Texas Instruments TI-82 graphing calculator
Shares rank 15 of 21 calculators by recommenders
People recommend it for how much information fits on its display and for its BASIC programming, which many remember fondly. One commenter notes its price has not dropped over the decades.
People recommend it for how much information fits on its display and for its BASIC programming, which many remember fondly. One commenter notes its price has not dropped over the decades.
9 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 8
- criticize it
- 1
- approval share
- 89%
Recommended in 3 of 13 months
- November 2025: not recommended
- December 2025: not recommended
- January 2026: not recommended
- February 2026: not recommended
- March 2026: recommended
- April 2026: not recommended
- May 2026: recommended
- June 2026: not recommended
- July 2026: not recommended
- August 2026: not recommended
- September 2026: not recommended
- October 2026: recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it doesn’t carry the badge
- 8 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, not met.
- 8 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 3 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, not met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Fun BASIC programming for building things
“These come with some form of BASIC (at least it had 30 years ago).”
Comment from 31 Mar 2026 in “Ask HN: Best stack for building a tiny game with an 11-year-old?” “Man I loved programming TI-82s. So many fun ways to build things.”
Comment from 20 Mar 2026 in “Drugwars for the TI-82/83/83 Calculators” Fond, impressive memories of using it
“Looking back, it was really amazingly impressive.”
Comment from 1 May 2026 in “Ti-84 Evo” “I do have fond memories of my TI-82”
Comment from 1 May 2026 in “Ti-84 Evo”
Other calculators people recommend
The four most recommended other calculators, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Texas Instruments TI-84 Evo | 41 | 53 | 44% | 4 | 10 yrs7 owners | — |
| TI-89 calculator | 31 | 8 | 79% | 8 | 28 yrs4 owners | Approved |
| HP 15C | 24 | 6 | 80% | 5 | 41 yrs5 owners | Approved |
| TI-83 Plus | 21 | 8 | 72% | 6 | 30 yrs3 owners | Approved |
| Texas Instruments TI-82 graphing calculatorThis page | 8 | 1 | 89% | 3 | — | — |
What people said
8 of the 9 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“airgapped pre crypto devices are extra safe: break out the ti82!”
“I was having to upgrade every few years.”
“I do have fond memories of my TI-82”
“Looking back, it was really amazingly impressive.”
“These come with some form of BASIC (at least it had 30 years ago).”
“the feature I liked most about my TI-82 was the amount of information that could fit on the display”
“Man I loved programming TI-82s. So many fun ways to build things.”
“I'm still amazed they cost as much now, as they did 30 years ago”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.