So, for no reason at all (actually some reasons), I would like a programmable calc. Here are all the choices I am considering:

TI-95|Picture
TI-74 Basicalc|Picture
TI-66|Picture
TI-58|Picture

Ok, now here are the reasons I would want one:
1. My teacher said it would be OK to write programs to do some longer operations in math, because I would need to know the operation to write the program.
2. I can use them on the OAA!!!Ok maybe not
3. 1 10v3 01d 73chn0106y!

If you have any other ideas of what programmable calc I should get, please speak up!

EDIT: OAA Calculator standards

I voted for Other. Why isn't the TI-84(+SE) on that list?

It's a graphing calc. We can't use graphing calcs on the OAA standardized tests.

If you really want to go oldschool, go for the TI-58. My friend has one, and the language (it's actually much more primitive than z80 assembly, even...) is really fun to work with.

Oh! Okay. I didn't think there were in programmable scientific calculators out there. I stand corrected.

Wow....looks strange.

You'll really learn the value of good program design when you're working with 64 bytes a step with a total of ~50 steps total, where storage registers are local for values within steps. It's almost esoteric by today's standards.

This looks helpful:
OAA Calculator standards

I thougth the 95 was A graphing calculator as well. Well shows what I know.

Looking at the pictures, I like the TI 95 the most. It even has a button for ASM!

Ok, but I'd like something that could be used on the OAA as well. But how would the teachers and staff know how many steps the calc could hold? It says I could use a programming calc.

There appears to be an emulator out there for the 95, so you can try it out before you get it. The 74 has modules for Pascal and Finance, plus what the 95 has (Math, Chemistry, and Statistics). Don't get a 66 or 58, though, they're much older than anything else out there. I also found some wikis on the TI-95 and the TI-74. This is part of a site with information on all types of calculators.

Have you also considered the HP-41C(X/V)? It has a myriad array of add-on roms, and has many hardware options, too. Here's the HP-41CX at Sliderule and HP Museum. There's also emulators out there, some of which are listed here.

Whoa, what? I've never even heard of these. I thought it was a joke at first

Isn't the TI-74 Basicalc just a pocket size version of the CC40? Most of you know that I've been wanting one of these for a while, and if the TI74 is just a pocket size version of the CC40 I'd just get that.

Spyro, I must thank you for introducing me to a category of calculators that even someone as deeply entrenched in the TI community as myself had no idea existed. I look forward to continuing to follow your decision-making process and seeing what you think of the final result.

TI-66 for me.
Like the classic TI-58(c) & TI-59, it is an exercise in minimalism and good programming discipline and structure.
The syntax of the TI-66 is similar to its older brethren, but the LCD display actually shows the mnemonics you are using, as opposed to just keyboard number codes.
It also has multiple indirect addressing modes, as well as branches, labels, subroutines...
It is a purists machine. Classic, both in design and looks & gets the job done elegantly.
And the batteries last for years!

Please don't post in two year old threads.

WOW!
I didn't realise that there is a time limit!!?
Especially as when searching the database, this seemed to be the only thread that the quite rare but capable TI-66 is mentioned in, which i happen to own.

Considering this was my FIRST post as well, thanks for the BASHING! Is this how you welcome all your newcomers!?

mr-scorpio, generally most forums frown if you post in a topic that it's last post was more than a year before. He wasn't bashing you about it.

Also, everyone gets invited to post in the Introduce yourself! thread whenever they sign in for the first time, so we hope that you'll give us a break down of what interests you in programming and what brought you to this site. Maybe a little bit of a background into what other things interest you. The members of Cemetech delve into much more than electronics.

And now you do. Notice that I just asked your nicely not to do it again. I didn't ban you, delete the post, or otherwise discipline. I simply told you (with a "please") to not do it again.
Feel free to start a topic about the calculator, or talk about it in an introduction post in the thread tifreak linked above. As this topic was a poll from two years ago where the user was asking which calculator to get, it's not really relevant anymore. Sometimes necroposting is okay, but this was not really one of those times.

Bashing: "Bashing is a harsh, gratuitous, prejudicial attack on a person, group, or subject. "

I simply politely asked you not to post in two year old threads. I did not attack you. Histrionics are not welcome here.