TI-83 Plus Silver Edition: A Great Buy...

Author's Rating:

Pros: memory, durability, multiple functionality, games, and most of all: it's silver!

Cons: difficult to comprehend at first, slightly pricey

The Bottom Line: 
Although it takes some getting used to, the TI-83 Plus Silver Edition is well worth the few extra dollars.

Author's Review
I bought this calculator for the Calculus class I took in high school. I was constantly borrowing other peoples’ calculators to supplement my simply scientific one throughout my Algebra and Analysis classes, and finally decided to save up some money and buy a graphing calculator. I decided upon the TI-83 Plus Silver Edition for two main reasons: (1) I have three friends who have it and think that it’s great and (2) I read a few different articles that I found about it on a various websites and they all gave it glowing reviews. The TI-83 Plus Silver Edition was a great and practical purchase for me. I bought this calculator almost a year ago and it has been nothing but smooth sailing since then!

There are numerous reasons why I think that the 83 Plus Silver is a great buy:

Multiple Functions - This calculator can do so much, both for a class and simply for your “pleasure.” It has oodles of features which are fairly easy to access and simple to use. Even if you are taking a course in basic math, it can still be helpful. There are many features included in it that can aid in every type of math. Also, I find it great that I can play a whole bunch of games on it! (I’ll touch more on this later.)

Memory - The 83 Plus Silver is a better choice than the regular 83 Plus because of the extra memory that is provided with it. The memory can be very useful for various reasons. Foremost in my mind is definitely for games! Unfortunately to say, almost every person I know who owns a graphing calculator has at least a couple games on it. Many people also program their own games into the calculators. Although I do not know how to do this, those that do say that it is an excellent feature.

I am not the most tech-savvy person when it comes to calculators, so I’ve included some techie info direct from TI. According to the Texas Instruments website: “Enhanced with more than 1.5 MB of FLASH ROM memory to store up to 94 Handheld Software Applications, the TI-83 Plus Silver Edition has an upgradeable operating system, several included Apps, 2 times the processor speed of the TI-83 Plus all in a cool, silver case.” (Personally, I have no idea what FLASH ROM is, but it can’t be bad if they are advertising it!)

Sturdiness - This calculator is built to last! I’ve only had to change the batteries once in the year I have had the calculator and have dropped it several times, but the 83 Silver is still going strong! The calculator also has a back-up battery which comes with it. It is small and hidden in the battery case and looks like a watch battery, but sure performs a mammoth task. If your battery ever runs out or becomes dislodged for some reason, this mini-battery saves your programs from being deleted. (Also worth a note is the fact that the calculator tells you when your batteries are almost dead by displaying on-screen messages.)

I would also like to touch upon the TI-83 Plus Silver’s ease of use: it’s certainly not the best. After having it for a year I am still wondering how to perform certain tasks. Although with enough playing around, it isn’t too difficult to discover but I do wish that this was a little bit easier. I also found it quite helpful that there is an online manual. While some of my friends with the regular 83 Plus are stuck with their 100-plus page book, I have the luxury of jumping on the Texas Instruments website for any info that I may need.

A “link-up” also comes with this calculator. The technical name is a “TI-Graph Link Cable.” It allows you to exchange programs (and games) with people you know who have a calculator. The linking program is pretty simple to use too.

The price may also be a little much. I paid almost $145 for the calculator, which is a lot to shell out at one time. The Silver Edition will add somewhere in the range of $30 - $35 from what I’ve found, but it truly is worth the addition. On top of having an even better calculator than those with the 83 Plus, you will also have the coolest-looking one!

More than anything, I feel this calculator is excellent for anyone interested in higher math, but also is useful for those who will use it for elementary math. The TI-83 Silver Edition is difficult to learn at first, but once you fool around with it for a while, you have a powerful tool that will do almost any mathematical computation you can imagine!

For extra information, you may want to check out the Texas Instruments website, specifically the portion dedicated directly to the TI-83 Plus Silver Edition.

http://education.ti.com/us/product/tech/83pse/features/features.html