Published by KermMartian 9 years, 3 months ago (2015-01-15T21:19:44+00:00) | Discuss this article

Thanks to the keen eyes of the French calculator community, we discovered a lot more about the probable features of the TI-84 Plus CE, thanks to TI Education France's release of information about the TI-83 Premium CE. We have long seen TI Education France's propensity for what we'll charitably call creativity with handheld names: the TI-83 became the TI-82 Stats.fr, the TI-84 Plus Silver Edition became the TI-83 Plus.fr, and they even dropped the ubiquitous "Plus" in Flash-based models' names to designate the tiny TI-84 Pocket.fr. Therefore, we are all but certain that the TI-83 Premium CE is simply a re-branded TI-84 Plus CE, from the HP Prime-esque thin-and-light case design to the USB-only connectivity. Thanks to TI Education France's released information, we can now tell you a great deal more about the TI-84 Plus CE.

Most importantly to math teachers, the TI-84 Plus CE appears to offer a new CAS-like engine for the homescreen. In one of the videos below, a student Lycee Rosa Parks de Montgeron in France computes a square root, and the answer printed on the homescreen is in the form AvB+C rather than the decimal answer a TI-84 Plus or TI-84 Plus C Silver Edition would give. Documentation indicates that there will be a special exam mode that presumably cripples this math engine for testing situations. Helpfully, TI-France gives us a helpful set of specifications and facts about the new TI-84 Plus CE via the TI-83 Premium CE:

• LCD: 320x240, 2.8" diagonal
• Archive/ROM: 3.5MB, likely indicating the calculator has the same 4MB of OS-accessible Flash as the TI-84 Plus C Silver Edition. Vernier's information continues to indicate 3.0MB.
• RAM: 154KB user RAM. This suggests either banked user RAM, a la the TI-86, or a new 24-bit (ez80) or 32-bit (ARM) processor.
• Ports: USB OTG port, no DBUS I/O port
• Graphing Features: Similar to TI-84 Plus C Silver Edition. 10 functions, 6 parametric functions, 6 polar expressions, 3 sequential functions. 15 possible line colors, images usable as graph backgrounds.
• Math Features: The same matrix, list, statistics, complex number, probability, finance, and math functions available on the TI-84 Plus C Silver Edition.
• Standardized Tests: Allowed on the SAT, ACT, IB, AP, and presumably other standardized tests.
• Programming Features: Supports both Assembly and TI-BASIC programming.
• Preloaded Apps: Polynomial Root Finder and Simultaneous Equation Solver, EasyData 5.0, Cabri Jr, CellSheet, Conic Graphing, Inequality Graphing, Probability Sim, Transformation Graphing.

We also know that there will be a new version of TI-Connect, to be called TI-Connect CE, along with OS 5.0 for the TI-84 Plus CE and EasyData 5.0 to support Vernier hardware. As always, please weigh in in the attached topic. We expect to have official word from Texas Instruments with more information in a week or two, if possible, but for now, let the rampant speculation continue!

More Information & Sources
Promotional TI-84 Plus CE video from TI Education USA
Promotional TI-83 Premium CE video from TI Education France
Video of TI-83 Premium CE in the classroom at Lycee Rosa Parks de Montgeron, France.


From left: TI-Connect CE; math engine demo: "exact" mode answers, "approximate" mode answers


Permalink