> USB-C charging—no more scrambling for AAA batteries

Bear with me if you’ve already seen this comment, but I dug out my old TI-89 a while ago for some reason, and all I had to do was plug in four AAA batteries and it worked.

If it had been fitted with a rechargeable battery, 30 years ago, even assuming it was still functional, I would have needed to recharge it... but with what?

Now we have USB-C rechargeable AA/AAA batteries, so there’s really no excuse.

No approval for AP/IB/SAT/ACT, as far as I can see.

No RPN. Every modern graphing calculator needs a mode (doesn't have to be the default) with RPN and a visible (4+ entry) stack. Once people actually learn how to use that for rapid, efficient calculations, they won't go back, but they never learn because all the major calculators don't even offer it as an alternate mode. That's the killer app for "graphing" calculators, because they can show multiple stack entries.

RPN may not be useful for math classes, which tend not to have as many problems involving many sequential calculations, but it's extremely valuable for science and engineering.

It doesn't look like it has a CAS (so it's not for mathematicians), and the scientific notation key isn't prominent (so it's not for scientists or engineers), so... who is it for? Part of the thing with the older TI calculators is that they were good for professionals, too, not just students. (My TI-89 is still in intermittently-very-heavy use 30 years later!)

When my daughter finally needed one of those godawful monopoly-priced calculators for school, we went to the nearest pawn shop and found a TI 84 Plus, opened, for $40, and a TI 84 Plus CE in its unopened (but roughed up) original packaging for $65.

It's the same price as a "standard" TI graphing calculator, has ugly buttons, and doesn't appear to have any special features in the software to distinguish it from competitors. What exactly is supposed to be better about this?

Is there actually a use case for graphing calculators anymore? Desmos provides a great graphing program for free in a web browser. In any professional capacity you would be using MATLAB, Mathematica, or the scientific Python ecosystem.

I mostly remember playing games on my TI-84 in high school. We used it in class maybe once or twice. None of my college classes allowed graphing calculators on tests, so ironically I had to buy a "dumb" calculator even though I owned the fancy one.

Take a look at Swissmicros' DM42n + DB48x.

> without the high price tag.

Seems only superficially cheaper than the TI-84 ($89 vs $112)

try page's pre-order link at the top goes to a 404

How does it compares to the NumWorks?

Does it have a CAS?

Graphing calculators are one of those markets that barely moved for 30 years because TI had schools locked in. Anything that breaks that is worth paying attention to.

Another calculator with no backlit keypad. Am I the only one that wants to use a calculator after the sun goes down?