To be clearer, the calculator model is the same but the school calculator is likely not going to have any installed programs because the school hasn't added any, like you would have done to yours.

Oh, OK.
@Kerm: I agree, but assumed there were technical roadblocks.

If I happen to get one of these from one of my teachers who is affiliated with TI, or we happen to be targeted as a "beta testing" school, what should I do to further gain information about this amazing new calculator?

Well, it'd be good to know if it's really compatible with existing BASIC programs (i.e., "do they run at all?", not "are the graphics displayed correctly?" - we can be pretty sure the answer to the latter is no.)

Likewise for assembly programs - is there any compatibility at all? (DrDnar proposed a simple assembly program for checking whether the load address is the same, and whether the DispHL routine works: 21E1E9220080CD0080EF0745C9.)

But aside from program compatibility, I'd like to know more about how the new system works. We've seen graphs being displayed on top of a colorful background image. How does that work (is it part of the OS or an external app?) Can the calc display a full-color picture like that instantly or does it take some time for the image to be loaded? Do pictures like that appear to be dithered (indicating a palette-based display)? How big are Pic files - if it's really true that the calc only has 20-something kilobytes of RAM, can you even store a picture in RAM or does it have to be saved to Flash?

And what about the new OS: are the BASIC drawing commands extended to allow drawing in color? Are BASIC programs still required to be stored in the (now pathetically-small-seeming) RAM in order to be executed?

If you have an opportunity to hook it up to another calc, can you transfer files of various types (programs, appvars, pictures, apps...) back and forth? If you have an opportunity to hook it up to a PC, can you send and receive files with TiLP?

In other words, I want to know everything.

The answer to the first question is yes, they run, but they don't display what you expect them to. There's nothing inherently different about programs that blocks them from being run on the new calculator or makes them crash. For your second question, I want to know that too. I would be interested in the results of the test you propose, as well as the code chunk calc84 made to test if it's a z80, ez80, or ARM-emulated z80. For the rest of your questions, we'll have to wait until people get their hands on beta SmartView software and/or some hardware prototypes.

That scares me. What if TI decided to remove USB charging and go the Apple way of forcing customers to buy their proprietary cable that doesn't fit anywhere else than the device if you lose your cable?

(Actually, elfprince was the admin who made that particular edit) Well, that's for docking in the multiple-calculator class cradles. The positive and negative terminals are on the left and right sides of the device.

Agreed!

fortunatly, I dont think Ti is that stupid; but if it comes to it, we could always make a tutorial on how to make your own and save ten dollars.

Yup, that would be pretty straightforward (although it depends whether the charging controller is internal or external). It would be pretty poor design if the charging contacts went directly to the battery, I think, so hopefully it would be as easy as applying 6V or 5V to those contacts.

I wouldn't speak so fast



(thankfully they fixed that part of their site a few months after it was noticed and maybe they improved since last year)

I blame some graphical designer or web developer who re-ordered the columns of the table and forgot to fix the images. That's pretty bad though, to be sure.

I checked calc prices on Staples.ca:

TI-83 Plus: $124.96
TI-84 Plus: $142.83
TI-84 Plus Silver Edition: $179.82
TI-89 Titanium: $188.92
TI-Nspire Touchpad: $184.82
TI-Nspire CAS Touchpad: $179.92
TI-Nspire CX: $174.84
TI-Nspire CX CAS: $199.99
Casio PRIZM: $129.96

In USA, the 84+ is $110 and the 84+SE $130. Techpoweredmath said that the suggested price for the TI-84 Plus C Silver Edition will be $150.

Taking in account the TI-84 Plus price in canada being $143 and the Silver Edition being $180, if the suggested price that was posted eventually becomes a done deal, then that means in Quebec and Canada the TI-84 Plus C Silver Edition will cost $200!



On an good but off-topic note, I was happy to see the PRIZM pricing finally being on-par with United States.

My Prizm was $120, actually, but what's $10 between friends? $200 is rather dear for a calculator with such an inexpensive screen; I hope they find a way to push that price point down a bit.

What are the conversions there between USD and CAD? I never buy books (or a number of other common items) when I go to Montreal because most publishers haven't adjusted to the fact that the CAD is much closer in value to the USD than it used to be (and in fact is sometimes more valuable these days).

I stand correct. Ti is stupid. that just means we got to try and make their things all the better.

Edit: I noticed Adriweb didnt post this in the correct forum.
it doesnt look like the image uses a pallette.
or is this not real?

That screen image seems to be simulated, not an accurate screenshot. Notice how rounded the Normal/Float/etc text is at the top. At any rate, I can say that they use a lot of "tricks" to get color images in the relatively tiny RAM and ROM space available for such image.

ahh, i see what you're talking about...

actually, if Ti had used their previous picture storage method, would you even be able to fit a color picture on the Ram?

Well, a 320x240 16-bit image is 153KB, so you would be able to fit at most 9 such images on the TI-83+SE or TI-84+SE, or three on the TI-84+. An 8-bit image, palette based or not, would mean 17 on the TI-84+SE or TI-84+SE and six on the TI-84+.

all in ram, Kerm. im not talking about archive.
16-bit:
1377 kilobytes for 9

oh. that would fit.