Calculators

former trader wrote:
BAII has served me well. We shared 3 championships together.
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Word.
If you don’t know RPN, then don’t use the 12C. And don’t learn RPN soleley for the purposes of the CFA exam.
(If you want to learn it for other reason, be my guest. But I seriously doubt it will do you any real good in this exam.)
 
In my opinion, the BAII is better for level I, because of the additional statistical and probability features that the BAII has, that the 12c does not. However, the 12C is by far better for levels II & III because of RPN. You will find yourself working longer & more complex calculations in level II & III instaed of “plug & chug” like in level I. For example, Level II is full of TVM concepts however you will almost never be using the TVM functions on your calculator during level II & III.
 
geo wrote:
The 12C is just owned by people to look old school. It’s like a hipster CFA calculator. There is no way that’s a better calculator. I love my BAII.
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Or older guys like me who started using the 12c long before the BAII even existed. The BAII is probably a better caclulator from a techinical perspective, but I can’t unlearn RPN and the 12c really is nearly indestructible (the older ones anyway). I have literally used the same 12c for more than 15 years and have not treated it with kid gloves, as the dents and scratches will attest.
 
What’s the deal with the 12C being indestructible? Why is that a selling point? I still have the same BAII that I started my MBA with in 2008.
If my BAII breaks because I drop it from a helicopter, then I can always pony up another $30 to buy another BAII. It’s not like this is an irreplaceable piece of equipment or something. And $30 every six years is not exactly going to break the bank.
 
^ It’s nice to know that you can toss a 12c into your bag on the way out the door to a meeting and know that it’s going to work when you get there. Plenty of folks in my office have a BAII and they love them, but they are flimsy in comparison. Perhaps that’s not the end-all, be-all of things, but it’s something the 12c has in its favor.
 
I’m new and the 12C is actually easier on my brain for some reason. Just the layout for stuff like NPV and IRR is all in front of you. Although, I could do it with the up and down arrows in the BAII, there is always the risk that I would enter it wrong in the BAII.
I kept getting wrong answers on the BAII when I totally understood the inputs as well. Maybe its because I had the advanced?
Although it is faster than the traditional 12C, its way more technical to make sure you’ve cleared past entries and data, where you can just push f + reg on the 12C and you’re good. With the BAII, you need to go hit a large sequence of keys. I’ll take the extra 5 secs of processing to know I got the right answer. I could get the platinum 12C, but it supposedly has bad durability issues.
 
insert any name wrote:
I could get the platinum 12C, but it supposedly has bad durability issues.
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I have broken the zero button on two 12c platinums. One time was during the level 2 exam. I guess I should have made better use of the EEX button.
 
BA ii Plus seems much better. And I got the tutorial too. :)
 
former trader wrote:
BSDs carry the BAII.
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They really don’t. I have never seen anyone in high finance break out a TI plastic POS calclator, ever. If they used a calculator at all, they would use a 12C. Most of the time your BSD does mental math or quick back of the envelope calculations on a scratch piece of paper while they are making it rain. The BAII is to the 12C as a Ford Pinto is to Mercedez in terms of quality, handling, and construction.
 
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