Texas Instruments BA II Plus Professional Financial Calculator by Texas Instruments
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Digital camera reviews of Texas Instruments BA II Plus Professional Financial Calculator
Digital camera Review: Dont buy if you are not sitting the CFA EXAMS
Summary: 1 Stars
I purchased this calculator and its predecessor for use in the CFA examinations.I purchased this one because I thought the keys would be easier and more fluid to the touch I have to say I hate them both equally.
The keys are hard to push, so you are never sure if you really pushed them, if you add numbers and accidentally press equal which is easy to do because the keys are so close together them you have to re add the whole sequence.
It does not come in a hard case
There is no multi line feature to see the numbers you are adding, so very 1980's. I recommend anyone that uses a calculator on a regular basis buy a simple students calculator to use, if you dont have to buy this for the CFA examinations.
rubbish
Digital camera Review: Easily better than ANY current HP--and 1/2 the price!
Summary: 5 Stars
Have been a stalwart HP financial calculator user for over two decades...started with an HP41 in college with financial templates. I always admired HPs for the durable build, ease-of-use (once you got over the RPN hurdle) and displays. I finally needed to replace my over decade old HP 12C and the newer HPs simply do not impress me. Cheaper (as in WAY cheaper!) build...the HPs that came from Malaysia were fantastic calculators...solid keystrokes, superior grade of plastics, the whole nine yards. The newer HPs are made of a plastic that is a giant step backwards. The keys are now laughable, no 'HP Feel' to them at all.
I took all of this in and thought to myself, 'I guess everything is getting cheaper, nowadays...'. Then I ran a NPV calculation at the store and was downright shocked to see it ran slower than my old HP. The one thing I thought MIGHT save the purchase (i.e. cheaper plastic but faster processor) didn't happen. I tried all of the newer HPs...the one display model of the OLDER HP12 (the non-Platinum model and still made in Malaysia) definitely runs TVM calculations quicker. This is NOT how to impress old bankers with a new product.
Time to check out the Texas Instruments BA II Plus Professional. At first glance, to an old HP user, I thought it really LOOKED TI-ish; that is to say, very non-HP. But upon pressing a key or two, I was impressed that TI at least made an attempt at obtaining the old 'HP Feel' to their keys. Not as 'pretty' as HP's angled keys, but good tactile feedback and get this: If you'll hold up the TI BA II PP horizontally and sight down the keys, you'll see they are actually angled! Nice touch, TI.
Nicely laid out TVM section (my only reason for owning a financial calculator, thus supremely important to me) and intuitive to boot. Speed of calculation simply SMOKES current HPs...there is absolutely NO CONTEST. A complex Internal Rate of Return took two to three seconds. TI hasn't been simply sitting around and 'repackaging' anything; whatever is under the hood of this calculator is current and fast.
The rest of the calculator is nicely laid out...keys are pretty much TI convention, which to me is different. I miss a prominent ENTER key.
Likes: I like TI's 'CHAIN' calculation mode. It's similar to RPN without the ENTER keystroke. Remember this if this is your first financial calculator: Most financial calculations are run in CHAIN or RPN mode (and, sadly, no, the TI doesn't support TRUE RPN), not the Algebraic Operation System (AOS). To TI's credit, the calculator defaults to CHAIN calculation (for newbies, this just means that the calculator runs the operation AS IT IS ENTERED; NOT following Algebraic heirarchy of operations). But it is nice that TI recognizes how financial people enter calculations and, unlike other TI calculators, AOS is NOT the default entry mode.
Love the fact that the compounding rate is defaulted to 1, not 12 (HPs always default to 12). Love the fact that interest is always entered as a whole interest number (it divides it for you, automatically). Good, not great, manual. Battery access is very easy. Quality looks genuinely good, but time will be the only final arbiter on this one, but the product appears to be (in my highest compliment) equal to older HPs in every respect.
Dislikes? Quibbling ones to be sure, but the compounding rate mentioned above is a pain to get too; I must have looked 30 minutes in the manual to finally find it (hint: you have to use the Down Arrow key to roll through a series of selections to get it...and it's NOT the first choice). Wish for (on all financial calculators, not just TI) normal AA or AAA batteries...why the manufacturers have to insist on the round, hearing aid style battery is beyond me. I mean, really, how big is a AAA battery?
Wish TI would step up to the plate and offer some mortgage/realty functions in a financial calculator without forcing a user to own 2 calculators. Wish it were programmable, which is just a follow-on to the mortgage/realty/specialized functions.
If TI offered this same model with enhanced functions, programmability and a normal battery, HP could give up the calculator market.
As it stands, a worthy heir to the older HP calculators. I'm sorry to see HP cheapen the product so badly, but TI will gain market share on this one. A solid keeper.
Digital camera Review: Easy Choice for Actuaries
Summary: 5 Stars
For the aspiring actuaries out there, are you deciding over the TI-30X II S or the BA II Plus? Look no further, definitely get this calculator. The speed with which you will be able to compute will vastly improve your performance on the exams.
So far, the calculator has helped me on both exam P and the FM exam.
Digital camera Review: Easy, Efficient, and Comfy to use Business Calculator
Summary: 5 Stars
Ease of Use = Excellent.
DUAL FUNCTION KEYS are clearly marked, and easy to use. Color is used well.
HANDBOOK which comes with the TI BA II Plus makes it easy to perform complex functions. Complex functions appear to be expanded, and extremely valuable, including clearer operations for "Time Value of Money", and labeling for it.
The DUAL KEYS identifications are labeled much better and clearer; differentiating colors are used much better, an improvement over the TI BA I purchased about 14 years ago.
I am very pleased with the functions of the TI BA II Plus business calculator, and even more pleased with the PRICE I paid on [...] for it!
Digital camera Review: Efficient yet difficult to use
Summary: 4 Stars
Its features are really good. The only problem is that it is a little complicated to use compared to other financial calculators...You need to get used to it to be comfortable.