I got my calculator by accidentally stealing it from someone's locker ..

I had to vote that guardians bought my calculator. My aunt needed it for a Finanace class. When she finished the class, she gave it to me! I was considering buying a calculator at the time, though

I got my first TI calculator about a year and a half ago. My school got a new higher-level math teacher who required a TI calc, unlike the old teacher. So, the school bulletin comes out and says to go buy a TI-83. So I go to the store, and start shopping around, then start begging my mom for an 89. I ended up settling for getting an 86 and having to pay the difference between it and an 83, because the 86 had a similar interface to the 83.
So, I go on using the 86, then I find ticalc.org, and learn about all the great 89 programs. So, about 7 months after I get the 86, I start begging my parents to get me an 89 for my birthday, and the begging actually works this time :). After that, I sold the 86 to a friend of mine who was going to a college that required at least an 85 (he was one of the people who only got an 83).

Anyway, as far as the stealing calculators thing, that hasn't happened to anyone at my school, despite the fact that people leave them lying around on desks and in unlocked lockers all the time (probably since there are only 2 non-teacher people who know what they're worth). I've seen 2 or 3 calculators just setting in the lost and found, waiting to be claimed. I'd never do that, though - I keep my 89 so close that it's like a part of my body :)

I got my 83Plus, purchased by my parents, earlier this year. I bought the Graph-Link, though. Stealing calc's in my school is fairly rare. Plus the school engraves them for free. All the schools calc are engraved with it's acronym.

I hate to say it but i borrowed cough::hack::permanitly::cough
from walmart. I now have an 89 which i will cough::not return.Yup.

Over the years, I paid for my 81,82,83+,86, & 89 myself.

For my 83, however, I need an option which says: "My dad's best friend owned an educational supply store which went out of business; causing him to sell his inventory, which meant that I purchased a box of ten 83s from him for $50; which I then kept one and resold the rest at $50 each to students at my school, therefore making a $450 profit." That really did happen to me. I'm so lucky.

I only condone stealing calculators in one case. A kid that used to go to our school stole everything he could get his hands on....calculators, drum mallets, computers, drinks from the drink machines, etc. He has a TI-92, 89, and probably a few others that I have my eye on......

My parents bought me a TI-85, it got stolen so I got an 86. Stealing is a good thing for getting calculator upgrades :-)

I think I voted part-time job, but it actually depends on the calculator. I have a TI-85, TI-86, and a TI-89 around. The 89's the one I use all the time now and my parents bought it for me as a Christmas present. I bought the 86 when my 85 appeared to die a few years ago. Actually, my parents bought it and then I paid them back. That was paid for by my job which is considered a full time job here at school since I'm a full time student, but since it's only 20 hours/week it's more like a real life part time job. The 85, hmm, I got it so long ago that I don't remember how I got it. And the 85 actually still works; I tried it some time after getting the 86 and it worked again. So it fooled me into getting the 86, but the upgrade was still worth it.

My parents won't pay for my calc- they think its a toy (well, sometimes it is...:)
-Sowby

You posted this comment twice.

-Fil

+1, Funny

My parents won't pay for my calc- they think its a toy (well, sometimes it is...:)

You posted this comment twice.

-Fil

+1, Funny

My dad use to teach Algebra at the local High School, he tought for 28 years so he had several TI's that floated about the house. I believe he started off with the TI-80, then I know up until last year when I dropped it and busted up the screen he had an 81, he also has an 82 still that he uses, although it's one of the older models of the 82's, one of the first ones. I used both of them in Algebra last year. So that is how I got my first two TI's.

This year my dad took the 82 back from me, and because my Geometry teacher wanted me to get an 83 Plus for class we ran out and he bought me one. I didn't have to pay for any of it, but I did get a significant amount of nagging. I think that was because he's still bitter I broke the 81.

Anyways, the 83 Plus was bought for me by my dad, however, we payed alot less then most people did, all my friends spent about 95 dollars, I only forked out, err... my dad only forked out 83 dollars.

So there ya, my TI life story in a nutshell.

My parents bought me an 83 in 9th grade when I was in Advanced Algebra, because it was what the teacher recommended. Looking back, I wish I had gotten an 86 or an 89, but either one would have probably made me very dependent on my calculator, which would be bad at college.

A couple of weeks ago, my 83 was stolen, but I got it back within a few days. The person who stole it either forgot it, or purposely left it on a lab table during chemistry. It was very strange, but I was glad to have it back. Calculator theft is common at my school even though most people my school come from middle class families who can easily afford to buy them. I just got games for a kid who was on his seventh calculator. He isn't exactly the most responsible person, but that's still really bad.

*Ahem* here is how i fuel my obsession,
-my mom brings me home a used ti-83 the end of 8th grade and says that i can keep it someone gave it to her.
-then my grandparents bought me my ti-92 for 70$ on sale that summer
-I broke my ti-92 link port... :(
-Ti fixes it :)
-I order the plus module
-in the middle of ninth grade my friend gave me her broken ti-83 (all thats wrong is the screen is smashed... extra storage for those games hehe)
-the summer before my tenth (this) grade year my grandparents bought me a ti-89
-last week my friend's boyfriend dropped out of skool and gave her his ti-89 so she gave me her ti-82 and a ti-85 she borrowed... from some kid...
there it is the story of how i amassed
1- TI 82
2- TI 83
1- TI 85
1- TI 89
1- TI 92(+)
hehe i checked other

Best Buy corporation runs a really nice consumer upgrade program around here. I bought my 83+ at the start of the school year which I found quite sufficient for the *MATH* ;) that I was doing, but after I saw the TICT Ebook reader for the 89, I drove to the local Best Buy and traded in my 83+ for full purchase price towards another calculator, in this case the 89. God do I love books :).

It's horrible when someone destroys a calculator. I am going to buy my TI89 with some christmas money.

I had my parents buy my 83+. They should have put taken up selling drugs or something like that on there.