<p>My school district, for one reason or another, requires us to get a Ti-86 for all high-school and college-level math courses.</p>
<p>However, this calculator has just recently been discontinued by Ti.</p>
<p>Why is this; is the Ti-86 garbage? Also, how hard is the learning curve for the Ti-89 from the Ti-86? And as the numbers go up (from 83 to 92), does it mean "better calculator" necessarily?</p>
<p>I don't know much about the 92, but I own an 89, and wouldn't use anything else. Sure, it takes a little "getting used to," but it is generally a better calculator than the 86. Once you get used to all of the commands, you can pretty much do anything on it, as opposed to the 83+ and 86.</p>
<p>yeah they are discontinued but the now old versions are still good, the new ones only have a few more features like extra memory, stuff that most of us wont be needing or is not necessary for high school or college courses...</p>
<p>No, it does not mean a "better calculator". The only difference between the 89 and 92 is the QWERTY keyboard. You should get an 89, they're easy to get used to, and will save you an incredible amount of time, now and even in grad school if you want to go that far. (like for engineering)</p>
<p>Keep in mind while 89s are permitted on SATs and APs, 92s are not.</p>
<p>89s are the best, IMO. The only possible downside is that they are not allowed on the ACT for some weird reason.</p>
<p>:)</p>
<p>Weird reason, it actully makes plenty of sense to ban them, "solve" command? In general allowing 89s is unfair because it gives an advantage to those who can afford them. I used the '89 on my SAT but there were a few questions where I wondered if it was really fair for me to just enter the problem on the calculator and have an answer spit out.</p>
<p>Well, the 86 has a Solve command too.</p>
<p>I'm just wondering what made TI discontinue the 86, seeing as its far better than the 83 and new 84.</p>
<p>The main reason TI discontinued the 86 has been a long time coming. </p>
<p><history lesson=""></history></p>
<p>In the early 1990s, TI wanted to expand their grip on the emerging graphing calculator market. So, they did field tests with teachers in high schools attempting to hook teachers at the "low level" to encourage their students to purchase TI products. At the time, TI made both the TI 82 and the TI 85 calculators. Even through the 85 was a superior calculator to the 82, teachers found the 82 easier to use. Thus, TI turned to high school mathematics textbook manufacturers and managed to convince these authors to write math textbooks heavily utilizing TI 82 technology. </p>
<p>The first great "upgrade" was from 82 to 83 and 85 to 86 which was less of an upgrade, because everything had to be backwards compatible lest TI offend the teachers who had just gotten used to the calculators. Since then, a myriad of textbooks and millions of 83 calculators have been sold. </p>
<p>The 85/86 died out since there really never was a broad support for it at the high school level, unlike the 82/83/84 series of calculators. The main selling point for the 86 was its polynomial root finder and simultaneous equation solver. These functions have been ported to the TI 89 and 83 (though more limited for the 83/84); thus, the advantages of the 86 have now become a moot point. </p>
<p>The 86 is not a piece of trash; it is just outdated since TI never really had incentive to improve the calculator. It is certainly superior to the 83.</p>
<p>Haha, Ok, why would you know that...</p>
<p>:)</p>
<p>Shahein: thanks a lot. That's exactly the info I was looking for.</p>
<p>Much appreciated :)</p>
<p>Welcome RCO813!</p>
<p>HiWei, I am just weird like that... Do you not just start researching the history of companies that seem to have a stranglehold on their particular markets and wonder how they ever got to that point???</p>
<p>dude even 83 has a solve command, the ACT IS JUST STUPID in not allowing 89 or maybe it's because the ACT math problems are more straightforward (ahh who knows)</p>
<p>Okay I guess I was wrong, sorry about that, didn't know the other TIs had those features. Then I guess, if I was running the ACT I would ban all the TI graphing calculators, or maybe all programable ones. I think if I was running the test I would only allow calculators that don't give advatages to wealthier students.</p>
<p>83 Solve command is very different from 86 and 89 solve command. The 83 will solve a given equation for a numeric value. </p>
<p>The 86 is similar to 83. </p>
<p>The 89 solve command solves for a value symbolically, not numerically.</p>
<p>Wait. So on the 89 you could get answers like, say, "36pi/2" or like "12x-z" or something complex like that as your answer?</p>
<p>If so, that's awesome.</p>
<p>RC0813, yes</p>
<p>=O</p>
<p>Wow.</p>
<p>I need a Ti-89 asap....</p>
<p>"I think if I was running the test I would only allow calculators that don't give advatages to wealthier students."</p>
<p>that's a total understatement. I go to a PUBLIC HIGH SCHOOL and we get FREE ti-89 titanium calculators starting in sophomore year.</p>
<p>Merudh...That's amazing... My high school still clings to the now discontinued TI83 and encourages against the purchase of a TI89 mainly because no teacher has any idea how to use one properly...</p>