Monday, March 24, 2014

BA II Plus Professional: Silver (2004) vs Black (2013) Keyboard


First of all, I have to give a shoutout to Office Depot, who matched the price they had for the BA II Plus Professional on their website ($49.99) instead of the store price ($57.99).

Today's blog entry is about the BA II Plus Professional which is the deluxe version of the long time running BA II Plus. Like the "base" model, the BA II Plus Professional operates the same way: other than the standard Time Value of Money worksheet (TVM), you scroll through the options and calculations through each worksheet by using the up and down arrows.

What does the BA II Plus Professional have above the BA II Plus?

* The number of cash flows that can be entered is increased from 24 to 32
* The cash flow worksheet has additional calculations: net future value, payback, discounted payback.
* Modified internal rate of return is added.
* Modified duration of bonds is added.

Both have (to name a few):
* Trigonometric functions
* Chain or AOS mode (post-fix)
* Depreciation: Straight Line, Sum of Years' Digits, Declining Balance, Declining Balance with Crossover (good for taxes)
* Four Regressions for Statistics: Linear, Logarithmic, Exponential, Power (standard)
* Breakeven, Date Calculations (until 2049... ugh).
* Interest Conversion, Percent Change, and Amortization

Truthfully, both models have plenty to offer.

Let's talk about keyboards The keyboard on the silver BA II Plus Professional is awful, at least on the one I have. The buttons are very hard to press, and even with hard presses keys do not register. At various angles the 2nd functions, which are light gray fade perfectly into the silver plate, making them not invisible.

The current black keyboard is miles ahead of the original keyboard. First of all. The printing of the 2nd functions, which are now in medium gray, are visible against the black plate. Second, the keys respond well and you don't need hammers as fingers to get the keys to register.

Displays are different. The black keyboard has a larger display. You can see the difference below.

Do I recommend the BA II Plus or the BA II Plus Professional? Truthfully it depends on needs (or wants) since there is a price difference between the two. Should you decide to get the BA II Plus Professional, I highly recommend that you get try current black keyboard.

By the way, Texas Instruments also redesigned the BA II Plus. The current keyboard is slight shorter and the keys are slightly bunched together. However, like the new BA II Professional, the display is bigger.

Let me know what you think in the comments. Maybe I should do a comparison between BA II Plus Professional vs HP 10bII+ or 12c Platinum? As always, thank you for your support and see you next time!


Eddie


This blog is property of Edward Shore. 2014



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