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Texas Instruments TI-108

Date of introduction:  2014 Display technology:  LCD
New price:  $7.95 (SRP 2017)  Display size:  8
Size:  4.3" x 2.5" x 0.40"
 110 x 64 x 10 mm3
   
Weight:  1.5 ounces, 44 grams Serial No:  
Batteries:  LR1130 Date of manufacture:  mth 07 year 2014
AC-Adapter:   Origin of manufacture:  China (K)
Precision:  8 Integrated circuits:  
Memories:  1    
Program steps:   Courtesy of:  Joerg Woerner

It was quite a surprise when we learned in July 2017 from Michael MacEachern that he just acquired a TI-108 manufactured in March 2017. He noticed some interesting differences compared to the four TI-108 versions we had as of July 2017 exhibited in the Datamath Calculator Museum:

Missing gray bezel for the display frame.
Larger numbers on the LC Display.
Internal backup battery.
TI logo printed in white.

Trying to fill the voids we screened many eBay Auctions in the following months and discovered in addition to this design introduced in or around 2014, a TI-108 manufactured in August 2008 and a TI-108 manufactured in February 2016. Please find a detailed overview of the different hardware versions of the TI-108 calculators between 1988 and 2016 here.

Dismantling this TI-108 manufactured in July 2014 by Kinpo Electronics in China reveals a pretty simple internal construction from the Nineties. The unknown single-chip calculator circuit of this TI-108 is mounted in Chip-on-Board) COB) technology on a double-sided printed circuit board (PCB) and hidden under a small epoxy blob.

Inspecting the PCB of this TI-108 calculator brought our attention to a small mark reading 138-10-2, we noticed a similar mark already with the second generation of the TI-1795SV introduced in 2003. We started compiling a list of the PCB-Marks on calculators manufactured by OEMs for Texas Instruments.

Production of the TI-108 was shifted in or around 2016 to the Philippines.

Stokes Publishing Company, Inc. based in Sunnyvale, California sold a companion for the teacher, view the Basic.

 

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If you have additions to the above article please email: joerg@datamath.org.

© Joerg Woerner, April 17, 2020. No reprints without written permission.