DATAMATH CALCULATOR MUSEUM
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DATAMATH CALCULATOR MUSEUM |
Texas Instruments TI-1020
| Date of introduction: | 1980 | Display technology: | LCD |
| New price: | Display size: | 8 | |
| Size: | 5.5" x 2.9" x 0.7" 140 x 73 x 18 mm3 |
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| Weight: | 2.8 ounces, 79 grams | Serial No: | 4710009 |
| Batteries: | 2*AA | Date of manufacture: | mth 49 year 1980 |
| AC-Adapter: | Origin of manufacture: | Taiwan | |
| Precision: | 8 | Integrated circuits: | Sharp LI3009 |
| Memories: | 1 | ||
| Program steps: | Courtesy of: | Joerg Woerner |
We
wrote the year 1980, when Texas Instruments discovered the lower labor costs of
Taiwan, R.O.C. compared to US or Europe. Till the early 80s most calculators from Texas
Instruments were produced either in US or Italy and some early LCD models like
the TI-1768 even in Japan.
This TI-1020 and
its sibling TI-1015 marked an important milestones in
contract manufacturing of Texas Instruments calculators, within 2 years the TI-15,
TI-18, TI-21,
and TI-501
were introduced.
The electronic inside the TI-1020 is very unusual for a Texas
Instruments calculator - a chip manufactured by competitor Sharp. The
designation TI-1020 forces this calculator to the Basic section, actually it
features the xn-function not found on some scientific calculators!
Texas Instruments changed in 1981 the color of the housing of both the TI-1015
and TI-1020 from brown to an off-white tone.
Comment: Between December 2001 and March 2010 the Date of
Introduction of the TI-1015 and TI-1020 was listed on this webpage with 1982. We
received this TI-1020 early in 2010 and had to correct it to 1980.
If you have additions to the above article please email: joerg@datamath.org.
© Joerg Woerner, December 5, 2001. No reprints without written permission.