Hmmmmmmmmmmm. Sounds like it's high time I learned ASM. A silver edition TI-83 might be worth the purchase just to look at it and brag about its infinite storage space. Even our *delicious* 89s will be beaten. :-(

-Fil's 2% of $1.00

ti89 is not beaten by far on available RAM though :)
Remember that the z80 is a 8bit processor and
the 68000 is a 32 bit processor with a 16 bit external bus too, so a 15 MHz z80 is _not_ 50% faster then a 10 MHz (or 12, with HW2) 68000.
depending on application they will probably perform about equally though.
I would like to see a z380 in the z80 calcs instead :)

And the ti89 will not be beaten by the flash apps that come with the ti83 plus silver edition. The ti89 already has custom help and a "cell sheet." And there are plenty of periodic table available. (Next version of yapt will be able to export data and return molar masses to history.)

It will have the start up customization but that is not too hard on the 89 (just point trap 4 to one's routine coppied into allocated high ram that uses the old trap 4 to turn off the calc and then executes its own special code.)

Ti82plus silver people will have cbr/cbl programs. I think it is high time ti made the same programs for the 89/92+. But there are plenty of basic programs to do the task.



-Samuel Stearley

I think we all need to fess up and buy a Palm VII and serf the net. That or at least a IIIc. I got a IIIc for x-mas and I never want to touch a nasty calc(of any type) again. I get web pages, 3d shooter games like doom, get/send e-mail, transfer stuff via IR and more!

PDA's are the "next generation" of calcs. TI should spend more time adding major features like memo management and larger lcd screens rather than a flashy cover and some silly apps. I'd rather buy the GPS add-on instead of the ti-83+ silver, it'd be more useful. The PDA's have extrondinary calc functions, but the only down is that it doesn't do graphing. It is just as easy to make apps so I bet a graphing application is out there somewhere... TI better rethink it's future. I own the 83+ now and I'm kinda disatisfied.

PDAs ROCK! I have a Visor, which is toooo cool. And I have found an open souce, GPL'ed graphing calc called Easy Calc. Find it at palmgear.com!

As for the larger LCDs? I don't think a larger LCD would help. I would just make ACT unhappy and forbid it from the testing rooms. FYI: TI calcs have larger and higher res screens than most PDAs!

As for me? I will keep my 83+ and my 89, even though my Visor can do 95% of the math. I find it much easier to push real buttons than to "push" virtual buttons.

But what about the styli? heh Yeah I'll keep the 83+ and I've heard all the PDAs run on Z80s anyway, same as the good ol' GameBoy too. Have you heard of the Palm OS 4.0 update? It is supposed to allow the Palm IIIc to achieve 16-bit color instead of 256 colors. I read it off of CNet but just want to see if anyone else knows. If you want a cool 3d game goto http://www.dreadling.com and download the trial.

Both the Handspring and the Palm PDAs run 68000 CPUs, same as the 89.

Handspring devices do NOT run the same 68k processor as the 89 calc series. Any palm device capable of displaying 4-bit greyscale has a Motorolla Dragonball EZ processor (as stated by Handspring themselves). Sure, this processor isn't much different than the 68k the 89 uses, but it is different enough to note.

Visor Prisim can already display 16-bit color.

Oh, and about the stylus: I hate tring to pull that $12 plastic stick out to do my math. And then: where do I put it between problems or when I am recording answers? The stylus is great for other things, don't get me wrong, but it really doesn't perform well in situations where your task would take two seconds if you push the buttons instead of removing the stylus, pushing the button, replacing the stylus, recording the answer, removing the stylus.....

So use your finger :-)

My dad has a Visor, I don't, but using the calculator, I simply pushed the big "buttons" with my fingers, and it worked very well. Unless, of course, you're some sort of large-fingered person, in which case you're better off just stomping your foot to tell someone else what number to write

Use a combination pencil-pen-stylus. Bic sells a nice one for cheap. Push down the stylus switch, tap the buttons, push down the pencil switch, write the answer, ad infinitum.

Pocket PCs are better. Like the Cassiopeia that I just got. It's better than any of that palm crap.

PocketPCs definately win in the 'coolness' category, but they're too expensive for most people. Price was my main determining factor in buying a PDA, which is why I chose the visor standard (slightly more expensive than an m100, but it had an expansion slot). Sersiously, though, why do you need a PDA that plays mp3s and movies? I just need it to keep a calender and memos.

Well unfortunately Pocket PCs use Windows CE. You like Microsoft that much?

I find the Palm OS much simpler to use than a "Start" menu that is very much useless. These PDA's are no where near multi-tasking so why bother with a hunk a junk Microsoft product?

on a further note. i know one of the visors can have 16 bit color, however the Palm IIIc has 256 colors. I heard they were going to update it in palm os 4.0 and was just wondering if anyone else had heard anything.

I like PDA's too, but a ti-89 is still much better for math. The buttons are the biggest deal. no calc pad on PDA

Just wondering...if anyone is out there...I have a compaq IPAQ....by far the absolute coolest of pocket PC's...it's based on a 206 mhz processor, so in theory, if you're out there...a port of virtual TI could theoretically run on windows CE, and thus you could have the best of both worlds...with a stylus, the 89 buttons would be quite convenient, and it would eliminate the need to carry both along (I own both by the way) so, someone...answer our plea!!!

