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TI-84+C-Silver Edition: That C Stands For Color

Posted by samzenpus on from the graphing-cool dept.

skade88 writes "Do you remember those large TI-8X line of calculators with a BW display from when you were growing up and learning all about math? Yeah well, you can still get them because TI has yet to update or change their line of TI-8X calculators from their 96x64 display, processors designed in the 1980s with just a few kilobytes of user accessible memory. They still cost in the $100.00 to $150.00 range. That is all about to change now that the TI-8X line of calculators is 22 years old. Their new TI-84+C-Silver edition will come with a 320x240 16-bit color display, 3.5MB of flash ROM, and 21KB of RAM. Ars has a good preview of the device along with speculation on why it took so so so very long for TI to finally bring calculators up to a level of technology that could have been delivered a decade ago."Last month some photos and a few details of the new TI-84+C were leaked.

5 of 198 comments (clear)

  1. Specs, still by 93+Escort+Wagon · · Score: 5, Interesting

    A couple years ago I bought an LG Thrive on a prepaid plan - so undiscounted - for about $150 I believe. The phone was not great, but it had 256 megs of useable RAM, a 320x480 color screen, and a 600MHz processor... not to mention the hardware one expects from any smartphone (Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, 3G, GPS, low-end camera).

    So how can TI get away with charging almost that much today for a single-purpose device that doesn't even compare favorably with a low-end smartphone from two years ago? Does it serve as an espresso machine too, or maybe as an electric razor?

    --
    #DeleteChrome
    1. Re:Specs, still by Pseudonym · · Score: 5, Insightful

      So how can TI get away with charging almost that much today for a single-purpose device that doesn't even compare favorably with a low-end smartphone from two years ago?

      Because designed to be brought into closed-book examinations can't be Internet-enabled general-purpose computers. And they cost so much because they're single-use devices.

      --
      sub f{($f)=@_;print"$f(q{$f});";}f(q{sub f{($f)=@_;print"$f(q{$f});";}f});
    2. Re:Specs, still by TubeSteak · · Score: 5, Insightful

      So how can TI get away with charging almost that much today for a single-purpose device that doesn't even compare favorably with a low-end smartphone from two years ago?

      A. Calculators are built to be abused by students and a ruggedized cell phones is pricey
      B. TI can charge whatever they want because they're a defacto monopoly. The text books are literally written with how-to sections for TI calculators.

      There's the Nspire lineup which has more features and whatnot, but it's still woefully underpowered and underfeatured compared to a smart phone from 5 years ago.

      --
      [Fuck Beta]
      o0t!
  2. Approved lists by ableal · · Score: 5, Insightful

    You have to consider what it means for a calculator to be on approved lists for school systems all over the world.

    You do not mess with that lightly.

  3. Re:Where can you even find components like that? by makapuf · · Score: 5, Funny

    Yeah, how could a major semiconductor firm which is deeply in embedded electronics find chips ? Mystery ...