Ti 84 Plus C Silver Edition Review - The Best Calculator ever?

[AlTech]

I have always thought, calculators with OP specs would be hilarious and would be super awesome in theory but quite a mess in practice. Texas Instruments (Ti), the company behind this calculator and some processors (including the one in the moto 360 original) decided otherwise. Here we have a somewhat OP calculator which promises usability, performance and to a certain extent, value for money.

 

The Ti84+ C SE has the same shell as its predecessor the Ti84+ SE, albeit in a more stylish black and white finish as opposed to the older gray finish. 

 

It features an 8 bit 15MHz Zilog Z80 CPU (LMAO).This was not quite what i expected from a calculator but still not too bad either way. 

 

It also features 128KB RAM (damn son!!) of which 21KB is user accessible.

•  320x240 High resolution Colour display
• Lithium-Ion rechargeable battery
• 1MB ROM (read only memory) of which 480Kb is user accessible
• A usb port for charging - Note this is not your typical USB , however an adapter to USB is included in the box.

 

As a maths tool, this is an excellent calculator. It does so many functions that my previous calculator, the Casio fx-85ES PLUS, didn't do. In fact, it's become so universal that this type of calculator (Graphics Display Calculators)  is now required in exams such as IB.

 

I can do so many functions ranging from plotting graphs to finding out standard deviation easily. This is the dream calculator! Even the battery life is impressive with 2 weeks of school usage. This should consist of 4 lessons per day at one hour per day. So 10 school days. 

 

One thing to note is that it does charge slower than i'd like. The OS is quite usable although I would rather have some extra speed since it does feel slower than it needs to be.

 

TL:DR - In Conclusion, this calculator surprised me to say the least. It can perform many functions that i would otherwise have to do by hand. A big plus for anyone like me, who has bad handwriting! The performance is quite acceptable although a new CPU which maintains compatibility and more RAM wouldn't hurt. Should you buy it if you're a student? It depends what you're studying and if you have the budget. At around $200 US dollars it is an incredibly expensive tool for one to own. I know i wouldn't want to lose mine and i sure hope you wouldn't want to either if you did or do have one. If you do not need it then it is just a luxury item and a toy. Nothing more, nothing less. If you need it, then this is one of the best calculators money can buy.  

 

The Good: Numerous functions, Excellent battery life, Has a high res colour display

 

The Bad: A bit expensive, Uses an really old CPU, Could be more efficient and have better battery life,

 

The Ugly: Can feel a bit slow at times, 

 

Buy or Do Not buy: Buy - This calculator simply has too many functions and offers too many conveniences for me not to recommend this. It is one of the best calculators in the world.

 

Leave a comment below of what you think about this calculator!

I'm AluminiumTech and until next time, happy calculating  !

[comicsansms]

I have a Texas Instruments Ti-Nspire CAS CX, also very expensive, but it can play Gameboy Games!!!

[manikyath]

i'll tell you why its that expensive:

 

they profit off the fact schools require students to buy them, so whatever they price them at, students will have to toss money at them.

[Dabombinable]

Lol, that hardware is old: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zilog_Z80

 

Straight up those calculators are always overpriced.

[comicsansms]

i'll tell you why its that expensive:

 

they profit off the fact schools require students to buy them, so whatever they price them at, students will have to toss money at them.

Very true, I paid $180AUD for my CAS CX for school.

[AlTech]

Lol, that hardware is old: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zilog_Z80

 

Straight up those calculators are always overpriced.

i was tempted to write the age of the processor but then i thought it might scare off sales   for what's otherwise a good product.

[manikyath]

Very true, I paid $180AUD for my CAS CX for school.

i needed a ti-84 or compatible for school, during my second year of owning a ti-84 they released a new one with color display, photo storage, all kinds of fun bits and things, for the same price as they were selling the old ti-84.

 

that tells me they just price them at whatever margin they want, and just throw things at walls to see what sticks.

 

EDIT: on top of the fact those things literally are less capable as my 20 year old pentium with 32 megabytes ram running python scripts to compare its speed against the calculator.

[Dabombinable]

i was tempted to write the age of the processor but then i thought it might scare off sales   for what's otherwise a good product.

Think of it this way, they could have at least used a 386.

[Coaxialgamer]

My question is : why a z80 cpu ?

 

They easily could've used a cheap arm processor which would have been more powerful and MUCH more energy efficient.

 

Unless they manufactured the z80 on a modern process node , this is the worst choice of cpu i have ever seen , even for a calculator.