The iPaq's are the sexiest of them all!!!

Actually the Palm series can graph, with the application EasyCalc. Just go to http://www.palmbvld.com, and click on the Software Forum. There is a post by myself about this, and underneath a reply. In this reply is a link to said program. I have relaced the default calc, with EasyCalc.

All of you all are overacting i have a ti-82,83,83+,86,and a 89 i also have a Hewlett Packard HP49G Which beats any TI calculator bye far and the palm thing i do have one it is a Sony Vaio Picturebook and it runs a 400MHZ Pentium 2 with 128 Megs of RAM and a 12GB hard drive so shut up with the palm thing graphing calculators are ment for what theyre made for and palms are for business men so layy off it and im not downing a Ti calculator but Hewlett Packards are really good and i have every program i ever downloaded on it and it runs flawless

OK, OK,

1) HP's do _not_ beat TI calculators at all, ana have we forgotten the name (and URL) of this site? ticalc.org, not hpcalc.org, so nobody cares about HP's here.

2) Palms are not just for business men, they are for whoever the hell wants one. I personally find it quite handy for quick notes and such, when even the TI-89, with the built in text editor, is a pain to write a note. Besides, I rarely use my graphing calculator anymore, and I felt that if I should need to graph something, EasyCalc would be sufficient. Do I sense a little jealousy?

3) I myself personally doubt that whole laptop thing. If I owned such a laptop, I would sell off all my older calcs, and buy graphing software for the laptop.

Remember that the 89 will NEVER be beaten by the 83 any edition totally. Despite it's ram and it's faster processing rate, the 89 still has a MUCH larger screen, a very complex and useful AMS that can do anything the 83 can do and over 1000x more. The 83's claim to be 15 mhz, but consider this. The 89 uses a 32 bit motorola 68000 processor, which has been proven to be very efficent and useful over time. The Z80 that the 83 uses isd 8 bit, and is based on the intel 8086, one of the MOST PRIMITIVE processors that i have ever seen!

I don't like the 82/83/83+/83+S series, but I wouldn't go as far as saying the z80 is primitive. You must remember the TI-30's and the four-function calcs used in grade school.

And it is nice to measure memory in megabytes, even if it isn't all user-accessible.

Where is the TI-89+S?

The Z80 may be primitive, but cmon, it's a calculator! It's not like you're going to be rendering OpenGL on it or anything.

(Hmm, that would be kinda cool though, all we need is a for TI to shove a PIII 600 in the 83+ and maybe a GeForce 2 Ultra...)

Or maybe not.

Imagine the size of a ti with a geforce and pIII, and the power needed, i think the poweer is holding them back in making a good calc.

Z80 = Primitive?!?!?! I remember hearing once about this device called a GameBoy. Yeah, enough sarcasm. All current versions of the GameBoy (including GameBoy Color) run off of the Z80 processor, and it is *the most successful* video game system in history. Just remember that next time you want to dis on the Z80 processor.

-Fil having no idea what he's talking about

Remember that the 89 will NEVER be beaten by the 83 any edition totally. Despite it's ram and it's faster processing rate, the 89 still has a MUCH larger screen, a very complex and useful AMS that can do anything the 83 can do and over 1000x more. The 83's claim to be 15 mhz, but consider this. The 89 uses a 32 bit motorola 68000 processor, which has been proven to be very efficent and useful over time. The Z80 that the 83 uses isd 8 bit, and is based on the intel 8086, one of the MOST PRIMITIVE processors that i have ever seen!
BTW, the 83's mathamatical system is only about 512k, the 89's AMS is 2-3 times more. The 89 has also about 2 megs of flash rom, but the AMS takes up most of it, leaving only about 800k avaliable to the user.

Remember that the TI-83 Plus (of any sort) was NEVER meant to compete with the TI-89. It's for users who will not necessarily need or want the mathematical power of the TI-89. Also keep in mind that thousands of schools base their curriculum on the TI-83/TI-83 Plus. Many of these schools require that their students have a calculator from the TI-83 line and not the TI-89. Now these students will be able to have a more powerful calculator, and still be able to use it. Sure, it wont be a TI-89, but it's not supposed to be!

Oh, and the TI-83 Plus's "mathematical system" takes up much less than 512K. Other than Flash stuff, the TI-83 Plus TIOS is almost identical to the TI-83 TIOS, and the TI-83 has a 256K ROM chip.

TI-89 rocks! In my calculus BC class, everyone is required to get a TI-89. The irony is that they don't let you use TI-89 in Pre-calculus class, so that means after you take the pre-cal class, you either sell TI-83 to other people or keep it in your drawer or somewhere..and then go buy a TI-89. TI-89 has a very advanced math operating system, and it is way better than TI-83+/83+S, so even if you put 1 Ghz CPU in TI-83, I wouldn't want it anyway.

Actually, it's based on the 8080.

the z80 was based on the 8080, not the 8086, and it's the most complicated processor to be completely hardwired. (ie, no microcode) if the z80 was not a good processor, they wouldn't be using it now, 20 years after it was designed. btw, the most primitive processor would probably be the 4004.

not to say that the 68000 isn't hot stuff, nor would i say that the 83+ is impressive in any form. (especially with only 24k ram...)