Texas Instruments TI-86 Graphic Calculator

I have used casio, hp's and other graphing calculators but none compare to the Texas Instruments (TI) calculators. Most schools use the TI-83 now and they used to mostly all use the TI-86. Once you become familiar with a calculator more than likely you will not want to change. This device has gotten me through algebra 2, trig, calc and day to day life. Unlike the TI-85 this has a table function. This table function is easier to use than MS Excel so i bring out my handy calculator all the time. I had one TI-86 go bad on my recently but it has been in my book bag for over 6 years and felt the day to day grind. The graphing functions are quite similar to the rest of the ti-86. If you notice the screen changing and you need to continually change the resolution your battery may be going bad. A neat trick on these is also to hold enter when you turn it on and it will display low battery, this is not the ase but will freak out your friends. I never played gameboy much but the huge range of free downloaded games available for the calculator has been invaluable in boring classes. I actually sadly prefer this calculator over the original gameboy when it comes to gaming. You can cheaply buy a cable to connect this to your desktop and transfer files and games. Another tid bit of info is if you ever receive errors when graphing delete the defaults and it should work fine. It drives teachers crazy when they cannot find the problem when you most likely screwed around and messed with a setting. The next model up is the TI-89 and that has a HUGE learning curve(as well as price increase). Sometimes you will see a plus model and that just added extra memory. You can save more items and games. I don't see this as needed since i put 22 games and had plenty of space to work on this calculator. TO sum it up this is a solid calculator and one I hope to use for the next 10 years.