- Miscellaneous Observations about TI Graphing Calculators
- 16 Mar 2019 10:43:33 pm
- Last edited by Pi Time on 17 Mar 2019 04:56:50 pm; edited 1 time in total
Some observations, in no particular order, about TI’s graphing calculators that I have yet to see others discuss:
Battery:
In models accepting a CR1616 or CR1620 backup battery, a CR1632 will not fit unless the retaining bits of plastic are sawed off
The TI-92 accepts also CR2016 and CR2025 for a backup battery
According to the instruction manual, the TI-92 has a variant with a backup battery soldered to two prongs which are screwed into the calculator. The manual advised customers to contact customer service if they need to replace that battery
The TI-84 CE fits a Nokia BL-4C, though it isn’t wide enough to occupy the entire battery compartment. The BL 5C also fits lengthwise, but its thickness will make the cover not fit
The earliest TI-81 type has a battery door without the molded “sections.” Revision A of TI 81 introduced a foam pad to the door. The TI-82 introduced the molded sections to the battery door, also making the door more rigid than the two earlier versions
A Toshiba backup battery (presumably OEM due to its occurrence in calculators but not stores) from a 0292A TI 81 has a voltage of 2.9
Before the TI 83 Plus body, battery contacts were directly soldered on the circuit board
The 81, 82, and 85 did not have a low battery message
Design:
The design of TI graphing calculators generally grew in length despite electronic components becoming more compact
The “latch” of the 81, 82, and 85 covers wear down faster than later ones do
The TI-86 never used the revised body of the 83 Plus while the non-Plus 83 and 82 had 83 Plus body variants
The TI-83 has 3 screws securing the back while the 83 Plus has 7
The keyboards of the 81, 85, and 86 used a thin font while the rest used a bold font
The 81 and 85 were revised to sport bold number keys of the 82 while retaining thin fonts on the rest of the keys
The 85 did not have a LCD cover variant with golden model number to the right although the 81 and 82 did
There is a detachable VSC panel for the TI-81 although there are not pictures of a detachable 81 VSC (I regret not buying an 81 with a “link port” (according to the seller, which also sold 81s without the "linkport") from eBay for $6)
TI-81 0292A with ROM 1.6K uses OTP ROM
My 0990 TI 81 came with plastic washers under the screws under the display panel (not seen in other revisions)
The TI-85 is faster than the 86 despite sharing the same clock speed
Later TI-82 revisions have the ABS plastic marking on the inside of the body and battery door
The TI 82 on the front cover of a manual appears to be a modified TI-81 due to its lack of the link port
The early TI-81 variants did not have the FCC message on the rear case
The TI-92 would be significantly less bulky if it did not have the “bulges” for AA batteries and had instead used AAA batteries
Some calculators do not have SMD fuses
Display:
The TI-82 series did not use the superior TI-85 LCD despite being released after the 85. This design choice also was not a compatibility issue with the 82 in a separate hardware family from the 96x64 TI-81
The Ti-82 in the 83 Plus case used a glossy LCD, just like early 82 revisions
TI’s blue and green displays in graphing calculators were always glossy, but except for the 86, black and white displays were matte Actually, the TI-83 Parcus disproves my point.
The 92 Plus is not much slower than the non-Titanium 89 despite the far higher pixel count
In the examples I have seen, 84 CE displays shift color when tilted left to right while 84 CSE displays shift color when tilted top to bottom
The MEM menu in the TI 84 CE is not resized to the dimensions of the LCD, instead keeping the 16 character limit of earlier versions
The 85 lower ribbon cable has 2 thicker stripes on the left while the 86 has 3 thick stripes
The LCD cover with larger borders on earlier models casts undesirable shadows
Other:
There is relatively little discussion about TI-85 and 86 revisions
The TI 84 CE responds to the F row of keys on a USB keyboard
The TI 84 CE OS doesn’t seem quite as polished as the OS for earlier TI calculators (moot point)
I’ll add to this if I find some more interesting observations or if I get the opportunity to take pictures. If there's anything that's actually been discussed a lot, let me know.
Battery:
In models accepting a CR1616 or CR1620 backup battery, a CR1632 will not fit unless the retaining bits of plastic are sawed off
The TI-92 accepts also CR2016 and CR2025 for a backup battery
According to the instruction manual, the TI-92 has a variant with a backup battery soldered to two prongs which are screwed into the calculator. The manual advised customers to contact customer service if they need to replace that battery
The TI-84 CE fits a Nokia BL-4C, though it isn’t wide enough to occupy the entire battery compartment. The BL 5C also fits lengthwise, but its thickness will make the cover not fit
The earliest TI-81 type has a battery door without the molded “sections.” Revision A of TI 81 introduced a foam pad to the door. The TI-82 introduced the molded sections to the battery door, also making the door more rigid than the two earlier versions
A Toshiba backup battery (presumably OEM due to its occurrence in calculators but not stores) from a 0292A TI 81 has a voltage of 2.9
Before the TI 83 Plus body, battery contacts were directly soldered on the circuit board
The 81, 82, and 85 did not have a low battery message
Design:
The design of TI graphing calculators generally grew in length despite electronic components becoming more compact
The “latch” of the 81, 82, and 85 covers wear down faster than later ones do
The TI-86 never used the revised body of the 83 Plus while the non-Plus 83 and 82 had 83 Plus body variants
The TI-83 has 3 screws securing the back while the 83 Plus has 7
The keyboards of the 81, 85, and 86 used a thin font while the rest used a bold font
The 81 and 85 were revised to sport bold number keys of the 82 while retaining thin fonts on the rest of the keys
The 85 did not have a LCD cover variant with golden model number to the right although the 81 and 82 did
There is a detachable VSC panel for the TI-81 although there are not pictures of a detachable 81 VSC (I regret not buying an 81 with a “link port” (according to the seller, which also sold 81s without the "linkport") from eBay for $6)
TI-81 0292A with ROM 1.6K uses OTP ROM
My 0990 TI 81 came with plastic washers under the screws under the display panel (not seen in other revisions)
The TI-85 is faster than the 86 despite sharing the same clock speed
Later TI-82 revisions have the ABS plastic marking on the inside of the body and battery door
The TI 82 on the front cover of a manual appears to be a modified TI-81 due to its lack of the link port
The early TI-81 variants did not have the FCC message on the rear case
The TI-92 would be significantly less bulky if it did not have the “bulges” for AA batteries and had instead used AAA batteries
Some calculators do not have SMD fuses
Display:
The TI-82 series did not use the superior TI-85 LCD despite being released after the 85. This design choice also was not a compatibility issue with the 82 in a separate hardware family from the 96x64 TI-81
The Ti-82 in the 83 Plus case used a glossy LCD, just like early 82 revisions
The 92 Plus is not much slower than the non-Titanium 89 despite the far higher pixel count
In the examples I have seen, 84 CE displays shift color when tilted left to right while 84 CSE displays shift color when tilted top to bottom
The MEM menu in the TI 84 CE is not resized to the dimensions of the LCD, instead keeping the 16 character limit of earlier versions
The 85 lower ribbon cable has 2 thicker stripes on the left while the 86 has 3 thick stripes
The LCD cover with larger borders on earlier models casts undesirable shadows
Other:
There is relatively little discussion about TI-85 and 86 revisions
The TI 84 CE responds to the F row of keys on a USB keyboard
I’ll add to this if I find some more interesting observations or if I get the opportunity to take pictures. If there's anything that's actually been discussed a lot, let me know.