DATAMATH CALCULATOR MUSEUM |
Texas Instruments CONCEPT I distributed by Zayre Corp.
Date of introduction: | March 1976 | Display technology: | LED-stick |
New price: | SRP $14.77 | Display size: | 8 |
Size: | 5.5" x 2.8" x 1.4" 138 x 70 x 35 mm3 |
||
Weight: | 3.9 ounces, 110 grams | Serial No: | 1035661 |
Batteries: | 9V | Date of manufacture: | wk 43 year 1976 |
AC-Adapter: | AC9180 | Origin of manufacture: | USA (LTA) |
Precision: | Integrated circuits: | TMS0972 | |
Memories: | |||
Program steps: | Courtesy of: | Joerg Woerner | |
Download manual: | (US: 1.1M Bytes) |
Zayre Corporation was founded in 1956 by Stanley and Sumner Feldberg in Hyannis, Massachusetts as a discount department store chain. Zayre launched already in August 1975 the CONCEPT series of portable electronic calculators with the introduction of their first
CONCEPT 24.
The Zayre CONCEPT Calculator Series culminated in
March 1976 with the introduction of the Texas Instruments CONCEPT I,
CONCEPT II, and CONCEPT III calculators based on the
TI-1200, TI-1250, resp.
SR-16 II but disappeared already in August
1979 with the clearance sales of the CONCEPT COMPACT calculators.
You
have to look twice to catch the differences between this rare CONCEPT I and
the TI-1200 calculator. The only differences between
the calculator is the color scheme of the faceplate.
Dismantling
the featured CONCEPT I calculator with
Date code 4376 LTA and manufactured in
October
1976
in Lubbock, Texas reveals a very efficient and cost-optimized design with a
single-sided printed circuit board (PCB) centered
around a TMS0972 single-chip
calculator circuit based
on the TMS1000, the World's first Microcomputer.
Learn more about the evolution of the TI-1200 between March 1975 and its discontinuation in 1977.
Learn more about the different
Product Labels used with the TI-1200
- here at the Datamath Calculator Museum we classify the featured CONCEPT I as
Hardware Version 3, PCB Type 2 and Product Label Style 3, Concept
I.
The CONCEPT I calculator was introduced in March 1976 and discontinued already in January 1977 with the blow-out sales of the CONCEPT I, CONCEPT II, CONCEPT 10, and the 2nd and 3rd design of the CONCEPT 24 calculators.
Fellow collectors - if you own a Zayre CONCEPT calculator, please report us the serial number and date code from the back of the calculator for our Database.
If you have additions to the above article please email: joerg@datamath.org.
© Joerg Woerner, December 5, 2001. No reprints without written permission.