Texas Instruments Announces New Calculator

S. Kinney writes "TI recently announced the development of a new calculator, known as the Voyage 200, to replace the TI-92+. The software changes are rather minor, as the device is designed to be compatible with the 92, though the addition of a clock makes the Voyage more functional for some, and the case of the device enjoys a new design. Perhaps the most useful upgrade to the 92+ is the addition of more memory, for a sum of 2.7 MB of storage. No word on release date, but it'll be interesting to see how this comes out. It may be one more step towards releasing a modern-day Avigo, their failed PDA from a few years back. "

Comments

TI Calculators saved my college career.

[Xenopax]

I would have never gotten through my long lectures without my handy tetris playing calculator.

I can't hold back my tears of joy!

[Guppy06]

I'm sorry, I don't care what the rest of you say about HP and reverse Polish notation, the TI-92+ is a thing of shear beauty, and I for one am glad that they're making a sequel. My TI-92+ was worth the money alone in both the cost of a book of integration tables as well as the time and effort of flipping through it.

Symbollic integration is a beautiful thing and it came in damned handy in my Partial Differential Equations class. Thank you, TI, for making LaPlace transforms easier to handle.

And before you all jump on my back, I'm not saying I can't do the integrals myself (I did them just fine on all the tests, thank you very much), but it kept the homework from consuming months of my life.

So bad-mouth TI's stuff all you want, I'm still probably going to get this bad boy as soon as it comes out (still have quantum mechanics classes ahead of me).

Small and powerful

[Shaheen]

I had a TI-92 once. It was stolen a week or two afterward (this was in high school). I switched to an HP-48G the next week. There's something to be said for small and powerful rather than big and conspicuous. Too bad HP is out of the game now.

Re:Small and powerful

[ameoba]

TI-92 is the -wrong- calculator for HS. Not only is there the theft bit you mentioned (Hey, it looks like it should play video games... NAB IT!) but it also automates nearly all the math you'd ever do in HS (algebra, trig & HS calculus are trivial on it, geometry is still good). Anything but proofs can be done by the TI, in such a way that it'll be acceptable to the average overworked, undermotivated HS teacher. Not to mention that it's QWERTY keyboard prevents it from being used on the SATs and other standardized tests.

Of course, when I got mine my freshman year of college, it sure made doing homework while learning to drink a lot more bearable.

Gratutious Simpsons quotation.

[Anonymous Coward]

TI recently announced the development of a new calculator, known as the Voyage 200, to replace the TI-92+. The software changes are rather minor, [...] though the addition of a clock makes the Voyage more functional for some.

Guess TI learned from Homer:

"People are afraid of new things. You should have just taken an existing product and put a clock in it or something."

-- Homer Simpson, on the revolutionary baby translator of which he is presented with a prototype, which makes Maggie's baby-talk intelligible.
( Immediate source)

(Note that shameless, off-topic karma-whoring is done in AC mode! Recommend adoption of practice.)

Defending RPN and HP calculators

[HalfFlat]

I freely admit, when I was first introduced to RPN on a calculator, it seemed odd. Yet it's not some bizarre geek snobbery that has me say that it's worthwhile - after getting used to it (and it did not take long, really) it really is much more efficient.

• Quicker entry - no need for explicit entry of matched parentheses.
• Consistent entry - all operators act like postfix operators. Algebraic and non-scientfic calculators have a mixture of infix, prefix and postfix operators.
• Easy viewing of intermediate calculations - at least on large-display RPN calculators. This allows on-the-fly checking of the calculation which can catch errors early.

Speaking of HP calculators in particular, they do or did have a couple of very strong points that tended to distinguish them from their peers:

• Very robust! Renowned for withstanding accidents, drops, etc.
• Good tactile feedback on the keys (the latest one excepted.) The HP-28*,48* had great keypads, unrivalled on any other calculator I've used.

The later HP graphic calculators also supported an algebraic entry mode for those who found it easier or more intuitive than RPN.

I'm glad your TI worked well for you! But there are good reasons why the HP calculators are so widely recommended.

Opinions of a TI geek

[MBCook]

I've followed TI cals for years. I've programed them, used them, and own most all of the models. My current favorites are the 83 (for simplicity), and the 89 (for power). Here are my thoughts on this new calculator:

First of all I have to say that I'm glad they redesigned the 92(+). It's always been a great calculator but the thing is big as hell. It's thick, heavy, HUGE (which is why I like the 89). I'm sure that this one won't weight nearyly so much, which is a MAJOR plus.

It's good to hear that it's compatible with software made for the 92+. This means that tons and tons of games are all ready ready to go. If they don't work, chances are that they won't need much tweaking before they do.

Having more storage is also great. I've always fought with my calculators trying to put on all the games that I like without running out of memory. The flash on the 83+ and 89 is nice, but you can't run assembly programs out of it. You have to move them from flash to normal ram to play them, which is anoying. This is the one thing that I hope they change.

Over all looks good. I'm sorry I didn't write more, but I've got lots of surfing to do. I can't wait to get my hands on one in a store of find someone who buys one so I can check it out first hand.

1 a sin() 2 ^ a cos() 2 ^ + =

[Hobbex]

Yeah, I wonder why anybody does math with infix notation. Why can't they teach clearly more intuitive formulas like:

0 1 e i Pi * ^ + =

or:

u v * ' u ' v * v ' u * + =

in school....

Re:resolution

[dillon_rinker]

Ok, wise guy. =) Provide me with numerical coordinates for the intersection(s) of the following two equations. You can't use any mechanical aid to calculation (no slide rules OR electronic calculators). You can reference tables in books, provided you also prove that particular entry you use is correct.

y = -0.437(x^3) - 1.42(x^2) + 4.84(x) - 12
y = 13.9 sin(8.16x) + 2.4

Note that a calculator geek will provide an answer with the appropriate number of significant digits in about five minutes. I imagine you will find this impossible given the restraints above. If not, then I want to shake your hand.

Traditional (ie non-calculator) textbooks and teaching techniques generally pick "nice" numbers for problems. They do this because it is unrealistic to expect the student to produce correct answers in a reasonable period of time, and to do that for all the odd problems on the page, and to do that in one evening, along with all your other homework. However, this is completely unrealistic; NO problems encountered outside the classroom have "nice" numbers unless they are specially constructed.

However, with calculators, you can solve "real-world" problems, using realistic (multi-digit, non-integral) numbers. This is useful both for practical reasons (students aren't shocked when they encounter REAL problems) and for motivational ones (no more students asking "When will we have to factor x^2-9 in the real world?")

Re:Tetris� on a calculator and how to make it

[dimator]

Damn you for linking to everything2! I'll be clicking around there for 4 hours now.