Word. I bet that if you understand the intuition and the concept behind the curriculum, you can probably pass Level 1 without a calculator. (That would be a good challenge)
Something tells me you didn’t really read the posts above! I got all three calculators. I love the HP, but have used the pro throughout the quant section; inclusive of a big chunk of the qbank. Was hoping that the feel would improve, that the buttons would become softer. But they haven’t. Am back to basic now with the Plus, which imo is the better calculator from the two. Simply put, I get less figures wrong when entering them. Worth a lot to me.
FYI: the Pro is NOT exactly the same as the Plus. It adds some useless functions and inflates the price - that’s it!
It’s really not that bad. About four months after I took Level II, I took a Level I sample exam along side some candidates that I was helping study. I wasn’t using a calculator or any scrap paper, and was consistantly scoring around the 85% range just winging it. Chances are once you finish LII you’ll be at that level, just to put LII into perspective.
I am going to the CFA with an abacus. My Asian parents will be proud.
So wait, first you say “get the most expensive” which is the Pro, then turn around and say the Plus is the better calculator?
I personally use the Plus. I bought it in my first year of undergrad when price was important and now that I’ve put thousands upon thousands of hours on it, I think I’d have a hard time switching to anything else. If I have to do an extra step (such as calculating NFV) so be it, the intuition behind the extra steps are simple enough.
No need to wait! When I said that I got the more expensive of the two TI models, I was just describing my chain of thought when faced with the buying decision 4 months ago (this becomes clear if the previous posts are read).
I believe we are pretty much all in agreement, that the Plus is the preferred calculator around here. AND: I understand now why you would be allowed to bring a screwdriver to the test center…
That’s the only real benefit to having the Professional–the ease of battery changing. The other “benefits” are really just preferences. And if you take five minutes to change your batteries a few days before the exam, then it’s not any real benefit at all. MORAL: Don’t wait on your battery to die in the middle of the exam. Go to Walgreens and spend $3.00 on a new battery and spend five minutes changing it. Sure beats losing five minutes during the exam, getting flustered with having to change batteries, then paying another $1,000 for exam fees and prep materials.
Pro is a waste of money. You’ll be doing a lot of simple calculations (addition, subtraction, multiplication, division) anyway. I took and passed the exam in Dec 2011 and don’t remember there being many NPV, TVM or bond calculation problems on there, even though there were a ton in the practice material. You don’t need to spend twice the money, but that’s just me.
Hello Everyone
I recently bought a BA II Plus Pro.
When I use it for annuities it gives me the wrong numbers for PV and FV.
Could it be the calculator?
should I return it? 
so frustrating…
Can someones please tell me if I am doing something wrong or it could be the calculator???
The TVM function is very versatile; however, you have to set all the parameters correctly. People tend to focus on N,I, PMT, PV and FV, but forget there is also BGN/END and P/Y and C/Y to consider.
I recommend looking at the examples in the instruction manual and working some very simple problems
. . . and you may see it again at Level II, and again at Level III.
Get it correct now; it may save you for three years running.
When you work TVM problems are you “clearing” the calculator before you work a new problem?
Try clearing it (2nd, CLR TVM) and then work the problem. See what happens.
Yes I did all those. I think the problem was the machine itself because I got a BA II Plus and it’s working fine 
Thanks a lot for help
good luck everyone
So I’m choosing between two (BA II Plus VS Pro). And my main question is Pro hard on fingers? I mean, is it still hard to press?
the keys are harder to press than keys from, say, a TI-30 XS, but is not too bad.
one negative about it is the dumb default values. by default, it only displays 2 digits, and does algebra in ‘Chn’. meaning: if you try to do simple algebra, it will most likely give you the wrong answer - it strictly does operations left-to-right (that is, it follows the order of input strictly) regardless of any rules in algebra. for example, if you try to compute 3 + 2 x 6, the calculator will interpret as (3 + 2) x 6 and give 30 as the answer. you need to format the calculator and change to AOS. only then will the calculator give 15 as the answer, as you’d expect. formatting the calculator is an extra and necessary step you have to take when using it on an exam (calculators are often reset prior to examination, so you have to manually format each time).
maybe this also affects the regular BAII Plus, idk. most of the time, you probably wont even need a finance calculator if you understood the material (meaning, you should be able to andwer correctly without a finance calculator). heck, if you know your math, you dont even need to memorize the annuity formulas - those are just shortcuts from summation formula you learned in high school.
the finance calculator does come in handy if you have to solve for irr though - trying to solve for irr for a 10-year annuity problem by brute-force can take quite a while.
thank you so I’ve decided to get BAII Plus. And I can’t understand how to add more than two digits after decimal point on display, is it possible?
on the pro, you need to do this. maybe the steps are the same for the regular ba ii plus
2ND -> format (the . button at the bottom) -> and set DEC to any digit you wish (i usually set to 9). then scroll down until you see ‘Chn’ . hit 2nd enter to change it to AOS
scroll down - means “ins” ↓
yea, that’s exactly what i meant.
but when I scroll down I only see AOS, no “Chn”