Way to un-stick my calculator buttons?

KnickNut3

Platinum Member
Oct 1, 2001
2,382
0
0
I've had my TI-83 for 6 years now, and the buttons are starting to have trouble pressing down. I will have to press extra hard, it'll feel like I'm breaking a seal (like a sticky sugary seal or something). For the rest of the day that button is fine, but next time I take out the calculator it's stuck again. Originally it was just one button, but suddenly it's like half of them.

I know the description wasn't good, but I'm sure some of you nerds have encountered this before with your precious calculators. Any tips on recuperating it? Any sort of... lubrication so the buttons don't stick anymore? I don't know what's safe for the electronics.

Thanks for the help.

P.S. No "it's sticky, huh?" or "it needs lubrication, huh?" jokes, please ;)
 

dullard

Elite Member
May 21, 2001
25,761
4,282
126
Originally posted by: Reikon
They're more like $80 now. Nowhere near 15-20 though.
I was going to say. They pretty much haven't changed price in over a decade. Unless there is some hot deal out there that I haven't seen (not that I'm actively looking). Its one of the rare pieces of technology that never drops in price and never gets better.

 

So

Lifer
Jul 2, 2001
25,923
17
81
Originally posted by: Reikon
Originally posted by: KnickNut3
Originally posted by: DEMO24
umm buy a new one cause they only cost liek 15-20 bucks


Really... when I bought it they were $100 :/

They're more like $80 now. Nowhere near 15-20 though.

Agreed. Although it might be time to upgrade to a ti-89 :D
 

cerebusPu

Diamond Member
May 27, 2000
4,008
0
0
mine does that too..i always thought it was because i got OJ on them. i guess i didnt get oj on it...lol.
 

xSauronx

Lifer
Jul 14, 2000
19,582
4
81
maybe some electrical contact spray cleaner? spray all over the damned thing and let it sit for a few minutes

i just suggest thtat because...well if i had a calculator....and if it got sticky....id be too lazy to open it
 

ultimatebob

Lifer
Jul 1, 2001
25,134
2,450
126
Wow, it's sad how LITTLE these calculators have changed over the years! I went to TI's site, and was expecting to see something cool with a high-res color screen, built in WiFi, or at least a CompactFlash slot for storage. These "new" calculators don't look much better than the TI-85 that I got for high school 10 YEARS ago!
 

mwtgg

Lifer
Dec 6, 2001
10,491
0
0
Originally posted by: dullard
Originally posted by: Reikon
They're more like $80 now. Nowhere near 15-20 though.
I was going to say. They pretty much haven't changed price in over a decade. Unless there is some hot deal out there that I haven't seen (not that I'm actively looking). Its one of the rare pieces of technology that never drops in price and never gets better.

I dunno, the new Ti-84+ is pretty damn nice. I was playing around with it in Staples, and it was considerably faster, meaning, it graphed multiple functions at once. Pretty neat, I guess. :)

 

dullard

Elite Member
May 21, 2001
25,761
4,282
126
Originally posted by: mwtgg
I dunno, the new Ti-84+ is pretty damn nice. I was playing around with it in Staples, and it was considerably faster, meaning, it graphed multiple functions at once. Pretty neat, I guess. :)
Well there are some improvements over time, but nothing dramatic. In ~10 years you get a whopping 2.5x faster processor and 9x more RAM all for the same price (processor and memory numbers from the TI website). Sure you get a few minor improvements too like replacing their link cable with a USB cable.

Think back 10 years ago what you got in computers. 100 MHz Pentium and roughly 16 MB RAM and that would be a $2000 computer. A $2000 computer today would give you a computer which is maybe 50 times faster with 50 times the memory.

I'm just saying that TI is very slow with increases in technology for their calculators.
 

EyeMWing

Banned
Jun 13, 2003
15,670
1
0
Originally posted by: dullard
Originally posted by: Reikon
They're more like $80 now. Nowhere near 15-20 though.
I was going to say. They pretty much haven't changed price in over a decade. Unless there is some hot deal out there that I haven't seen (not that I'm actively looking). Its one of the rare pieces of technology that never drops in price and never gets better.

Rare?

Seen a CRT monitor lately? Seen a CRT television lately?
 

mwtgg

Lifer
Dec 6, 2001
10,491
0
0
Originally posted by: dullard
Originally posted by: mwtgg
I dunno, the new Ti-84+ is pretty damn nice. I was playing around with it in Staples, and it was considerably faster, meaning, it graphed multiple functions at once. Pretty neat, I guess. :)
Well there are some improvements over time, but nothing dramatic. In ~10 years you get a whopping 2.5x faster processor and 9x more RAM all for the same price (processor and memory numbers from the TI website). Sure you get a few minor improvements too like replacing their link cable with a USB cable.

Think back 10 years ago what you got in computers. 100 MHz Pentium and roughly 16 MB RAM and that would be a $2000 computer. A $2000 computer today would give you a computer which is maybe 50 times faster with 50 times the memory.

I'm just saying that TI is very slow with increases in technology for their calculators.

Oh, no, I'm not arguing there. I had a Gateway umm.. 12 or so years ago. Gateway P5-60 running glorious Windows 3.11 for Workgroups. That thing was around $2500 or so, I believe. Damn, I remember when 100mhz was blazing fast. *sigh*
 

dullard

Elite Member
May 21, 2001
25,761
4,282
126
Originally posted by: EyeMWing
Rare?

Seen a CRT monitor lately? Seen a CRT television lately?
Just got a 32" CRT high quality Toshiba television for $300. You try doing that 10 years ago. HDTV on a CRT monitor is now at $550 and that price is dropping like a rock. Seems like a massive improvement in technology over older CRT TVs.

CRT monitors are different as the big (and in my opinion best) manufacturer of tubes stopped making them several years ago. But they had good reason, newer technology that is in bigger demand replaced them. Notice newer and dramatically different technology? That isn't present in TIs calculators. I forget what CRT prices were 10 years ago, but I suspect we didn't have $50 17" CRT monitors... Dramatic drop in price since 1994.