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Why are graphing calculators so much money?!

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Originally posted by: bigalt
that's actually a good question. Seems like the costs should be declining with computers. I mean, a TI-12314 or whatever they're on now can't be all that much more powerful than a gameboy can it?
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Actually the TI-89 is no more powerful than a Mac; a couple of megs of storage and a 68000 processor, along with a GameBoy-like screen. When you realize how many damn chips TI can get out of a wafer on 130nm for those things, they have to be making a killing.
 
Originally posted by: yamadakun
Originally posted by: daniel1113
Well, you should only have to buy one throughout your entire schooling career, so I don't think they need to be any cheaper. $130 for at least eight years of utility is nothing, IMO.
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More like 2 or 3 since you are bound to lose it at some point.
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Damn. I've had my ti-89 since freshman year of highschool, so I am coming up on my 8th year of solid use. It has never failed me, and I can't imagine losing it. I :heart: my ti-89.
 
HS math classes REQUIRE TI-89s?? Please, more than likely I'll graduate college before I ever get anything better than my 83+. And no not everyone loses their calculator. Had it since 9th grade Algebra deuce (for 90% of HS it was just really handy to have games on it 🙂).

Pretty stupid that a calc class requires an 89. If anything they shouldn't be allowed in a calc class. SO many times have fellow classmaters had no clue wtf was going on yet kicked out answers with their 89s. Not that my 83+ wasn't ever useful for getting solutions when I didn't know what to do, but 89 is almost too easy!!
 
It is true that there are other brands, but most high schools use TI. With that in mind, it is pointless for students to buy other brands because they would have to learn their calculator on their own and they would not be able to easily follow along with the teacher.

I use a TI-86 and it is still going strong (about 5 years old).
 
You could have saved a lot by getting a used graphing calculator. I got my 89 for around $60 a couple years ago when they cost twice as much brand new.
 
Just to repeat what others have said, they're overpriced but at least they work and are tough, not like junky electronics you buy today. If I fell down a flight of stairs with my TI83 in my pocket and the TI-83 came out not working, I'd probably have some broken bones.
 
I'm just amazed about my ti-89 titanium. It literally boots up when you turn it on, has an OS, everything. No longer just a calculator, it is good for other stuff too... hmm games? 😉 😀

yeah they are expensive, but ebay is your friend - I got mine for $120 shipped, brand new.
 
Originally posted by: daniel1113
Originally posted by: yamadakun
Originally posted by: daniel1113
Well, you should only have to buy one throughout your entire schooling career, so I don't think they need to be any cheaper. $130 for at least eight years of utility is nothing, IMO.
Click to expand...

More like 2 or 3 since you are bound to lose it at some point.
Click to expand...

Damn. I've had my ti-89 since freshman year of highschool, so I am coming up on my 8th year of solid use. It has never failed me, and I can't imagine losing it. I :heart: my ti-89.
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They didn't even have a TI-89 when I was a freshman in high school. Thanks for reminding me that that was 12 years ago for me. :|

We were required to have a TI-82. It had something like 64kb of RAM/storage. I needed an 86 for a class in college, but I just borrowed one for the semester.
 
Originally posted by: notfred
$130 isn't that much money for electronics. A better question to ask is why a math book costs $130.
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Very true. The TI-89 calculator will last you your entire academic career, if not professional if you get into that area. Amortize that down and you'll see you're getting a bargain. A textbook, meanwhile, lasts you one semester and then you cross your fingers hoping there's no new edition which would destroy your chances of getting a good buyback. You can always just eb*y off your calc if you're a liberal arts major or something like that -- the aftermarket prices are very strong.

 
Originally posted by: SarcasticDwarf
Originally posted by: swtethan
its because they can charge what they want... and you will have to pay for it because you need it
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Yup. Most HS and college students require a TI-83 (or higher). Even though they came out years back, the price and the design has not changed because there is no need for them to.
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I am an Engineer and I gone through my studies w/o a graphing calculator. I don't even know how to use the features in them!
 
Originally posted by: EmperorIQ
Originally posted by: SarcasticDwarf
Originally posted by: swtethan
its because they can charge what they want... and you will have to pay for it because you need it
Click to expand...

Yup. Most HS and college students require a TI-83 (or higher). Even though they came out years back, the price and the design has not changed because there is no need for them to.
Click to expand...

I am an Engineer and I gone through my studies w/o a graphing calculator. I don't even know how to use the features in them!
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Graphing calcs just make things easy when it comes to.. graphing, in my opinion. That and lists (correlation stuff) were the only things I can think of that would've been more tedious to do otherwise.
 
Originally posted by: duragezic
HS math classes REQUIRE TI-89s?? Please, more than likely I'll graduate college before I ever get anything better than my 83+. And no not everyone loses their calculator. Had it since 9th grade Algebra deuce (for 90% of HS it was just really handy to have games on it 🙂).

Pretty stupid that a calc class requires an 89. If anything they shouldn't be allowed in a calc class. SO many times have fellow classmaters had no clue wtf was going on yet kicked out answers with their 89s. Not that my 83+ wasn't ever useful for getting solutions when I didn't know what to do, but 89 is almost too easy!!
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Wait. In your calc I through III classes, you can use a calculator?!?
 
Some parts. Still have to show the work though. I used the calculator just to make sure I did the work right. Nothing worse than losing points over a stupid error. I used to keep the manual with me so that I could look up functions. Those calculators will do virtually anything and the stuff they can't do can be programmed.
 
I bought a Casio one for hellsa cheap. It's getting pretty popular around my campus, since it's only like 35 bucks. I do disagree on the durability of the TIs though. I never lost mine, but still had 3 different TIs (83, 83+ silver, and 86) die on me within a year. I have no idea why, but they did. Checked batteries, everything. Ridiculous.


(No I don't think it's indicative of TI build quality, it just pissed me off. I started to think I was somehow magnetic and fscking with them unknowingly)
 
I had the screen on a HP break (my fault, had a party and people stepped on it) and after spending $130 for it they wanted $100 plus shipping to replace the screen. I went out and bought a Ti-92 instead for $200 just to spite them and that thing was a tank with that case on. Screw HP.

The HP's will give you better results if you're using it for engineering (at least they did back in '98), but I prefer the TI's. I had a professor show us that with the TI's you can get errors a few decimal places out for certain calculations. He required HP's for his class and those with TI's got screwed. Within a few years though the tide had changed and almost everyone had a TI. For all I know they do Partial differential equations nowadays. They were good calculators.
 
Originally posted by: astrocase
That's cheap. I spent $200. They're getting more affordable apparently. I still have mine. Ti-92
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That's not a calculator, that's a computer.😛
 
It probably cost $12 in materials to actually make the thing...
but you also are paying for...

the time of the person assembling, packing, marketing and shipping it
the R&D + IP (patents) it took to create the calculator
the IP (patents) and or time of the person who wrote the OS and manuals
the R&D + IP (patents) for the next calculator being developed right now
the markup on the retail store placed on it
 
I bought a Ti83 as a freshman in highschool for $100. I used it till it vanished my senior year of college.
 
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