TI-85 calculator
Shares rank 11 of 21 calculators by recommenders
Owners praise its durability, programmability and usefulness for calculus and small calculations, with many still using it for decades.
Owners praise its durability, programmability and usefulness for calculus and small calculations, with many still using it for decades.
11 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 11
- criticize it
- 0
- approval share
- 100%
Recommended in 3 of 13 months
- November 2025: not recommended
- December 2025: not recommended
- January 2026: not recommended
- February 2026: not recommended
- March 2026: not recommended
- April 2026: not recommended
- May 2026: recommended
- June 2026: not recommended
- July 2026: recommended
- August 2026: not recommended
- September 2026: not recommended
- October 2026: recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Owned for 30 years
Median of the 3 owners who said how long they have had it.
Each square is one year.
Why it doesn’t carry the badge
- 11 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, met.
- Nobody criticizes itNeeds 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
Durable and used for years
“still use it almost every day for something or other”
Comment from 1 May 2026 in “Ti-84 Evo” “I love the TI-85 I used through college”
Comment from 2 May 2026 in “Ti-84 Evo” “still works flawlessly today”
Comment from 1 May 2026 in “Ti-84 Evo” First programming and assembly experience
“my TI calculator was my first programming experience and it's what got me to love programming”
Comment from 2 May 2026 in “Ti-84 Evo” “that's how I got my start in assembly language”
Comment from 28 Jul 2026 in “The Zilog Z80 has turned 50” Useful for calculus and small calculations
“it is still an objectively superior tool for doing small calculations than any other alternative”
Comment from 2 May 2026 in “Ti-84 Evo” “It's certainly a valuable tool when doing calculus.”
Comment from 12 Oct 2026 in “FlowCE: Calculus on your TI-84 Plus CE”
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 |
| TI-85 calculatorThis page | 11 | 0 | 100% | 3 | 30 yrs3 owners | — |
What people said
9 of the 12 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“It's certainly a valuable tool when doing calculus.”
“that's how I got my start in assembly language”
“It was effectively a portable computer that I was allowed to use and play with in most classes.”
“I love the TI-85 I used through college”
“it is still an objectively superior tool for doing small calculations than any other alternative”
“I loved those F1-F5 buttons right beneath the screen, which made the interface overall better to navigate.”
“my TI calculator was my first programming experience and it's what got me to love programming”
“still works flawlessly today”
“still use it almost every day for something or other”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.