Texas InstrumentsTI-84 Plus CE Color Graphing Calculator, Black

Is it the best graphing calculator out there? Not by a long shot! In fact, it's severely underpowered compared to the competition. But it has a few unique qualities.For us old timers, it's a spruced up edition of and old classic, the TI-83 Plus, which became popular because it runs on a Z80 processor (even if most people never took advantage of that). This popularity turned it into a de facto standard for students, teachers, and educational institutions. So if you're a student, this calculator is a safe bet. It will be accepted by teachers, even in most exams, and you'll have plenty of people around you who know it. In fact, some schools require this model. Ironically, the feature that propelled this calculator in the first place -- the ability to program it in Z80 machine language -- has been locked out by TI because it made it possible to cheat during exams. Even more ironically, this lock was soon broken, so they angered their customers for nothing. In place of the Z80, the newer models offer a trimmed down version of Python, as do most other graphing calculators today.While it occupies the low end of graphing calculators, in terms of speed and capabilities, it's still overpowered for just about anyone but those who do fairly advanced mathematics. Unless you're an engineer, physicist, or mathematician (or studying to become one), you won't come close to using all of the abilities of this calculator. But if you are an engineer, physicist, or mathematician, I would recommend an HP Prime G2, a TI-Nspire CX II CAS, or a Casio fx-CG50 PRIZM. All three are hugely faster, have more memory, and have CAS and better support for complex and exact math (on the Casio, the CAS is downloaded separately). If you need power, but are on a budget, the Casio fx-9750GIII is basically a black & white version of the fx-CG50, but at less than half the price of a TI-84 Plus CE. It's slower than the fx-CG50, but a lot faster than the TI-84 Plus CE.

Writing this review years later. I originally purchased around 2021 and it has been an amazing investment. Have been using this for calculus, statistics, and more. It comes with everything and has not faced any technological issues!The calculator design is sleek and clean, and the color is simple and does not wear off even after years of usage. The buttons are labeled and have not worn off either. It comes with a charging cable, and battery life is very, very, very long. I usually only have to charge it 1-2 times every month, depending on my usage. Even though it has a higher price point, you will not be disappointed with this calculator. It includes a lot of functions and customization. It comes with a protective case that slides on and off. And overall, the durability is incredible!

Old school compared to a smartphone but this is very fun and helps resist the allure of video games and social media. Using buttons is also a better experience than touchscreen. TI should add more functionality and sensors but I get the feeling they're not going to make major changes.Getting details is pretty hard. I finally chose this one over the Casio competitor because it is easily rechargeable.The display is very good. Not as sharp as a phone but bright and plenty of color. The graphing is oddly slow, not enough to impede use. Hard to know if this is intentionally done.

This is the most functional TI we’ve owned to date. We purchased this ‘renewed’ and that was a great call. It worked perfectly the color screen is super crisp and the general functionality is in line with other TI’s . However, this is most similar to the TI 86 in my opinion.

So after 3-ish years of having this calculator, I can confirm that it works for all my calculating needs and is still working without any issues. It is also quite durable in that I have dropped it a few times, yet I don't notice any issues resulting from it. The screen is still bright and colorful with no dead pixels or anything like that. HOWEVER, when I first got this calculator, it came with the screen "memory/REM cleared" and a tiny mark, if that makes sense. Regardless, this would be a five-star review if it mentioned that it was previously used/refurbished. This fact might be why it is offered for less than stores like Staples/Walmart/Target/etc. However, transparency is quite important; thus if you care that its refurbished or not, buy it elsewhere. Want to be more sustainable? Get it from amazon.