You may not be able to use them in the exam but once you have your ppl providing your not going onto cpl , in which case stick with the whizz wheel , they are great for doing most of your calculations in seconds . I use mine a lot especially if you have an early departure in the morning you can get the winds etc etc and do the calcs in the car en route(assuming you're not driving) in quick time . I never wanted one but got one as a pressie . Depends on your point of view really , you may get to grips with the whizz wheel and be very adept with it but the calcs are nice and easy and dnoe in half the time on the calc . I have the pathfinder cx1 and I like it