Skip to content
Nungeum

Tech · Texas Instruments · 2004

TI-84 Plus

The monochrome original that schools bought by the crate. Indestructible, everywhere on eBay, and visibly old.

Graphing calculators to buy used, by exam — #4

Overall

7.7

out of 10

Axis scores

Strongest on Durability (8.6), weakest on Design (6.4), a 2.2-point spread. The 7.7 overall is the plain average of all 5 Tech axes, with no weighting.

TI-84 Plus — axis scores out of 10Horizontal bar chart of editorial scores out of 10 across 5 axes. Bars run from a shared zero baseline; longer is better. TI-84 Plus: Performance 6.8, Value 8.4, Durability 8.6, Ease of use 8.2, Design 6.4.PerformanceTI-84 Plus — Performance 6.8 out of 106.8ValueTI-84 Plus — Value 8.4 out of 108.4DurabilityTI-84 Plus — Durability 8.6 out of 108.6Ease of useTI-84 Plus — Ease of use 8.2 out of 108.2DesignTI-84 Plus — Design 6.4 out of 106.4Editorial score out of 10 — higher is better
  • Performance — How well it does the core job
  • Value — What the same money buys elsewhere
  • Durability — Failure and fade reports past the one-year mark
  • Ease of use — Setup, daily operation, cleaning, maintenance
  • Design — Build quality and how it sits in a room

Specs

Display
Monochrome, 96×64
Power
4 AAA batteries plus a backup coin cell
Memory
480KB archive, 24KB RAM (TI)
Connectivity
Mini-USB and link port

As published by the manufacturer. We didn't measure these ourselves.

Is it for you

Buy it if

  • You want the same keystrokes your teacher uses for very little money
  • It's a loaner or a spare that may get lost or dropped
  • You want a calculator that runs on any AAA in a drawer

Skip it if

  • Overlapping graphs on a low-resolution screen will slow you down
  • The listing shows "Property of" engraving, because school units are often sold without the school's say

Schools bought this calculator in such numbers that the used supply looks endless. Most units have survived a decade of backpacks with nothing worse than scuffs. The screen is the real limit. At 96 by 64 pixels, two curves that cross close together blur into one.

The Silver Edition is the same calculator with more archive memory and swappable faceplates. Either is fine, and the difference is not worth a meaningful premium. Classroom lots of a dozen or more turn up regularly, which is the cheapest way to equip a tutoring group.

Engraved “Property of” markings and school inventory stickers are common in listings. Some come from legitimate district surplus sales, and some don’t. A seller who explains where the unit came from is worth a little more.

Last updated . The scoring method is on how we rank.