DATAMATH  CALCULATOR  MUSEUM

Texas Instruments TI-84 PLUS (White)

Date of introduction:  August 2023 Display technology:  LCD dot matrix
New price:  $139.99 (MSRP August 2023)  Display size:  8 * 16 characters
Size:  7.5" x 3.3" x 0.85"
 190 x 84 x 22 mm3
   
Weight:  7.4 ounces, 208 grams Serial No:  1023089548
Batteries:  4*AAA + SR44 (35mA) Date of manufacture:  mth 02 year 2023 (AG)
AC-Adapter:   Origin of manufacture:  Philippines (L)
Precision:  14 Integrated circuits:  ASIC: TI REF 84PLCR/TA1
 Flash: MX29LV800
 Display: Novatek NT7564H
Memories:      
Program steps:  24k Bytes, 480k Bytes Flash ROM Courtesy of:  Joerg Woerner

This TI-84 Plus with a unique white housing was quietly introduced for the Back-to-School 2023 campaign Texas Instruments and not even mentioned on their website. We discovered it on Target's website discounted $96.99 instead the regular MSRP of $139.99 and couldn't resist to acquire one.

Comparing this TI-84 Plus manufactured in March 2023 (Revision Code AG) by Kinpo Electronics, Inc. in the Philippines reveals immediately a very clean and familiar design:

TI REF 84PLCR/TA1: Z80 microprocessor, RAM, USB-Port 
    and supporting logic
Macronix MX29LV800: 1M Bytes Flash ROM
Novatek NT7564H: Single-chip 64*120 pixel display driver

The picture on the right gives an enhanced view of the ASIC that clocks the Z80 microprocessor with 15 MHz and incorporates the RAM, USB-Port and logic. Learn more about the Hardware Architecture of TI’s Graphing Calculators. Please notice the smaller package of the new TI REF 84PLCR/TA1 ASIC compared with the previous TI REF 83PLUSB/TA2 or TI REF 84PLUSB/TA3 found in the TI-84 Plus family manufactured between 2004 and 2007.

Members of the Graphing Calculator Programming community under the lead of Xavier Andréani made a very interesting discovery:

All TI-84 Plus / S.E. with the TA2 or TA3 ASIC have access to 128k Bytes RAM.
All TI-84 Plus / S.E. with the TA1 ASIC have access to only 48k Bytes RAM using
    the same assembly commands.

The driver circuit of the LC-Display was traditionally manufactured by Toshiba for Texas Instruments' graphing calculators. This TI-84 Plus manufactured in 2023 shows with the Novatek NT7564H a one-by-one replacement. It is just a bare chip mounted on a flexible piece of circuit board attached between the display and the main PCB.

The TI-84 Plus supports the ViewScreen panel and the TI-Presenter with an Presentation Link Adapter. A serial port of the calculators allows the connection to the Calculator-Based Laboratory system CBL, its successor CBL 2 and the Calculator-Based Ranger CBR. The added USB interface of the TI-84 Plus family calculators connects directly with the Calculator-Based Ranger CBR 2 introduced in 2004, too. With a new cradle even the optional full-sized QWERTY Keyboard introduced in 2002 matches with the TI-84 Plus series.

Texas Instruments introduced in the Asia Pacific region a different color scheme for the TI-84 Plus based on a baby blue calculator housing. Don't miss the amazing TI-84 Pocket.fr introduced in June 2011 and the TI-83 Plus.fr from 2013.

Don't miss the colorful slide cases developed for the TI-84 Plus Silver Edition, they fit on the TI-84 Plus, too.

Texas Instruments announced on March 1st, 2010 the TI-84 Plus Operating System version 2.53MP with MathPrint™ mode for free download. The OS 2.53MP and its successor 2.55MP enables users to input and view math symbols and formulas, including stacked fractions, in their handhelds exactly as the equations appear in textbooks.

ROM-Versions:

2.55MP (January 11, 2011 includes MathPrint)

You can check the ROM version of your TI-84 Plus using the following key sequence and reading the number on your screen:

[2nd] [MEM] [1]

Information provided by ticalc.org and Xavier Andréani.

Exam acceptance:

The TI-84 Plus is permitted (as of August 20, 2023) for use on SAT, ACT, PSAT and AP exams.

 

horizontal rule

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

© Joerg Woerner, August 20, 2023. No reprints without written permission.