DATAMATH CALCULATOR MUSEUM |
Texas Instruments TI-36X Pro (Version 1)
Date of introduction: | May 16, 2011 | Display technology: | LCD dot matrix |
New price: | $25.00 (SRP 2011) | Display size: | 4 * 16 characters (5 * 19 for menus) |
Size: | 6.8" x 3.2" x 0.6" 172 x 83 x 15 mm³ |
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Weight: | 4.2 ounces, 120 grams | Serial No: | |
Batteries: | Solar cells + CR2032 | Date of manufacture: | mth 03 year 2011 (A) |
AC-Adapter: | Origin of manufacture: | China (K) | |
Precision: | 13 | Integrated circuits: | |
Memories: | 8 | ||
Program steps: | Courtesy of: | Joerg Woerner |
Texas
Instruments announced in May 2007 with the TI-30XS MultiView the successor of
its long lasting TI-30X IIS introduced already in
1999 and slightly redesigned in 2004. In February 2008 followed with the
TI-34 MultiView and TI-Collège Plus the successors of the TI-34 II
resp. TI-Collège. And another two years
later, in May 2010, we heard about the TI-30X Pro MultiView and thought
immediately about the TI-36X II. We received
the first TI-30X Pro MultiView in October 2010 and have to admit: This scientific
calculator is the real successor of the TI-68! Even the
keyboard is similiar cluttered, but the new multi-tap feature avoids at least a
[3rd] or even [4th] key to access the zillions of functions implemented in the
single-chip calculator circuit.
It's difficult to
understand why the amazing TI-30X Pro MultiView was available only in a few
countries in Europe but it was a wise decision. The calculator had some serious
bugs in its software and was
withdrawn from the market within a few weeks. In April 2011 the TI-30X Pro
MultiView was re-launched and in May 2011 it hit the shelves in the United States
as TI-36X Pro. And yes, the bugs are fixed.
Instead of the then novel 2-line display
of the TI-36X II, its successor TI-36X Pro 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.
In addition to this
so called "MathPrint" mode the calculator sports a TI-36X II
compatible "Classic" mode.
Compared with the original TI-36X II, in the US the
quasi-standard for pupils, we notice a huge variety of functions:
• Classic (compatible with TI-36X II) and MathPrint Mode |
Dismantling this TI-36X Pro manufactured in March 2011 reveals a pretty common construction with two printed circuit boards (PCBs). 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 prominent SR-21 designation on the main PCB proves that this calculator was manufactured by Kinpo Electronics, Inc., a famous company located in Taiwan and doing calculator production for well established companies like Texas Instruments, Hewlett Packard, Casio, Canon and Citizen.
Production of the TI-36X Pro
was shifted in 2015 from China to the Philippines and its design changed
slightly in March 2021.
Texas Instruments announced the TI-30X Pro MultiView in May 2010 in some European countries and it finally hit the shelves in September 2010. Only a few weeks later, early in October 2010, the German website of Texas Instruments' calculator division announced an important information for customers of the calculator. The 2-page document describes a serious problems of the new equation solver and a minor problem with the Planck's constant.
The TI-30X Pro MV and its US twin TI-36X Pro feature different "Solvers", a numeric equation solver and a polynomial solver for quadratic or cubic equations. Wikipedia (German division) reported already on September 24, 2010 a problem with the cubic equation solver with a very simple example:
[2nd]
[poly-solv] [2]: ax³+bx²+cx+d=0
with a=2, b=1, c=-1, and d=0 reports three solutions:
x1=0.5, x2=-1, and x3=2.
The correct answer is x1=0.5, x2=-1, and x3=0!
The TI-30X Pro MV and TI-36X Pro store for 20 physical constants both NAMES and UNITS. The Planck's constant, denoted h, sports two errors: The name of Max Planck, one of the founders of quantum theory, is spelled Plank in the English manual and the unit is given in Joule per second (J/s) instead of Joule seconds (Js) on the calculator.
If you have additions to the above article please email: joerg@datamath.org.
© Joerg Woerner, June 2, 2011. No reprints without written permission.