Published by merthsoft 11 years, 2 months ago (2013-07-27T03:13:22+00:00) | Discuss this article

We reported in March on the announcement of the Orion TI-84 Plus Talking Graphing Calculator, a calculator designed for the visually impaired, and at T^3, me and Kerm got to play with one. Today it has been released! Pick it up at this link.

With a rather high price tag of $599.00, I'm not sure I'll be purchasing one any time soon, but maybe some of you might. If you do, please let us know! It was a lot of fun to play with, and I definitely see the utility of it.

Here's the list of features copied from their site:

• Graph functions and trace points made accessible with speech and audible tone.
• Listen to entire graph, including special sounds for negative regions and axis crossing points.
• Scroll the history of calculations and quickly recall and edit input/output.
• Choose how to view calculations on screen: as decimals or fractions.
• Matrix functions and calculations.
• Amazing list of scientific, statistical, and financial functions.
• Superb synthesized speech (FonixTalk (TM) from SpeechFX (TM)) with choice of voices, speech rates, and pitch.
• Listen using stereo earphones or built-in stereo speakers.
• Full key help mode, which describes all keys, including 2nd and Alpha functions, without losing your work position.
• Temporary mute mode for teacher/student interaction.
• Use the screen reader to review the screen without losing your place.
• Full access to all menus, expressions, text, and symbols displayed on the screen.
• Expandable hardware accessories using USB port.
• Connect to your computer via USB cable to print or emboss graphs and other work (requires a printer or embosser and a PC).
• LCD display and keypad functionality are identical to the standard TI-84 Plus.

Just for old time's sake, here's a picture of Ken Perry of APH holding the Orion:


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