Friday, September 4, 2009

Low Price Texas Instruments BA II Plus Professional Financial Calculator


I recently bought the TI BA II Plus Professional for the December CFA exam. I found it easy to learn and use. The functionality is almost exactly like the "regular" BA II Plus, but the Professional has a few added features that saved me some precious seconds during my exam. For example, it calculates Payback and Discounted Payback periods, MIRR, and Net Future Value, all of which are not available on the non-Professional model. The calculator is feature-rich, yet doesn't have so many features that you need to read the manual cover-to-cover just to learn basic functionality. It's a great choice for anyone entering an undergraduate or graduate business program. Get more detail about Texas Instruments BA II Plus Professional Financial Calculator.

Wednesday, September 2, 2009

Cheapest Texas Instruments BA II Plus Professional Financial Calculator


This is a fabulous financial calculator. Until now, I have been a fan and owner of HP's financial calculators, but the TI BA II Plus Professional has converted me. Now, I am thinking about buying a spare TI BA 2+ Pro to keep as a backup....probably won't come to that, but you get the picture of how much I like it.

Why do I like it? First, it has a nice weight and size -- it feels good in the hand. It has rubber feet on its backside that are very effective at preventing it from sliding around on the desk...nice touch. Quality of construction seems good enough for a calculator.

Second, it has a variety of very intuitive functions -- built in worksheets for common scenarios (bond pricing, breakeven analysis, price/margin determination, interest rate conversion, depreciation, and a very handy date calculator (e.g., how many days have elapsed since 7/15/69 to 2/1/09?....14,446). In addition to "routine" TVM calculations, it seems to be the only financial calculator on the market at present that also determines MIRR, which isn't such a big deal, but it is a handy function for capital budgeting.

It is easy to learn, straightforward to use, and feels good...the only thing it does not do is make the decisions for you (but it gives you results that help you make the decisions). Worth every penny of the price I paid for my TI BA 2+ Pro... Get more detail about Texas Instruments BA II Plus Professional Financial Calculator.

Cheap Texas Instruments BA II Plus Professional Financial Calculator


This calculator performs all the functions you'd expect of it. In terms of actual design, the only thing additionally I'd ask for is perhaps a second line on the LCS for reviewing calculations algebraically.

But there exists one huge problem. While the buttons give a very positive *click* when you press them, it seems about one time in 10 or 15 the key press fails to register. As I normally touch-type on the number pad, it renders the device next to worthless. The only way to ensure you calculations come out right is to stare at the screen after each....and....every....key press. That might be great for high school kids taking a finance class, but it is worthless for the "Professionals" the product name would imply might use it.

The only thing keeping this piece of junk from getting a single star from me is that yes, it does technically work. But only if you watch it like a delinquent 12 year old.Get more detail about Texas Instruments BA II Plus Professional Financial Calculator.

Tuesday, September 1, 2009

Buying Texas Instruments BA II Plus Professional Financial Calculator


As a science educated researcher, I have always been accustom to scientific or graphing calculators. But my Finance class called for this puppy, and I willingly obliged. I have used the calculator for about a month now, and do find the financial shortcuts pretty great but I have three complaints about the unit overall. 1) There is no Pi button!! But I guess this is forgivable since you don't need Pi for most financial calculations. 2) The buttons are difficult and annoying to press. They lack that nice feel that my TI 83+ gave me, but more than that they are difficult to press. By no means are they impossible to press but you have to really strike each key in order to press the button. 3) No hard cover. The cover that comes with the unit is an imitation leather. I would rather a hard plastic case, that slides on the back of the calculator. If I could do it all over again I would have purchased the Texas Instruments BA II Plus Financial Calculator (the non professional edition). It can do all of the calculations the professional can, and it comes with a hard case, and easy to press buttons. Save your money and don't buy the professional edition, even my professor said he bought it just because it was the newest, "And the school paid for it."Get more detail about Texas Instruments BA II Plus Professional Financial Calculator.

Buy Texas Instruments BA II Plus Professional Financial Calculator


nice little thing. it does a lot of staff that i used to have to do by heand back in high schoolGet more detail about Texas Instruments BA II Plus Professional Financial Calculator.