According to TI, TI-83 Plus Silver Edition is " worth its weight in gold! It has all the functionality of the TI-83 Plus with the added advantage of more memory, speed and a selection of pre-loaded Calculator Software Applications (APPS). Includes TI GRAPH LINK™ for Windows®. Plus a stylish new metallic silver case... "


This brief review is written from the starting point that the TI-83 (basic model) has long been an excellent school calculator. We have been using it at my school since it first appeared and our class set has survived almost 100% intact (one machine out of 30 developed a screen fault, which our supplier rectified immediately by replacing it). We have used them with pupils from Year 8 to Year 13 and with the TI viewscreen for whole class teaching. The calculator includes a host of A-Level functions, including for example differentiation, complex numbers and comprehensive statistical options, and - perhaps most importantly of all - a "catalogue" button that gives access to every function in alphabetical order. Arguably this button is reason enough to choose this calculator in preference to other rival models.

So, why should we move on to the TI-83 Plus or indeed this latest TI-83 Plus Silver Edition. It certainly looks nice, with a design reminiscent of the last iMacs, though in miniature. It runs on a faster processor than the TI-83 Plus and has larger memory and it is compatable, via the link cable, with the two earlier models. Other key differences are:

*These include: Periodic Table, Organizer, Catalog Help, Science Tools, Start-up, Probability Simulations, CBL™/CBR™, Puzzle Pack, StudyCards™ · Other applications will be available from www.ti.com/calc/flash.

The screen is not tipped towards the viewer as in other models, which is a pity, but apart from this, the hardware is essentially a technical upgrade on the previous model. It is a positive advantage that the TI Graph link is bundled as part of the package. But it is in those applications that we find the answer to whether this calculator is worth the additional investment or not. There are many examples in education of "good" software or hardware bought with the best of intentions but then left to gather dust because no one could find the time to actually work out what to do with them. Here are some examples of what is available for purchase from www.ti.com/calc/flash:

Interactive Graphing This software allows students to interactively visualise how changes in a function's parameters affect its graph and form. You can change a coefficient from the graph screen and see how it affects the graph. you can investigate the change numerically too by tracing, taking derivatives, or determining maximums and minimums.

Inequality Graphing This software allows users to enter inequalities using symbols, plot inequalities including union and intersection shades, enter inequalities involving vertical lines in an X= editor, trace points of interest (like intersections) between functions, and store (x,y) coordinate pairs to designated lists for viewing and optimising functions for Linear Programming.

Topics in Algebra I are coming soon, as are some free resources such as Conic Graphing, Science Tools and Quizmate.

As it is what you can do with software and hardware that is important rather than simply the spec of the thing itself, these applications make the calculator increasingly usable. I suppose there is always the fear that coming round the corner is the TI-83 Gold, then Platinum, and then deep space latinum, all offering further great advantages. So, as long as we can assume that this model will be good for some time to come, and that there will be a steady stream of new (and with luck free) applications, then the investment has got to be worth it.

Postscript: a student who had just bought this model commented to me that the manual comes on a CD-ROM. Does this imply that in order to get the most out of this handy miniature calculating machine one has to lug round a PC aswell?