DATAMATH CALCULATOR MUSEUM
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DATAMATH CALCULATOR MUSEUM |
Texas Instruments TI-Collège Plus
| Date of introduction: | May 9, 2007 Available: Feb. 21, 2008 |
Display technology: | LCD dot matrix |
| New price: | Display size: | 4 * 16 characters (5 * 19 for menus) |
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| Size: | 6.5" x 3.1" x 0.6" | ||
| Weight: | 3.8 ounces | Serial No: | |
| Batteries: | Solar cells + CR2032 | Date of manufacture: | mth 01 year 2008 |
| AC-Adapter: | Origin of manufacture: | China (N) | |
| Precision: | 13 | Integrated circuits: | |
| Memories: | 7 | ||
| Program steps: | Courtesy of: | Joerg Woerner |
Texas
Instruments introduced in February 2008 with the TI-Collège Plus the successor of
its TI-Collège introduced already in 2005 as the first calculator with keys (e.g.
ANNUL), notations and even the menus in French to simplify the use by younger
students.
Due to some design problems with the
calculator it took until February 2008 before the TI-Collège Plus
arrived together with the TI-34
MultiView finally in the store shelves. Don't miss one of the pre-series TI-Collège Plus.
Instead of the then novel 2-line display
the TI-Collège Plus features a dot
matrix display with 31 * 96 addressable pixels allowing the calculator to
display equations as they would be printed in a text book.
The TI-Collège Plus
is the first calculator in the new MultiView series sporting for the "mode
menue" a total of 5 lines by 19 characters on the small graphing screen.
Both the TI-30XS MultiView
and the TI-34 MultiView used just 4 lines.
In addition to this
so called "AFFNATUREL / MathPrint" mode the calculator sports a TI-Collège compatible "AFFLIGNE
/ Classic" mode.
Compared with the original TI-Collège, we notice some major improvements:
| •
AFFLIGNE (compatible with TI-Collège) and AFFNATUREL Mode • EOS with 8 pending operations and 23 levels of parentheses • 7 memory variables x, y, z, t, a, b, c • Data editor and list formulas: 3 lists, each up to 42 items • Function table • Toggle key fractions and decimals • Equation entries up to 80 digits |
Dismantling the TI-Collège Plus
reveals a pretty common
construction with two printed circuit boards (PCB's). The main PCB hides the
single-chip calculating circuit under a small protection blob of black epoxy and
drives the graphing display with a heat sealed fine-pitch connector. The
keyboard makes use of a much simpler second PCB and a heat sealed connector,
too. The featured calculator was manufacturered by Nam
Tai Electronics, Inc., a
well-known company with OEM calculator production facilities in Shenzen, China.
Don't miss the battery powered TI-30XB MultiView and its solar-cells operated sibbling TI-30XS MultiView sold since July 2007 and the close relative TI-34 MultiView.
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 enables users to input
and view math symbols and formulas, including stacked fractions, in their
handhelds exactly as the equations appear in textbooks.
If you have additions to the above article please email: joerg@datamath.org.
© Joerg Woerner, May 1, 2008. No reprints without written permission.