Choosing a calculator: TI BA II Plus

Aside from the textbooks, there is one other item that you will get to know very intimately when studying for the CFA exams: your financial calculator. The CFA Institute lets you choose between two models: the Texas Instruments BA II Plus (or its Professional variant) and the Hewlett Packard 12C.

Unless you are already accustomed to the HP 12C, the de facto standard when it comes to financial calculators, most people will recommend the TI BA II Plus. I had the chance to try the HP 12C, on my iPhone no less (there’s an emulator available for download). The first thing I noticed was that I couldn’t figure out how to use it! Adding or subtracting didn’t seem to work, nor did any other basic mathematical function. At first, I thought my iPhone was just acting up (crazy, I know) but I later found out that the HP uses something called the RPN (Reverse Polish notation). To add 1 and 2 together, you would type in “1 2 +” instead of “1 + 2″. It gets even more complicated when you have multiple operations. On top of that, it has a slower processor (HP opted not to make any changes since its first release in the early 80’s) and more expensive.

On the other hand, the TI looks and acts like any standard calculator. It lacks the prestige of the HP 12C, which is commonly given out to financial analysts at many of the big investment banks, but its more user friendly operation, more extensive functionality and cheaper price tag, makes it, in my opinion, the better choice. As mentioned, there’s also a Professional variant available which comes in a sleeker exterior with more built-in functions and an even faster processor!

I just bought the TI BA II Plus Professional today at Amazon.com for $33.78 shipping inclusive (US only). It’s a great deal considering you can’t find it for less than $50 elsewhere. In Canada, it goes for $70+tax. I suppose I’ll get it in about a week’s time and you might hear more about it in the future, but the fact that I can already write this much about calculators is impressive, non?

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