The standard amongst Scientific Calculators

The TI-36 and the virtually identical TI-35 set the standard when it comes to scientific calculators. In my middle school, almost everyone used a 35 or 36 because it was pretty much the best scientific calculator you can buy in terms of functionality and price.

The calculator has all the standard functions which include fraction converter, basic trig, inverse trig, 4 bases (octal, hexadecimal, binary, and decimal), roots, exponents, percentage, and a wide variety of statistical functions, amongst other things. It's very easy to learn and very easy to use. The keys are large, unlike several Casio scientific calculators, making errors less frequent. It also has several memory spots where you can save values and recall them at later dates -- a definite step up from basic 4 function calculators that generally only have one memory spot.

This calculator is perfect for anyone who is in 5th through 8th grade, or until you're finished with Algebra 1 & Geometry. Traditionally, graphing calculators start coming into play with Algebra 2. However, this calculator is perfect for someone who is in middle school, and it will last them quite a while. Even though graphing calculators are useful, sometimes it's easy to just grab a scientific and punch some numbers in it.

Also, a lot of college courses are wise to the ways of students who store notes in their graphing calculators. These courses often times will ban the use of graphing calculators. If so, then this calculator is an easy and inexpensive solution -- although you may want to check out the TI-68 because of it's increased functionality.

All in all, the TI-36/35 is a good calculator and will have practically unlimited uses, whether it be for school, at home, or for office use.