Heck , they probably paid more money for the silicone then they shouldve , they could've made it cheaper.

[spwath]

How about the newer version

http://www.amazon.com/Texas-Instruments-TI-84-Graphing-Calculator/dp/B00TFYYWQA/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1448544847&sr=8-5&keywords=calculator+graphing

Smaller body, faster proccesor

[Paralectic]

i'll tell you why its that expensive:

 

they profit off the fact schools require students to buy them, so whatever they price them at, students will have to toss money at them.

100 euro it was here..

[winningsince1337]

snip 

 

The Ti nspire CAS is my go to calculator. It takes the functionality of the upgraded Ti-84 you have here and takes it to a whole new level. There really isn't a mathematical operation you can't do on it arbitrarily. Hell,you can even put pictures on it from the computer. It's very snappy and I've been getting a few months on a charge on average and this is with using the calculator for several hours a day. Not bad if I do say so myself.

[winningsince1337]

100 euro it was here..

This is way better

 

http://www.amazon.com/Texas-Instruments-Nspire-Graphing-Calculator/dp/B004NBZAYS/ref=sr_1_2?s=office-electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1448596703&sr=1-2&keywords=ti+nspire

[Clyne]

Lol, that hardware is old: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zilog_Z80

 

Straight up those calculators are always overpriced.

Well don't expect a 6800 in there....

[Dabombinable]

Well don't expect a 6800 in there....

 

I expected at least a 386....

[Clyne]

I expected at least a 386....

I don't think they actually make those now....

[Dabombinable]

I don't think they actually make those now....

Well they are still making a CPU from the late 70's for use in a calculator, its about time they did an upgrade to a real CPU.

[saab_gobbler]

I had to get a graphing calc for school & went with this. Was definitely the right choice. I keep my apartment pretty dim & I knew trying to read the standard non-backlit screen would be a nightmare. The higher resolution (and colors) make graphs sooo much more legible (although, weirdly, they only take up a small portion of the screen). The glass around the display is a nice touch as well. Also, I got it like a month and a half ago, have only set it to charge once & there is still like 20% left. Very impressed, I figured I'd be charging it weekly at least. I refuse to buy disposable batteries for anything, it's 2015 lol. I agree that the specs are ridiculously outdated though, especially for the price (I bet they cost like $10 to manufacture at that scale). Drawing graphs shouldn't take as long as it does, but it is what it is. If you have to get one, just spend a little extra & go with this one, it's much more pleasurable to use & you know it'll last.

[Speedyv]

I got a ti-89 titanium in 10th grade (I think) I love it and they are super useful but they are overpriced (like all these calculators). I don't like using the Nspires becuase I just don't have a grasp of it like I do of the 89. I would definitely not get an 84 at this point. Go for an 89. It can do derivatives and integrals for calculus etc. (I think it has many more shortcuts like factor()/solve() and whatever) and has a lot more overall functionality that will last you through more courses. 

[AlTech]

I had to get a graphing calc for school & went with this. Was definitely the right choice. I keep my apartment pretty dim & I knew trying to read the standard non-backlit screen would be a nightmare. The higher resolution (and colors) make graphs sooo much more legible (although, weirdly, they only take up a small portion of the screen). The glass around the display is a nice touch as well. Also, I got it like a month and a half ago, have only set it to charge once & there is still like 20% left. Very impressed, I figured I'd be charging it weekly at least. I refuse to buy disposable batteries for anything, it's 2015 lol. I agree that the specs are ridiculously outdated though, especially for the price (I bet they cost like $10 to manufacture at that scale). Drawing graphs shouldn't take as long as it does, but it is what it is. If you have to get one, just spend a little extra & go with this one, it's much more pleasurable to use & you know it'll last.

The newest model is like way faster. Uses a 46MHz 8 bit Zilog CPU eZ80.

[Dabombinable]

The newest model is like way faster. Uses a 46MHz 8 bit Zilog CPU eZ80.

Still way slower than my 386 DX40 from 1992. Oh and its 32bit.

[AlTech]

Still way slower than my 386 DX40 from 1992. Oh and its 32bit.

Oh really! LOl. They should make the next one 64 bit single core ArM Cortex A53. with 1GB RAM and 4GB internal storage.

[Sauron]

Lol, that hardware is old: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zilog_Z80

 

Straight up those calculators are always overpriced.

 

good luck getting a tablet in an exam room

[Dabombinable]

good luck getting a tablet in an exam room

There are other graphics calculators......

[Sauron]

There are other graphics calculators......

 

decent ones, for cheaper? where?