DATAMATH CALCULATOR MUSEUM
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DATAMATH CALCULATOR MUSEUM |
Texas Instruments TI-30Xa Solar School Edition (Virgina 2nd edition)
| Date of introduction: | 2005 | Display technology: | LCD |
| New price: | $11.99 | Display size: | 10 + 2 |
| Size: | 5.9" x 3.0" x 0.50" 150 x 75 x 13 mm3 |
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| Weight: | 2.9 ounces, 82 grams | Serial No: | |
| Batteries: | n.a. | Date of manufacture: | mth 12 year 2004 |
| AC-Adapter: | Origin of manufacture: | China (N) | |
| Precision: | 12 | Integrated circuits: | Toshiba T6M79 |
| Memories: | 3 | ||
| Program steps: | Courtesy of: | Joerg Woerner |
The
Department of Education, Virginia requested Texas Instruments to disable the
decimal-to-fraction key of the TI-30 Xa
Solar School Edition. But in January, Dakota Brown, a 12-year-old at Carver Middle School in suburban Richmond’s Chesterfield County, figured out that by pressing two other keys on his state-approved TI-30 Xa Solar School Edition
for Virginia, he could change decimals into fractions anyway.
Texas
Instruments recalled 160,000 calculators and replaced them with the 2nd
edition of the TI-30Xa Solar School Edition for Virginia. It is obvious that
this edition removed not only the [a b/c] key but even the
misused [<-] key.
Dismantling
the calculator is not as exciting as expected. The TI-30Xa Solar School Edition
for Virginia (2nd edition) makes use of a printed circuit board (PCB)
known already from the TI-30 Xa Solar. We assume that the contacts of the two
keys were removed but we couldn't proof it.
From much higher interests are two
other details:
The
PCB was manufactured in week 47 of the year 2004 according to the date
code 4704 which was end of November that year. The backside of the
calculator reads N-1204C which interprets as "Manufactured by Nam
Tai Electronics, Inc. in December, 2004".
This early manufacturing date is very confusing because the
newspapers stated in their June 8, 2005 prints:
"But in January, Dakota Brown, a 12-year-old at Carver Middle School..."
It is confusing how Texas Instruments manufactured already in December 2004 calculators with a fault corrected that was discovered in January, 2005.
Don't miss the third edition of the
TI-30Xa Solar School Edition quietly
introduced in 2013.
If you have additions to the above article please email: joerg@datamath.org.
© Joerg Woerner, June 26, 2005. No reprints without written permission.