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DATAMATH CALCULATOR MUSEUM

Texas Instruments Little Professor Solar (2023)

Date of introduction:	June 2023	Display technology:	LCD
New price:	$17.50 (SRP 2023)	Display size:	8
Size:	5.9" x 3.0" x 0.50" 150 x 75 x 13 mm³
Weight:	2.7 ounces, 77 grams	Serial No:
Batteries:	n.a.	Date of manufacture:	mth 03 year 2024 (C)
AC-Adapter:		Origin of manufacture:	Philippines (L)
Precision:		Integrated circuits:
Memories:
Program steps:		Courtesy of:	Joerg Woerner

On June 13, 1976, Texas Instruments introduced the Little Professor, a groundbreaking educational calculator designed to help children develop math skills. Remarkably, when we examined Texas Instruments' calculator and educational technology website on June 13, 2026, the Little Professor was still being offered, five decades after its debut.

At first glance it seems to be identical to the Little Professor Solar sold in 2023 in Germany but we noticed some minor differences:

• The size of the solar cells decreased, finally matching the product picture on the sales box
• The internal construction changed slightly

To celebrate the 50^th Anniversary of the Little Professor, we acquired this unit from Texas Instruments' online store.

Dismantling the featured Little Professor Solar manufactured in March 2024 by Kinpo Electronics in the Philippines reveals a well known internal construction. We know this type of design and even the housing from scientific calculators like the TI-36X Solar. Please remember that the very first models of the Little Professor family were based on simple 4-functions calculators.

Inspecting the PCB of this Little Professor Solar calculator brought our attention to a small mark reading SR31N-10-1, we noticed similar marks already with other Slide Rule calculators manufactured by Kinpo Electronics and started compiling a list of the PCB-Marks on calculators manufactured by OEMs for Texas Instruments.

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