Hello Folks,
My BA2 Plus calculator was still going strong since I graduated college back in 2007. However, for obvious reasons, I replaced them with fresh ones for the December 2015 exam.
Any reason why I would need to replace again for the June 2016 exam? Maybe I should just relace my main calculator since I work on it daily, and leave the ones in my backup alone (since that too was replaced in 2015). Any risk with replacing too often?
Thoughts? How often do you relace yours?
the only way to cure your paranoia is to succumb to it.
The only way to reduce your paranoia, take one more BA II Plus and take spare batteries, too…according to Murphy’s law, both will break down on exam day.
hahah. That said, I bet throughout the history of the CFA exam, there must have been folks whose primary and backup failed with no extra batteries. Got to be at least one. Shoot, I guess I’ll bring primary, backup, extra batteries, and a screw driver. Maybe even multiple brands of the same battery in case one packet is defective. I kid.
Back when I was getting my primary learn-on during the Clinton years, the BAII Plus had a little sliding snap-in battery cover for your CR 2032. So all you had to do was bring a little extra battery with you. Now, with the whole screwdriver thing, sheesh, what a project.
You can still get the BA II Plus Professional with the snap off battery cover…I’ve bought 3 in the last couple of years, all had that removable battery cover.
Actually one of them suddenly stopped working properly one day while I was midway through an EOC review session. Suddenly none of the buttons on the 7-4-1-0 line would work at all, no matter how hard I pressed them. I sat there thinking…‘damn, if that happened in the exam and I didn’t have a backup…’. So now I take two calculators into the exam…it’s not just the batteries that can let you down!!
Does anyone have experience with both the BA2 plus and the BA2 plus professional? The buttons seem to be identical but looks completely different. I borrowed my buddies professional model as a backup, and hope to not use it as I’m more comfortable with the standard model that I learned throughout college and my CFA level 1. I understand the professional is the more expensive, better model but what’s the REAL advantage for the cfa (if any)? Also, his calculator looks like pancake syrup, or some other sticky crap was spilled on it and some of the buttons are sticky, albeit functioning. Maybe I just buy another clone of my 2006 era calculator.
Your calculator will fail to operate on exam day. Sorry.
#MurphysLaw
get a 2nd one, return it after the exam
I am experinencing the same thing as well. I bought a brand new BA II Plus spare calculator last November just before my L1 exam. Currently the / x - + buttons are not working 100% of the time. I am not sure if i should bring it for warranty repair.