An online subscription is the least expensive option, and contains the most current information since changes can be made at any time to the web site. Also, the online tutorial does not require a CD-ROM drive. However, because you must use the internet to access the online tutorial, the pages may load more or less slowly based on the speed of your connection and how much demand the internet is operating under at the time. Some students have had intermittent access problems where they could not get the web site to accept their password, although this problem has been rare. The host server on which the tutorial web site resides may crash or be unavailable at times, preventing you from being able to access the web site. Online subscriptions are subject to an IP limit, which monitors how many times the tutorial is accessed every day. If you will be using a computer on campus, there is a good possibility that you may exceed the IP limit and have your account terminated. To avoid this, you should limit the number of times you access the tutorial to at most four separate sessions within any 24 hour period. Also, your subscription will expire at the end of the semester, and you will no longer have access to this resource in the future.

The CD-ROM is generally much faster since your computer is accessing the information directly. Also, the CD is yours to keep, giving you a nice resource to turn to later on if you need to refresh some of the calculator skills you learn in this course. The disadvantages of the CD are that it is more expensive, and the information it contains cannot be updated with any recent changes, corrections or additions. Also, if you use AOL, you may want to read the FAQ regarding a possible conflict with the tutorial and AOL.