Customer Reviews

Casio fx-9860G Slim Graphing Calculator

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I bought the Casio fx-9860G Slim Graphing Calculator because of the combination of enhanced and easy to use functionality, with a superb display. After previously using other powerful calculators with tiny font sizes and confusing/massive instructions at times, this is a major step up. It has everything needed for most mathematics - calculus, equation solvers, stats, spreadsheets, graphing, programming, recursion etc. and once connected to the Casio Web page using the included Casio software link, other apps can be added - the geometry app is fun and useful. For the cost, this clobbers the higher priced competition - I donated a calculator that cost twice as much to my employer's charity Christmas raffles. I had given up on calculators in favor of laptop/PC based math codes, but now it is fun again to use a calculator for courses and to just sit back at work sometimes & crank the numbers while going through tech. publications.

I have owned top of the line graphing and scientific calculators from TI, HP, Casio, Sharp, etc. This machine, the Casio FX-9860g Slim version, continues the Casio quality tradition and is definitely put together very well. It is also a very good improvement over its predecessor, the Casio FX-9860g, with a very fine pocketable clamshell portable design with a much improved keyboard layout except for the location of the Navigation keypad itself, etc. At $69.99 right now from one of the quality suppliers in NJ on the Amazon website, it is indeed a very great deal!

The pros and cons as I see it are:

PROS:

1) It has all the standard features that we have come to expect on such a machine, plus the inclusion of an electronic OS upgrade capability from the Casio educational website. This is done using a USB interface with a PC computer and is also quite fast and easy to set up. The current OS production version is 1.10, but it can be upgraded to the OS version 2.0 (which is almost entirely compatible with the current system hardware) at Casio's educational website.

2) The machine itself is quite fast with a nice graphical interface and resultant plotting system. The resultant plots are high quality and with the many added features available for enhancement are very intuitive for the learning process.

3) It has a nice and quite modern, folding clamshell body design that sits very nicely both on a desk or a table as well as in your hand. It even has two feet for great stability that are constructed on the bottom at the back of the very well made unit.

4) It has a very large amount of onboard main memory, plus additional Flash memory for tackling quite memory intensive problems.

5) Although it is called a calculator, it is really a small and very fast handheld computer system which can tackle problems from the most simple to almost the most complex.

6) It has a very useful user interface system with multiple icons. The calculator functions are all controlled using an Algebraic Operating System (AOS).

7) It has a very high quality backlight system that makes the display screen much easier to read at very low, prevailing light levels.

8) It also has a very fine stored Help system with both syntax and an onboard Manual of Explanations for every command in the FX-9860 System Catalog. Both the Help function and the System Catalog function are available at the touch of a key (or a shifted key for the System Catalog).

CONS:

1) Some functions that you would readily expect to be available with a single key press on the main keyboard (such as the common hyperbolic functions for example) require instead multiple key presses (hyperbolics are embedded in the OPTN menu softkeys which is much more inconvenient), but usually with only a single shift key press first.

2) This machine is limited to graphing functions in two-dimensions (2-D) and NOT in 3-D as can be performed on the Casio Classpad330 (or the HP50g or the TI-89 Titanium or on the TI-89 or on the TI Voyage 200).

3) There is no CAS (Computer Algebra System) at all which these days is a very BIG limitation. Casio CAS systems are now only available on the Classpad 330 pen-based system or on the older FX-2.0Plus which is much harder to find at all or even at a good price these days, since it was first introduced about 2000.

4) The FX-9860g Slim does not require a backup coin cell battery, but is powered only by two AAA batteries for over 150 hrs with no backlight and for 50 hrs with the backlight on continuously. This is a significant battery life improvement over the comparable HP and TI models.

5) The navigation keypad is located on the bottom left of the front face of the keyboard. This is just fine for left-handers, but for primarily right handed individuals, it should be located on the right hand bottom side in my opinion for much easier and far more natural key stroke motions.

This calculator graphs things about 5 times faster than any other calculator (comparing to hp 48gx, ti 92+). It's a pretty straight forward calculator. Another cool feature is mini-excel application, so you can massage big sets of numbers to your liking. I was at a bar having a graph argument, and thank god I had this folding calculator with backlight in my pocket ready to settle this argument, but even though I was right I was kicked out of the bar. Your results may vary :) It's not as smart as hp48/49/50 or a ti89/92/voyage, but it gets its points in portability and the oh-so-important night usability, as well as raw computational quickness (this thing never shows an hour glass), it literally graphs a sinewave in 1/4 of a second across the screen.

I purchased a TI-89 Titanium which was packed with excellent features but the font size and display screen gave me a headache in about 10 minutes. An acquaintance suggested the fx-9860G Slimline. I am glad I took the chance. This is an EXCELLENT graphing calculator with an easy-to-use key layout and the screen is just fantastic for us >62 guys. The backlighting helps much more than I would have expected. The graphing quality is as good as any of the other over-priced jobs out there. Also the speed is much BETTER than some of the other products on the market.

There is an excellent on-line help feature that is quite easy to use once you get the hang of it. Also one can add applications by connecting to the Casio web site via the supplied USB cable. The item comes packaged with a flimsy Quick-Start guide with very tiny font and pale lettering but I just used the enclosed CD to copy, print, and enlarge the Quick-Start. Also the CD comes with a full-fledged User's Manual in PDF format that is 600 pages! Yes, you read it correctly - 600 pages.

I mostly use the calculator for integration, min-max, and plotting. But later I'll probably hit the statistics portion quite often.

There is one drawback with this product and that is it does not come with the Computer_Algebra_System and there is no 3D graphing. But for 3D I use the software on my laptop and right now I don't need 3D that often. The CAS thing is somewhat inhibiting but for the price of this item and for what it does this is a GREAT VALUE. Casio surely hit a home run with the slimline. Hopefully in a couple of years I'll get the workpad also by Casio.

This calculator has a large easy to read display, fast cpu, and is the only graphing calculator with a backlight! However, It does not have a CAS which is why I only give it 4 stars. I also have a TI-89 but the Casio fx-9860G Slim is my favorite and the one I enjoy using. Hopefully, Casio will come out with a version that has a CAS.

I like the calculator. It has some design features that bug me (like not being able to calculate %CV or RMSD from a list.. or the fact that you can use the average of a list in the "math" mode but you can't use the SD?) but all in all it is a good calculator. It is top heavy, so many times it topples over. I don't use the graphing side much, as I got it so that it could fit in my lab coat pocket easily and be spill proof. For that purpose it is great: the screen is nice and large, so I can look up previous calculations and it takes up very little space. The list mode is great and you can do some calculations on the fly if you don't have access to the Excel spreadsheet. I don't use the calculator to its full potential so I can't comment on all its features. I also got it when it was ~$40-50 so it was worth that money to me. I would not pay much more than that. All in all I am quite happy with it. It serves its intended purpose and so far it is quite durable (I got it 8 months ago).

This was a fantastic purchase. It is more amazing in features than I thought. It is beautifully small - so easily portable, light and fancy looking.

I bought it for my daughter and she thinks it is the best thing in her bag.

I recommend it highly to anyone.

Thanks

Mable

I like qualities of my Casio, such as the screen light up, its graphics capabilities and versatility with which manages the mathematical problems, even if simple or complex. I'm not familiar with all the features of this calculator but as far as I've known, I say it is excellent. I recommend it to every professional who wants to do a great job, and every student who wants to excel in the sciences.

User friendly. Sleek looking. The best part ... you can calculate in the dark. It can't be used as a torch though.