Looking for a cheap TI-84 plus? You should buy the TI-84 plus for less on Ebay.
In the year 1990, Texas Instruments released their first graphing calculator, the TI-81. I wasn’t even in high school yet. Little did the math education community know that this was the start of graphing calculator domination by Texas Instruments. The TI-81 was succeeded by the TI-82, TI-83, TI-83 plus, and TI-84 plus (check it out on Amazon). The latest version is the TI-84 plus Silver Edition. There were small improvements along the way, but until recently (see below), the upgrades to the operating system were surprisingly modest. If you ever used a TI-81, you could jump in on a TI-84 without missing a beat; they’re very similar. Perhaps that’s because for a long time, significant improvements weren’t necessary because of TI’s huge lead over the competition.
I’ve had a ton of experience working with students on the TI-84 plus, from the classroom to math team to ACT test prep. Although it’s no longer TI’s cutting edge calculator (that label goes to the TI-Nspire), it’s still a very strong calculator. I can’t really understate the stranglehold this line of calculators has had on the math education community. There’s no doubt that part of the reason that schools have been slow to the adopt the Nspire is because the TI-84 has just been so wildly popular and schools have invested in TI-84 software, after market scientific plug-in probes, and classroom sets of the calculators.
Who is the TI-84 designed for?
No doubt, the TI-84 plus is designed with the high school student in mind. Many, many college students also use a TI-84 as their calculator of choice. It’s accepted on almost every standardized test, including the ACT, which won’t accept calculators with computer algebra systems like the TI-89 Titanium. Unless you need a CAS, you should find that the TI-84 has all the features you need for calculus and beyond.
What is TI-84 OS 2.53 MP?
In the spring of 2010, Texas Instruments came out with 2.53 MP, an operating system that finally gave the TI-84 “mathprint.” This means that fractions look like fractions, exponents look like exponents, and far more. A lot of new templates that make advanced algebra and calculus a lot easier were added too like non-base 10 logs, summations, integrals, etc. This is a big update and one that was sorely needed. The TI-84 plus was getting passed up by rival calculators from Casio and HP before this update. I was really excited by this update and almost felt like my students were getting a new calculator for free.
Please note, Texas Instruments has not issued this update for the TI-83 plus. If anyone tries to tell you the TI-83 and TI-84 are essentially the same calculator (which they used to be), they don’t know what they are talking about. I would never recommend a student get the TI-83 because since 2.53 was released, the TI-84 is now light years ahead of the TI-83. (UPDATE: The newest OS is now TI-84 2.55MP, which adds similar improvements to the statistics functions).
Why buy the TI-84 plus?
That’s an easy one to answer. The TI-84+ has nearly 100% acceptance in the educational community. I have started to hear of schools requiring the TI-Nspire (review), so you may want to check with your school, but never has there been a calculator more accepted by teachers, schools, and standardized tests than the TI-84 plus. Just about every math teacher knows how to use it and teach with it. If your teacher doesn’t, you’ll have no problem finding books or videos (including my own) to help you along the way. Many high school textbooks are even written with TI-84 directions right in the text.
Bottom line TI-84 review:
The TI-84 plus isn’t the cutting edge technology it once was, but most people don’t care about that in a graphing calculator. They just want something that works well, is very durable (it’s built like a tank), and has a full complement of support materials. Heck, the TI website has so many free TI-84 apps, you won’t have time to try them all. You can buy the TI-84 plus on Ebay today.
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