This calculator is a little wonder. Its most impressive feature is the symbolic algebra capability (the feature which lacks in TI-83) which allows one to factor and expand algebraic and trigonometric functions, solve quadratic equations, systems of equations, perform matrix manipulation, etc. I even think that it is a little dangerous for a high school student to have a calculator which such possibilities since at least half of algebra, trigonomtery, and calculus homework can be simply solved on this calculator without ever learning how to do this on paper. Mastering the calculator is time-consuming. The paper manual enclosed with the calculator is outright poor, but fortunately TI offers an extended version of the manual on their web site. Actually, there seem to be at least two versions of the manual, both from TI. One can be downloaded from the link on the Amazon page (scroll to the top of this page), the second one directly from the TI web site - go to http://education.ti.com, click on Support, and then on Guidebooks. Both of these electronic manuals are very good. The speed of the processor is sufficient in most cases, although graphing with small step size may take very long time.



Link: Buy the TI-89