DIY Project: Hiding a TI-89 in a different body

[aplefka]

So I was thinking to myself in algebra 2 today, I'm sure it's possible, and I'm sure with the right tools it couldn't be that hard. Just take all the calculator parts and voila! The teacher wouldn't know the difference. I haven't looked at one in a while so I'm not sure what other bodies are similarly shaped, or if you'd have to make your own, but it'd be a good project and a sweet item on the school black market

 

[AgaBoogaBoo]

lol, bored, eh?

 

[gabemcg]

just take the case apart, and spray paint it a lighter gray, like the 83's, some finishing paint might be nice

 

[aplefka]

Originally posted by: AgaBoogaBoo
lol, bored, eh?

Somewhat bored, but also the rebelliousness inside made its way out when she was talking about how no TI-89s were allowed to be used in the course.

 

[aplefka]

Originally posted by: gabemcg
just take the case apart, and spray paint it a lighter gray, like the 83's, some finishing paint might be nice

Yeah but putting it into the case of another one would be ideal, because it would say TI-8x. I've been trying to figure out if the 86 case is the same, but it's hard to tell from pictures if the dimensions would be right.

 

[Bootprint]

Be a man, surgically implant it into your leg. They'll never find it.

 

[jagec]

Originally posted by: aplefka

Originally posted by: gabemcg
just take the case apart, and spray paint it a lighter gray, like the 83's, some finishing paint might be nice

Yeah but putting it into the case of another one would be ideal, because it would say TI-8x. I've been trying to figure out if the 86 case is the same, but it's hard to tell from pictures if the dimensions would be right.

If it's the same size or bigger, you can just cut holes...

Heck, with some teachers you could probably just use some white-out and change the "89" to an "83" and they'd never know

 

[aplefka]

Originally posted by: jagec

Originally posted by: aplefka

Originally posted by: gabemcg
just take the case apart, and spray paint it a lighter gray, like the 83's, some finishing paint might be nice

Yeah but putting it into the case of another one would be ideal, because it would say TI-8x. I've been trying to figure out if the 86 case is the same, but it's hard to tell from pictures if the dimensions would be right.

If it's the same size or bigger, you can just cut holes...

Heck, with some teachers you could probably just use some white-out and change the "89" to an "83" and they'd never know

The difference is in some of the shapes of the buttons. Some are smaller/bigger. You both have mentioned 83s though, I wonder what those bodies look like (time to google).

 

[aplefka]

So just off of the top of my head, I wondered if it's possible to take the buttons from one calculator and use it on another. I mean they're not permanently (sp?) soldered to the chipset/mobo/whatever you call it are they? So that might be one way, just have to make sure that it would fit.

 

[yukichigai]

Erm, why can you have an 83 but not an 89? This boggles my mind, mostly because I'm an HP user.

 

[Excelsior]

Originally posted by: yukichigai
Erm, why can you have an 83 but not an 89? This boggles my mind, mostly because I'm an HP user.

You could sleep your way through AlG 2 with an 89, and make an A/A+.

 

[Heisenberg]

My 89 has a different body shape from my old 85 (more curved instead of sharp corners) but maybe the new ones are all curved.

 

[aplefka]

Originally posted by: Excelsior

Originally posted by: yukichigai
Erm, why can you have an 83 but not an 89? This boggles my mind, mostly because I'm an HP user.

You could sleep your way through AlG 2 with an 89, and make an A/A+.

Precisely

Also because in general, most math classes in high school don't allow the TI-89 and I plan on taking several more. It's not so much that I plan to cheat but that I don't want to shell out a lot of money for a graphing calculator now then two years down the road finally be allowed to use the one I want (TI-89) in college. And plus it'd be a nice sense of security.

 

[yukichigai]

The internal mechanisms are roughly identical for most TI model calculators, the question is how identical. I don't know, so I'm no help.

However, I would suggest that you get a graphing calculator made by another company, like Casio or HP. My friend and I did indeed sleep through ALG 2 thanks to the aid of his Casio graphing calculator. And HP makes truly deathy graphing calculators. Even their "High School" level calculator is powerful.

 

[notfred]

Or you could just learn algebra, it's not like it's that hard.

 

[Jmman]

I have used an 89 for a couple of years in college, and I now have a professor that doesn't allow it. You have to show your work, so I am not sure what the big deal is, but I had to go out and buy another 83. Pain in the a**....

 

[ed21x]

if the button layouts are the same, a ti-83 plus should allow you to use the 1i-83 keypad with the ti-89. However, you're gonna have a hard time finding all the functions, and stuff. Better yet, just learn algebra. It's only the beginning of a ton of more complex math that you'll be building on top of.

 

[kb315]

Originally posted by: notfred
Or you could just learn algebra, it's not like it's that hard.

:thumbsup:

 

[halik]

Originally posted by: aplefka
So I was thinking to myself in algebra 2 today, I'm sure it's possible, and I'm sure with the right tools it couldn't be that hard. Just take all the calculator parts and voila! The teacher wouldn't know the difference. I haven't looked at one in a while so I'm not sure what other bodies are similarly shaped, or if you'd have to make your own, but it'd be a good project and a sweet item on the school black market

83+ body fits perfect. I used it for a certain standardized test....

The thing is you will need to print out the schematic for all the buttons (it's in the 89 manual) if you wanna make it look perfect and use the 83+ buttons. I actually went as far as writing a C program for the 89 that behaves and looks like the 83+ shell

 

[booger711]

arent the keys difff colors

 

[MisterCornell]

You don't need a TI-89 for Algebra 2. Having a calculator like that actually hurts you because it takes more keystrokes to do the kinds of operations you'll likely be handling in Algebra 2.

Even when I got into really high college level math, I found myself preferring the Ti-86 to the 89 because it was easier and quicker to use.

 

[Jadow]

haha when I was in calc, all the other profs banned the TI-89, but my prof was like this 64 year old lady who had no clue about them. Here are my test grades:

Pre TI89
D
F
F
Bought a TI89
A
A
A
Moved onto another Subject where TI89 didn't help
F
F
Final
F

Those three A's that the TI89 brought home were enough to give me a D average and PASS CALC!

 

[aplefka]

Originally posted by: notfred
Or you could just learn algebra, it's not like it's that hard.

The point isn't that I want to just sleep through algebra 2, the point is that I don't wanna buy a calculator now and then be able to buy a TI-89 down the road when I don't have the money.

 

[EyeMWing]

The TI-83Plus is the exact same chassis - just different keypads and different innards.

Go for it. You could either swap the keypad as well, or just memorize the keys (more stealthy)

 

[aplefka]

Originally posted by: halik

Originally posted by: aplefka
So I was thinking to myself in algebra 2 today, I'm sure it's possible, and I'm sure with the right tools it couldn't be that hard. Just take all the calculator parts and voila! The teacher wouldn't know the difference. I haven't looked at one in a while so I'm not sure what other bodies are similarly shaped, or if you'd have to make your own, but it'd be a good project and a sweet item on the school black market

83+ body fits perfect. I used it for a certain standardized test....

The thing is you will need to print out the schematic for all the buttons (it's in the 89 manual) if you wanna make it look perfect and use the 83+ buttons. I actually went as far as writing a C program for the 89 that behaves and looks like the 83+ shell

Is the body for an 83+ different than the 83? Because I looked at 83s, 86s, and some others, and none of them were curved.

And how did you write the C program and get it onto the calc?