpad with the calculator at first, you can stick to hard button presses, although we recommend you get adjusted to the touchscreen as quickly as possible.

The drop-down and pop-up menus are perfect for those who have grown up using similar menu trees through Microsoft Office and Google Docs. You can resize any of your columns or rows inside the spreadsheet app, making your personal viewing experience different from others. Thanks to the full-color display, all of your spreadsheets can be filled with different color cells. You’ll feel like you have a fully-functioning spreadsheet program in your pocket!

Let’s tackle an important subject and one you’re likely considering for the main reason to purchase the HP Prime graphing calculator: how do the actual graphs look?

We’ll be honest – you might forget about Texas Instruments completely after giving this calculator a spin. No matter how complex we made our graphs and how ridiculous the visual readout should have been, the HP Prime had no problem visualizing our data and providing us with a simple, efficient display that didn’t require any eye-straining or menu adjustment.

Have you ever wanted a calculator that could handle algebraic equations along with the ability to graph just about anything you put it? The HP Prime graphing calculator has you covered, as it can work with variables as well as numerical values in its Computer Algebra System (CAS) calculator. Not only will it manipulate variables and simplify equations, but it can find integrals and solve equations. Where was this calculator when we were in school?

The CAS calculator exists independently of the normal operations, so you’ll have to enter the CAS mode in order to work with algebraic expressions. That doesn’t mean they won’t easily interact; in fact, you can simply copy and paste a final result from the CAS and take it over to the main calculator mode, and vice versa.

You’ll need to remember that in the CAS mode, the HP Prime will return values in fractions and radical numbers, while the normal mode puts them in decimal form.

Just like any other conventional mobile device, you can use two fingers and zoom in or out with the HP Prime graphing calculator screen. Your graphs can be manipulated the same way as the rest of the photos on your phone, and you’ll be amazed at how natural it feels to do this on a calculator.

The ease of zooming with your fingers also applies to use the geometry app. You can select an entire triangle, pentagon, or square, and manipulate the view and their positions with a simple touch of the screen.