I have doubts at this internet connectivity feature,
but otherwise it looks nice.

Too bad they don't make one for linux, but eh, we've
got tilp.

Yay!

Hmm, what's wrong with the internet feature? Seems it might not be bad to know when there's a ROM update...

It isn't bad to know when there's a new rom update,
but if you need to connect (or say no to a "wanna connect?" message) everytime you use it, it gets boring.

But, if you need to choose the feature, it'll be nice.
(Like a push button "Check for updates")

That's easy to overcome. Look at Winamp, for example. It lets you specify whether or not you have a permanent connection, and whether or not to check for new versions on startup. It'd be easy to do something like that, or merely pop up a box when it starts asking if you'd like to check for new versions, with a "Remember my choice" box.

According to ti: "When you're connected to the Internet, TI™ Connect will Auto-Detect and notify you of any updates to your TI handheld's OS or Flash applications." So no need to worry about The Wanna Connect.

I can think of a troublesome situation:
Suppose you have three networked pc's. One of them has a dial-up connection and a proxy running.
The other 2 computers have their internet connection through the proxy running on the dial-up machine.
Now the 2 proxied machines think they have a connection all the time, because they're connected through lan, but in reality they are only connected to the web if the 1st computer has a dial-up connection established.
TI-Connect will therefor assume it has a connection, but when there is no dial-up connection (most of the time), it will fail to connect to TI's server, and maybe drop an error.
Now it will not be a problem if TI Connect does not drop an error but complains in silcence, but it will be terribly annoying to have an "The TI-Server is down" message or something like that.

Just a thought.
--(Peter Martijn)

why because ever time ti releases a new ROM for the 68k calcs it always has more protections.

It is always dangerous to extrapolate... :)

one would think that they would support unix/linux since they run on unix.

"The 'Smart Connections' feature eliminates your concerns about cable/calculator/computer configuration." I am wondering what about calcs without silent linking capability. How will this determine what my 82 is, for example? Without silent linking, you'd have to enter it manually.

You'll probably have to stick with old TI-graph link, because that new one only supports 73, 83 series, 89, 92 series.

And what happens to the 86? I think that the 86 is one of the better calcs when it comes to assembly programming. I can't understand why TI seems to hide away the 86...

well, i think they are trying to get rid of the 86. you dont really need that program though, i mean, how hard is it to use the regular linking software. i think it is becoming more obvious that ti is trying to make calculators more appealing to everyone, and easier to use. to me, i feel that they want 73 for middle schools, 83+ for high schools, and 89 for college, but the 86 just doesnt fit in. it is a nice calc tho, my brother has one, and he has a program that he just has to right click on a file, and he can select to send it to his calc. wish i had a program like that for my 89.

IMHO, the 86 is vastly superior to the 83 series. I own an 85, 86, and 89, and used to own an 83, and did extensive basic programming on them (much more than my author page lists, because most of my programs weren't released).

I still fail to grasp what the target market is for the 73, but whatever it is, it appears to be doing better than the 85/86 series:(. the 83 series is competing with the 86, and, because the 83+ has more buzzwords on its packaging, more and more students are going with the user-obsequious 83+. Only those who actually know what the buzzwords actually mean get the 86, because it is technologically superior where it is important (screen size, processor-addressable ram size).

This is just another stellar example from TI as to how technologically hypocritical the society of the United States is today (for those of you in other countries, I'm not trying to be US-centric, I just would rather not say anything than say something that may be completely or largely incorrect).

well, yeah, the 86 is better than the 83's hands down. i think that they want to limit their calculator fleet down to 3 primary calc's though, the 73, the 83+, and the 89. their are obvious strengths to this, such not having to have as many machines producing calcs, less chance of calculators not selling, and less software support(wether it be on-calc (flash apps) or linking).
also, if everyone has the same calc (i know at my school (highschool), everyone owns 83's), more interactivity between them will occur, so that students will all buy ti's rather than other brands so that they can connect their calcs together. this is only my opinion though, and i have not studied business or marketing, so correct me if i am wrong.
oh, and i think the 73 is aimed twards middle schoolers, although i have never seen a real 73 (only pictures online).

It is like this:
TI-86 is easy to use, but a bit hard at first for a regular person. So, one will not buy it.
However, anybody can just use a TI-83, so one will buy a TI-83.

It's because teachers don't know how to use the 86. There are 2 people at my school that have TI-86's. A few people have 83's. All the school's calcs are 81's and 82's. One example is the stat editor for the 86. You can actually name your lists and stuff, but the average Joe will never figure out how to do it! Every time any teacher had an 86 question at my school, I had to help...

<<It's because teachers don't know how to use the 86.>>

That's because TI keeps asking teachers to use the TI-83.

Yeah, and in the beginning of '01 my school upgraded their 83s to pluses. None of the teachers know how to use any other calc such as an 86 or 89. Only couple people in my school own an 89 and many other students are pissed by their possibilities, but still buy 83 plus even though 89 is only $30 bucks more.

One advantage to a non-Ti-83 calculator: You don't get near as many sucky basic programs! I have a Ti-83 anyway because I'm not really obsessed with calculators and its required at my school

heh... The teachers at my high school didn't know how to use the TI-83 either. I was always having to help people. I can't see how someone could be in a pre-calc class and not know how to turn the graph axis on/off on their own, even though they've been using the same calc for over two years... I don't expect people to be experts, but why on earth don't more people read any of the guidebook that comes with the calc, especially when they're having problems? People might say that the TI-86 is hard to use, but many of those people would never have opened up the guidebook to try to figure it out either. Great as the 86 may be though, it makes since that TI is focusing more on the 73/83/89 calcs. I really don't see any features that the 86 offers that the 89 doesn't. It's easier for them to market products that are substantially different from each other. Their hand-held flash calcs can all be targeted to a specific audience, which is different for each calc.

You can name lists in the 83 stat editor, I think.

The 73 doen't even have an alpha keyboard on the calc, you have to push [2nd][TEXT] or something! I think that the 86 is better than all of the other calculators except the 89/92(+).

Yep, you're right, and it is a PAIN! (I have one)

It would make sense that the 86 was better than anything <86 and worse than anything >86, though of course 73 is the exception because 80 and 81 were already taken. 86, is in fact, more expensive than 83+ (86 - $110, and 83+ - $100 in most stores).

my guess more students are using the 83+ and not the 83 is because the 83 has been discontinued.

the 83 is out of production? anyways, itll always be known as the 83 series, and we are talking about the 86 being better, but less popular. in response to your post though, i think the 83 is more popular, but thats just based on my high school

I do not know enough about the features of the 86 to
fully support my statement, but sometimes a calculator can be TOO superior for a purpose,
like when using an 89 on highschool it has a couple of features they don't
want you to use on high school (deriving, symbolic manipulation...)

No I'm not saying this to support the 86 throw-away,
but merely to illustrate that being better can sometimes be a reason for not using it too.

maybe TI is forcing their users to upgrade to one of the supported calcs.