I think this is a great stride for the TI community. The onlyh next logical step is for TI to follow in Casio's footsteps and make COLOR screens. This would help the game programers especialy, but it would make the calculator itself a better investment. I just got the TI-89 a couple months ago, and I would spend $160 again if it had color.

You must have money just burning holes in your pockets!!

I don't think that a color screen would be a good idea especially if it has to be craspy like the CASIO color screen.
I would rahter see a calc with 4 grayscale levels screen.

actually, it does have four, and even 7 level grayscale in asm. if you've ever seen one of the winCE devices with their grayscale screens, you'll see b&w is much better for text and graphing. grayscale just makes it hard to read.

-KAKE
IP

Color screens are nice, but I certainly wouldn't buy a calculator for one. Grayscale is a better idea, but again, is not important. TI should work on better things - color is something you throw in when you're desperate for ideas. Instead of doing things like that, maybe they could fix some bugs in their calculators once in a while. I've emailed them 4 times, once a month, about a 'About to garbage collect archive memory' error, and they never reply. Maybe they could upgrade their flash ROM. I think this would help people more than color. By the way... does anyone know what that error is? Really screws up your archive memory.

Read your manual. It's Ch. 21, page 345 in the 89 book. It basically says that when you unarchive something it stays there and is marked for deletion. When the archive mem is full, it "garbage collects" meaning all things marked for deletion are deleted and the memory is reordered.

Speaking of screens, I really don't like the one on the original 92. It's all blue and gray. Not good. Does anyone know if TI or anyone else sells replacement parts for things like screens? I assume I could just replace it myself. Any responses appreciated.

Perhaps one should have experienced both a color Casio and a TI calculator in order to compare them.

I used to own a Casio CFX-9800 (4-color) and then, since Wal-Mart was so stupid and offered a better model for the SAME price, I exchanged. =) I got the Casio CFX-9850G which was also in color and offered a whopping 32k of memory. I can tell you that at that time (about 2 years ago) I was pretty impressed with the calculator. The graphing was awesome (especially with inequalities and shading) as well as some of the other things, like the icon Main Menu when you start up...The drawbacks were:

1. EXTREMELY slow program speed.
2. Only support for BASIC.
3. The calc-to-calc link cable was an extra $13.
4. The calc-to-pc link was $99.
5. Only 32k RAM.

I haven't used Casio's new calc with symbolic manipulation (CFX-9950 ?), but I am extremely happy with my TI-89 purchase! Implementing color on a calculator means that speed and other features have to be sacrificed. It's not worth it (yet) for TI to come out with a color calc unless there's a MUCH better processor, a ton of memory, and true purpose for the color (besides appealing to calculator newbies). All this would jack the price and make our nuts fall off (figuratively). Color screens on a graphing calculator can wait a few years until there's enough hardware to support it. Think about it, instead of 7 level grayscale for one color on a normal TI, you would have 7 level grayscale in 4 or more colors. If you want color, stick with good ol' Mathematica!

So, when you say "...TI to follow in Casio's footsteps" you should mean vice versa.

Any comments?

Have you noticed how the casio make color?? It's just a difference in the contrast of the pixels. I mean dark contrast=green, mid contrast=blue and low contrast=red. I own a casio CFX 9900GC (color) and if you replace the screen of a 9900GC by a 7900 (no color) you have a grayscale calculator!
I mean if we could replace the screen of a 92 with a screen sensitive to color like casio's one, it would be easy to use color in ASM like grayscale now.
So there's no need for a new processor or anything else, but just a new screen. The is for assembly.
For basic programming, it's different: casio's basic is much slower in a 9900GC than in a regular 9900(no color). It should be the same for ti, as it would be slow to use grayscale in basic.
One more thing: Casio's basic is not slow. If you ask the same integral on a ti85 and a Casio 9900 with no color, it's faster on the casio. With the color, it's very slow.
Conclusion: there's no need for color on TIs now, but it could be fun!

You guys are missing something. Remember, Texas instruments is a business. The ONLY thing they want is to increase their bottom line, no matter WHAT they tell us. Color is simply a costly option that would do almost nothing for sales. Also, most of TI calculators do not appeal to the younger generation. Casio's are for people upgrading form solar powerd calculators. TI's are engineering calculators designed for people who have to do some serious number crunching with little to no hassle. They aren't and don't need to provide a costly feature that will not enhance their calculators.

What about HP calculators? I don't think they "appeal to the younger generation". They cost a lot, but I think that the overall quality of a HP calculator is better than a TI. (I still like TI better though)

This is really unfair to those who bought the TI-92 and then the TI-92+ module after the TI-92+ module was released, as TI said that they would NOT be releasing a new TI-92+ without the purchase of a module. Personally, I bought the calc & module and then felt ripped off when the TI-89 came out, and then I now feel ripped off again upon finding the TI-92+ in the new case will have an improved LCD (like the Palm IIIx over the Palm III?) and be supposedly $30.00 cheaper! Does anyone know if there is any possibility TI would listen to me if I e-mailed them?

When I bought this computer, PII 266Mhz was the top of the line! Now there's a PIII 550! I feel so ripped off!

C'mon guys, advancement and improvement is a good thing. When TI releases a new product, they shouldn't be discouraged.

I do see your point, but when you buy something in the technology industry you have to expect that the product will advance in the very near future.

My point is that TI _specifically_ said that there would be _no_ stand-alone TI-92+ calculator and then produced one.
BTW, I have a PIII 500 =)

Probably Not. They don't seem to care much, but I AGREE 100 % WITH YOU!!!!

Well, I'm almost finished programming my new game, gang realm. Does anyone have any ideas for any more enemies?

Why my homemade parallel link (for ti92) doesn't work on my PII 400mHz... Is there somebody who can tell me how to use it?

Why did you erase my last comment?
I was just telling you that ti should work on improving the ti 89/92 instead of releasing mew mid-range calculators!!!!
There were no flame or anything else that could have made you remove my comment!!!

That's not the point. They like to randomly delete people's messages. It makes them feel powerful. :)

In think that it is really great that TI is now including everything in one package! I got mine yesterday, and I can not seem to get the batteries to fit? Are you suposed to put the square ones in or the round ones in? It tried putting in the square one in, but the door would not close:(. Can anyone help me?

People like this make me worry about the future.

Maybe you should start out with a calculator that's... a little less complicated?

A solar-powered pocket calc, perhaps. You've still got your four major function keys on there, afterall...

My word....

Do you mean you just got the TI-92plus with the better screen? That isn't coming out until this summer. Read your manual for the batteries. How old are you?