When the package arrived, I opened it up right away to find this calculator, the extra snap in keyboard, software and lots of paperwork & manuals.  I have never messed with a calculator of this caliber so I was extremely shocked to see my 12yr old sitting there showing me how to do things on it.  Apparently this one is WAAAAY more fancy than the one he uses at school but with similar concepts.  We both were absolutely fascinated with it.

THE APPEARANCE

The size of the calculator is somewhat large but that seems normal to me considering it’s loaded with jaw dropping features.  The color of this Nspire calculator has come a long way from the black basic look.  Very nice blue & white colors give it a much more appealing look.  The  screen rocks.  It’s large in size the high resolution makes it super easy to read.  It has a slide-on cover that will slide on the back for safe keeping.  The highly innovative keypad allows for less used functions, like letters, to fit in between the primary buttons.  It’s very obvious what each buttons does which makes the keypads easy to read, even for a beginner.  So don’t worry, you won’t feel intimidated at all by this powerful gadget;)

THE FUNCTIONS

The new split-screen feature allows an equation to be viewed in its ordinary algebraic form, on a graph, in spreadsheet form, or with notes – simultaneously on the same screen.  There are some amazing graphing going on here people.  Your kids can play around with these graphs to give them an idea of how it will look on paper.

Since not every classroom has adapted to this new keypad, Nspire has created a keyboard that you can swap out with the primary one that features the TI-84. (like I mentioned earlier about my son using an older model in the room) .  It’s as easy as snapping it in.   I also finally discovered that dragging involves holding the center “Click button” while pressing the arrow keys on the “NavPad”.  This was a slight challenge for me at first but I figured it out quickly.  You can actually grab a point on a graph for example and move it down or wherever.  VERY cool.

Some other things that it can do that I haven’t had the chance to try are:

• * Presentation tools.  With the software, you can actually hook this up to a projector.
• * Interactivity Visualization with the Data Tools.
• * Accepted on several college entrance and advanced placement exams.
• * AND SOOOOOO MUCH MORE!

As a parent, my favorite function of course is being able to check my son’s answers.  I can type in the problem with his answer and it will say true or false.  LOVE IT!  Something that my husband found useful was being able to enter in sizes of boards and such and the size of what he wanted to build and it told him exactly how many boards he needed to build it.  I realize that I didn’t explain that too well but my man is not around right now for me to ask again but surely you get it a little right?..LOL

There really is so much more that I cannot fit here into this review.  It’s an amazing piece of equipment for both teachers and students. The only con I could find is the manual guide was difficult for me to understand.  I found that actually using it through trial and error, I easily picked up on how the different functions worked.

I love it, my kids love it, and I am very confident that with the help of this Texas Instruments Nspire Calculator, my son will pass Algebra and other math subject that comes his way!

Thanks so to Family Review Network for bringing this awesome opportunity to review it my way!