Welcome to a new school year! And speaking of new, I, Katie Golden, will be the new writer for the series Buy or Bye, starting off with back-to-school supplies.

The first item on my list brought me to Staples where I looked at the different pens they carry. Sadly, as I decided to buy and test these products for myself, I was unable to rate any pens with an extreme price tag.

Bic Soft Feel Ballpoint Pens:  ¢62 ea / $7.49/12 pack

These pens are 1 mm and promise a unique soft barrel and grip. Despite what the packaging says, the grip is more smooth than soft and tends to spin while writing. This pen writes smoothly, but it leaves some inconsistent lines with see-through pigment.
Taking everything into consideration, the deciding factor for this pen is the cost. I would give the Bic Soft Feel pens a buy rating.

Pilot Precise V5 Premium Rolling Ball Stick Pens:  $2.10 ea / $10.49/5 pack

These pens are .5 mm and promise smooth writing, a durable precision tip, and a visible, long lasting ink supply. I personally have a set of these pens and they are the only pens I use. The ones I write with are two years old and still have ink in them. There is a small window on the side of the pen that lets you see the ink level in the pen so you will never be caught off guard when your pen runs out of ink. Because these are long-lasting pens that keep their promises, I have to give the Pilot Precise pens a buy rating.

Copic Multiliner Pen:  $10.29 ea

This pen is .3 mm, the tip is replaceable, and the ink is refillable, making it a good investment as long as you can keep track of it. This pen is an art lining pen and has great qualities for that purpose. The pen writes very fine and small, great for detail work. It is also water and marker resistant which makes it a useful tool no matter what media you are working in. While this seems like an amazing art pen, there are much cheaper options for taking notes. I have to give this pen a bye rating.

My second back to school item is for everyone’s’ favorite class. Math!

TI-36x Pro:  $21.59*

This is a high quality scientific calculator. While this calculator is not as popular as the TI-30x IIS, it has some more sophisticated features. It is especially useful for classes such as chemistry because it has built in conversion rates for the standard and metric systems. This calculator does matrix equations, simplifies radicals, and solves polynomials, making math just that much easier. Also, instead of storing every single answer, you can simply scroll up on the calculator and copy and paste for multi-step problems. All of these features plus the worthwhile price earn this calculator a buy rating.

TI-84 Plus Graphing Calculator:  $108.99*

This is a graphing calculator, necessary for any high level math class. As in the name this calculator, it draws graphs so you don’t have to waste 5 minutes just trying to draw straight lines. I bought one of these calculators for school, but do not know how to do much more than basic operations. Up to ten graphing functions defined, saved, graphed and analyzed at one time. Despite my ignorance, this calculator should have advanced functions accessed through pull-down display and horizontal and vertical split screen options. The versatility of this calculator plus the fact that it is necessary for math classes, forces me to give it a buy rating.

TI-Nspire CX Graphic Calculator:  $215.35* (price subject to change)

While this is a graphing calculator, it also promises other applications such as “Lists & Spreadsheet, Data & Statistics, Notes, Questions, Vernier DataQuest”. The screen can be split into four sections, allowing you to use up to four applications at the same time. Graphing View allows you to explore surfaces by rotating them and create animations to understand how changing parameters affects objects. All work can be saved in folders and a USB port allows you to connect to a computer. Despite all of these amazing features, I can’t think of any time I would need them. While an amazing piece of technology, I have to give the Nspire CX Graphic Calculator a bye rating.

*Prices from Amazon.com.