Very cheap working ti-58c

[Jlouis]

Hi,

I just bought a ti-59 math rom on TAS and noticed the same seller is selling a ti-58c for 29.99 usd.

He has 100% positive feedback and is used to sell many calculators items. I think he used to collect calculators and decided to sell his collection.

I have no affiliation with him, just want to inform you this bargain, because a ti 58c is rare and I already have one and more four ti-59 and I hope to help some fellow here to buy this rare calculator (at this price).

I don't put the link here because I think it is not allowed, but it's easier to find in the search column.

Cheers

JL

[rprosperi]

Indeed, it looks like a very good deal, though I hope his erroneous remark "Works well with a standard 9V battery ( not included )" does not end up killing it when some unsuspecting buyer tries to follow this advice.

He has listed a lot of interesting calculator items, with some priced very low, and others very (too) high. A bit unusual to see both as sellers typically are consistently high or low, only rarely both at once.

[Jlouis]

(10-26-2019 11:32 PM)rprosperi Wrote:  Indeed, it looks like a very good deal, though I hope his erroneous remark "Works well with a standard 9V battery ( not included )" does not end up killing it when some unsuspecting buyer tries to follow this advice.

I noticed that too, but as he is selling many TIs that can be used with a 9v battery, like the 55 and ti 51 III, I thoght it is more a copy and paste error on the many TAS advertising he is doing.

[Xorand]

I'm wondering if the 9V comment wasn't copied and pasted accidentally from another of the seller's listings? It did mention in the main description that a lab power supply was apparently used for testing.

[Garth Wilson]

I got a TI-30 from a yard sale that someone had put a 9V battery snap in, probably because the original NiCad battery died. It does work, but I'm not sure I'd want to try that on a 58c.

[rprosperi]

(10-27-2019 11:22 PM)Garth Wilson Wrote:  ... It does work, but I'm not sure I'd want to try that on a 58c.

I'm sure!

No doubt this error was exactly because of copy / paste, but the mistake could kill it, so I'll contact the seller and request he/she fix that. Hopefully another vintage life saved, even if it is a TI.

Update: Item has been purchased, so I asked seller to tell buyer to not try that. phew!

[Thomas Okken]

(10-27-2019 11:22 PM)Garth Wilson Wrote:  I got a TI-30 from a yard sale that someone had put a 9V battery snap in, probably because the original NiCad battery died. It does work, but I'm not sure I'd want to try that on a 58c.

I used to own an original TI-30, and it didn't come with a NiCad battery pack, it ran on a 9V battery. This was an ultra-low-budget machine, and the arrangement with the 9V battery helped bring down the unit price. They made this acceptable using two tricks I hadn't seen before in a calculator: first, after a certain amount of time, it would enter into a standby mode, where the display was turned off except for a decimal point moving left to right, and after some more time, it turned itself off completely, made possible by not having a sliding power switch.

But yeah, nothing odd about a TI-30 running on a 9V battery, that's authentic. A TI-58C, on the other hand...

[Jlouis]

(10-27-2019 11:22 PM)Garth Wilson Wrote:  I got a TI-30 from a yard sale that someone had put a 9V battery snap in, probably because the original NiCad battery died. It does work, but I'm not sure I'd want to try that on a 58c.

I have a TI-30 running in a 9v battery and I also adapted a TI-55 to run into a 9v battery. The TI-55, IIRC, had some rechargeable ni-cad batteries (I don't remember how many) and a very simple circuit to convert AC from the wall charger to DC.The retrofit is very simple, although I had to trim the battery compartment door because it didn't close with the 9v battery in. Other weird thing is that you have to mend the black wire from the battery with the red wire from the calclator and vice versa, I don't remember why.

One thing I love in the TI-30 is when the calculator is "thinking" when calculating something, i.e.when the last led runs rapidly from zero to nine....it is amazing the 55, 58 and 59 don't have this amazing "feature".

Other thing I like in the ti30 and 55 is when they enter in the power save mode, one dash runs from left to right . ..it's really nice, at least for me.

As for the ti58 and ti59, Bob is right, a 9v baterry conected on them will fry the calculators Before I refurbished a pack for them, I used a stable 5v power source without any problems, but the calculator must not have the battery pack in place.