Average Rating: 
Rating: - Not the Best in the Category
I have used (and own) many of the available financial calculators on the market. I "recommend" the HP-10B to my university finance students, both graduate and undergraduate.The HP 10B is a directly positioned competitor to the TI-BA-II+, but HP's entry is superior. The keys feel more solid, the machine itself "seems" better made. Having worn out more than one of each, my experience has been that the HP has more staying power. And, the TI-BA-II+ often requires more keystrokes to accomplish the same tasks (i.e., NPV calculations). Oddly enough, when there is a difference in price, the HP often sells for around $1 less; though I would gladly pay more. The Like the HP 10B, the TI-BA-II+ has a well written manual, including examples on using the functions. TI has the manual available on-line on their website for the inevitable time that the user needs it and has lost the original. While there are cheaper financial calculators, it seems that this particular level is the minimum I would recommend to professionals or students. Less expensive versions, while saving a few dollars, miss important features. As a general rule of thumb, if the calculator can perform the "IRR" function, as this one can, it will be able to handle pretty much any calculation into which the finance student, professonal, or banker will run. Lesser machines do not have this function. So, skip the cheaper TI, HP, or other financial calculators. Ironically, even larger fancier calculators, such as the venerable HP-12C, are in my estimation inferior as well. The 12C uses RPN logic which, while saving even more keystrokes, is simply foreign to most students. More importantly, some functions, such as the Time Value of Money functions, on the 12C require interpretation. On the 12C, for example, solving for the number of periods in an annuity, the value gets rounded UP to the next integer. Not so in the TI-BA-II+ or HP 10B. While I can recommend the TI-BA-II+, it is second only to the HP 10B as the best value in inexpensive financial calculators.
Rating:  - The other approved calculator for the CFA exam
The Texas Instrument BAII Plus is one of the 2 financial calculators permitted by the Association for Investment Management & Research to be used in the Chartered Financial Analyst exams. The other calculator being the Hewlett Packard 12C. The BAII Plus is also recommended by CFA study notes publishers such as Schweser.Compared to the HP12C, the BAII Plus is definitely easier to use, especially when it comes to simple addition functions. The addition keystrokes are as per the normal keystrokes we've all been accustomed to. Because the HP12C uses the Reverse Polish Notation (RPN), its addition keystrokes are counter-intuitive and difficult to get used to. The downside to the BAII Plus is that it feels extremely lightweight and the keys are not as nice to punch/press. Lookswise, it also loses out to the HP12C which has a certain nostalgic classic look to it. As for myself, I will be using BOTH the BAII Plus and HP12c for my CFA exams. It helps to have a spare financial calculator during the exams.
Rating:  - Comparison of TI BAII Plus, HP 12C and HP 17BII
Texas Instruments, inventors of the pocket calculator, have done it again with the BAII Plus. This is an extremely fast little beast with a lot of functionality. It outstrips even the more expensive competition with a higher number of functions. You have to look to the HP 17BII to cover all the same bases and even then in some case you will have to work around problems. For instance, the BAII Plus allows differing compounding periods to payment periods. You can even calculate bonds to call as well as yield.Sadly there is one serious problem with the machine. Strictly speaking it is not year 2000 compliant. Your date range is 1950 - 1949 and can only be entered as two digit years. TI have no work around for this either. If you just want to number crunch all day long, this calculator gets my vote. Everything is in front of you on the keypad, you don't have to navigate around registers or menus. The keyboard is light and sensitive and easy to use. And the way the functions work together is very flexible. The HP 12C. What can I say about this beautiful piece of craftsmanship. This not just a calculator, but an example of fine engineering. Sort of in the same league as a vintage car. You can almost here the engine purring gently when you turn it on. In comparison with the BAII Plus and the 17BII it lacks functionality. You will also see criticisms of its speed. But in reality this is untrue. What the 12C lacks in processing speed (and the difference is so slight that your calculations won't be affected) it makes up for in form factor and ruggedness. Don't underestimate this. The keyboard is industrial strength and so is the case. You can sit there banging away in RPN with one hand without even looking whilst you follow columns of figures with the other. You gain the best of both worlds between a heavy duty desk top calc and a neat pocket calculator. There is one other big advantage, which is the wealth of tutorials guides and papers about using it available for free on the internet. But for uncompromising power, the HP 17BII is, for me, the ultimate financial calculator. It isn't as cumbersome as the 19BII but has everything I need from that calculator. The functionality is comprehensive, and where you might find limitations it gives you accurate work-arounds. The solver is indispensible. You can enter a formula and set up variables to enter as if you were using built in functionality. And it will solve for which ever variable is missing. Did you get that? - it actually does the algebra for you!!! The 17BII is fast and rugged and I haven't yet found something I can't solve either through the built in functions or by programming it.
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