Graphing Calculator Broken...Ugh!

[kristenrice]

My daughter is starting her senior year of HS this week. In May, we bought her a $130 TI-84+ CE graphing calculator to get her through all of her advanced math classes in HS and through college. She used it for the last 2 weeks of school and it has been in her backpack in her closet all summer. Well, last night, she took it out to get started on her math homework, only to find that it is stuck in an "error loop" of some type. It powers up, tries to do a software update, and then shuts off because it is not holding a charge. She bought a new charger, thinking that was the problem, but she still gets the same flashing screen.

I went to the TI website and found the troubleshooting instructions for the error that she is experiencing and they did not solve the problem. After following the instructions, the final step is to send them an e-mail or call (M-Th, 9-5pm) for further assistance. Well, I sent an email....and the website says it will take 7days or more to receive a response because they are experiencing heavy volume. Ugh!

For now, her math teacher is letting her borrow one (the teacher's!), but she will still need a new one soon. She can't really take the teacher's calculator home with her. TI has a 1-yr warranty on the calculator, but the warranty says it does not cover damage to the USB port. Since it won't charge or stay powered on, even with the new cable, I am wondering if the problem is with the charging port. I have no idea how any damage would have occurred since she has probably only charged the calculator twice since owning it and it's been in "storage" for the past 3 months. Right now, I am hoping to hear back from them soon, and hopefully, they will replace the calculator. I really do not want to shell out another $110 for a calculator, especially when this one was used for 2 weeks before it died.

I am not really asking for any opinions or advice (mainly just venting) ...but if anyone happens to have prior experience with this, any input is welcome

 

[afan]

No experience and didn't realize they'd gotten to the point when they update and are rechargeable.

Is there a way to do a hard reset on it? Also possible it's just a bad one.

With time being a concern this is when I'd call them vs waiting on an email response. I know most of us would rather not call but sometimes it's quickest.

 

[gottalovepluto]

I wouldn’t worry too much about it being damage to the charging port. Take photos of it carefully before shipping it if they make you ship it to them. Software issues can prevent charging as well as a bad internal battery.

 

[barb969]

Call the school math department chairman and ask if any of the teachers are good with calculator errors. If this doesn’t help call the science dept.. The physics teachers may be able to help. Also some student are really good with electronic. Have her start asking around. If the school has a forum seek help there.

Try youtube. They have some really good videos. I’ve learned a lot from there videos.

Google the error.

I am a college math instructor but alas I depend on a faculty member for my problems.

 

[tvguy]

You might try a local computer repair shop to see if they have any experience with this.
I got lucky, my kids are 4 years apart so oldest passed his down to his sister. But their high school required them with the Freshman year, not Senior year.

 

[kristenrice]

Thanks for all the great advice

I opted to call TI this morning and after being on hold for about 20 minutes, someone answered and offered to take down my contact information so a technician could call me back when they were available. When he asked me to briefly describe the issue, he asked if I had the serial number (I did). As soon as I gave it to him, he said, "Well, I don't need to have anyone call you back. I just need your shipping information so I can send you a replacement battery." I guess, based on the serial number, he knew right away that I had something defective in my possession. I didn't need to provide any proof of purchase or anything else. He said that they would be shipping out a new battery today and it will take about 7 days due to the shipping regulations for lithium batteries. Hopefully, when it arrives, it will solve the problem and we will be all set. For now, my daughter told me that her friend is letting her borrow hers since she doesn't have a math class this semester.

 

[nolatravelgirl]

Thanks for all the great advice

I opted to call TI this morning and after being on hold for about 20 minutes, someone answered and offered to take down my contact information so a technician could call me back when they were available. When he asked me to briefly describe the issue, he asked if I had the serial number (I did). As soon as I gave it to him, he said, "Well, I don't need to have anyone call you back. I just need your shipping information so I can send you a replacement battery." I guess, based on the serial number, he knew right away that I had something defective in my possession. I didn't need to provide any proof of purchase or anything else. He said that they would be shipping out a new battery today and it will take about 7 days due to the shipping regulations for lithium batteries. Hopefully, when it arrives, it will solve the problem and we will be all set. For now, my daughter told me that her friend is letting her borrow hers since she doesn't have a math class this semester.

Does she have a classmate that she could test with their battery to confirm that it is the problem? I wouldn't want to wait for the new one to come in the mail as that is just wasting more time. You could also check to see if your local Best Buy may have the replacement battery. We also have a store called Batteries Plus that stocks all kinds of odd ball batteries.

 

[kristenrice]

Does she have a classmate that she could test with their battery to confirm that it is the problem? I wouldn't want to wait for the new one to come in the mail as that is just wasting more time. You could also check to see if your local Best Buy may have the replacement battery. We also have a store called Batteries Plus that stocks all kinds of odd ball batteries.

She is borrowing a calculator from a friend (same calculator, not the rechargable model) but since her calculator is only 3 months old, I don't want to spend any money on a new battery. TI is sending a new one (free) and if it doesn't work, at least they already know there is an issue with our device and we are still within the warranty period (1 year).

 

[lanejudy]

There are some free graphing calculators online. Depending on her class needs, it might handle anything she'd use it for at this point of the year. DD's teacher shared some links a couple of years ago but I forget what they were.

 

[MrsPete]

You've received some good information already. I'll throw out one more idea: If it comes down to buying a new calculator (hopefully not), buy a used one from Ebay. LOTS of parents buy calculators with the very same idea you have, and then they sell them later.

 

[kristenrice]

UPDATE: I received the new battery yesterday and the calculator now works just fine. I am not sure why the first one lasted just 3 months (and barely one recharge) before going bad, and it seems like TI knew there was something defective, but they replaced it without question.

 

[Maryrachel713]

HS math teacher who deals with the calculators the most. TI has excellent customer support if you call. There are hard reset instructions, but they've gotten me out of one that nothing was working for before.

A long time ago I had a students calculator that just stopped functioning. I was going to a conference for TI and brought it along and took it to the help desk and they tried it, asked for my address and told me they'd send me a new one. I had no receipt and had already told them it wasn't even mine. In general, their CS people on the phone actually know how to operate calculators (not scripted, actually know).

Also, if you bought it new and your daughter has a computer, it also came with a software package for free so she could use it on the computer.

 

[magik]

In a pinch, if she finds herself without a working calculator again at some point, Desmos is a free online graphing calculator and my school district has moved away from requiring (or even using) TI-84 graphing calculators to exclusively using the Desmos online calculator. You can use it on the web in a browser or download the app to a cell phone. The math teachers at my school love it.

 

[amylevan]

In a pinch, if she finds herself without a working calculator again at some point, Desmos is a free online graphing calculator and my school district has moved away from requiring (or even using) TI-84 graphing calculators to exclusively using the Desmos online calculator. You can use it on the web in a browser or download the app to a cell phone. The math teachers at my school love it.

I was going to say this. My DS exclusively uses the online one. I don’t know what thats going to look like if he has to take a test in the future, but for now that’s all he needs.

 

[gottalovepluto]

In a pinch, if she finds herself without a working calculator again at some point, Desmos is a free online graphing calculator and my school district has moved away from requiring (or even using) TI-84 graphing calculators to exclusively using the Desmos online calculator. You can use it on the web in a browser or download the app to a cell phone. The math teachers at my school love it.

That is awesome and long overdue! TI graphing calculators were/are idiotic wastes of money for high school.