Which Calculator?

Which calculator is the best one ...? Anybody got any suggestions?

 

I use a Casio FX 85,the cheapest and most basic of them all.i dont think il be changing it any time soon,Although you may need to pick up something that solves polynomials common in Timeseries(CT6) or Interpolation found in CT1 although i just wasnt motivated enough to do so!
Lol.

 

I've also got the super-cheap casio, and it's perfectly fine for the later exams. However I did most of the CT exams before they got rid of any choice calculators and the one I used before solved equations for X and had statistical tables in their memory. I think the expensive one does internal rate of return calculations for example.

Some of the exams are quite time pressured and a calculator which saves you 20 minutes cumulatively of tapping in numbers would be worth the extra £50 perhaps. Depends how pressed for cash you are today. I reckon if you spend the extra for more functionality you won't regret it.

 

http://www.actuaries.org.uk/sites/all/files/documents/pdf/exampolicies.pdf
See page 4 for list of permitted calculators.
There's not alot of choice & I don't believe any of them are programmable.

 

The BA ii plus solves equations satisfying internal rate of return,which may save you a tonne of time in the CT1 exam,but after that,you probably dont need it as much because polynomials from ct6 are easily done by hand.
If you have the cash,get the BA 2 plus,if not,just use the casio fx 82,just practice a tonne of questions on IIR and you should be okay.

 

Texas Instruments BA II plus Professional

I have the BA II Plus professional and I have a question: is it allowed at all? The regulation says "with or wthout suffix" so I believe it is...

The main problem with calculators is that one spends so much time learning how to use them that it it is difficult to change afterwards. So you may well get it right in the first place...

The BA II Plus (with or without suffix) is the only calculator allowed for the CFA exam (chartered Financial Analyst - not one from the profession). As such there are a lot of places where you can find quick how-to-use guides for any calculation, from time value of money to ANOVA tables. As you can imagine this saves you a lot of time, because the actual manual can be quite cryptic at times...

 

Reduced list of calculators

http://www.actuaries.org.uk/news/articles/revised-calculator-policy-september-2011-exams

The HP calculators have been removed from the approved list.

The following list of calculators shows those acceptable for use in the exams:

Casio FX82 (with or without any suffix)
Casio FX83 (with or without any suffix)
Casio FX85 (with or without any suffix)
Sharp EL531 (with or without any suffix)
Texas Instruments BA II Plus (with or without any suffix)
Texas Instruments TI-30 (with or without any suffix)

Problem is the Casio FX82 has many variants e.g FX82s, FX82es,
The FX85 also has variants,.....FX85-es, FX 85 GT
so which of this is approved? Or I can use any as long as it is FX82 whatever the model variant!

The last time they revised the calculator policy, I dumped my old trusted calculator & bought the HP 12c Financial calculator and that cost me something...now I have to dump that and buy another one...this is getting costly

 

calculators

With or without any suffix - so you can use any such variant.

 

Wow, it is indeed getting costly. I also have the Hp 12c calculator . I have to start looking into getting a new calculator now and who knows when they will decide to change their minds again

 

Ultimately, it's down to personal preference and what works for you. I usually take in both the Casio FX85 and Sharp EL-531 (as backup). Both can be bought online for under £10.

In terms of raw functionality, the Casio FX85's probably comes out on top compared to the Sharp EL-531 (never used Texas, so can't comment).

The Casio table interface for data (standard deviation, linear regression, interpolation) is definitely superior to the Sharp. It also will generate a table form a function, which can be useful when iteratively searching for an answer. The inverse button (x^-1) button is a particularly handy for the earlier exams. The replayable formula memory is miles better on the Casio (the replayable memory on the Sharp EL-531 is poor and limited, compared to the Casio's and even other Sharp models).

However, I would recommend disabling the fancy Casio's MathIO mode and using the boring LineIO mode. The natural display MathIO mode is pretty but it really slows you down. The navigation in MathIO mode add far too many extra keystrokes for exams.

The Sharp EL-531 is a bit rubbish compared to others in the Sharp range. (The understated Sharp EL-506W is a beast and a very different calculator, despite appearing almost identical at a glance... I'm still gutted it's no longer allowed).

Good luck!