Re: Why are TI Calcs so inferior?
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In article <328b645b.582990@news.sprynet.com>
lcappite@sprynet.com (Goatboy) writes:
>I've been looking over the tech specs for all the TI calculators, and
>I can't argue that these calculators are spectacular. They are the
>most ingenious pieces of equipment for school use and such. However,
>they're hardware is very inferior. The hard disk so to speak only is
>about 30K. The processor runs at 6MHz? It only has an assembly
>language, not something better? My gosh, on today's technology, hd
>space is 6 *cents* a meg? And hard drives are the size of a TI calc.
>If u shrink down the hd to that of a mini cassette, and put it in the
>TI, u could get about 1/3 a gig. And you could probably do better,
>because I've seen a mini cassette for the computer that holds a gig,
>and the drive it goes in to is only 1 cm bigger on each side. And the
>chip? The 486 chips are like $30 bucks nowadays, and they run at
>66MHz. AMD chips are $75 for a 133MHz version. And the display screen.
>I've seen sony watchman that were smaller and they have a color screen
>at 320x200.
>
>Basically, what I'm saying is with today's current technology and its
>cheapness, TI could probably come out with a calculator that could
>outperform my computer (mine is a 486 DX2-50) for the same price as
>their 92, and I don't know why they aren't trying.
>
In a way, he has a point whit this post. I know a lot of people that would wo
rship a faster ti calculator with more memory. It's not like ti cant make a fas
ter calculator, they dont want to release another version of an established cal
c. The point of this mail was that ti, at any time, could somehow upgrade a ca
lculator to be faster and have more memory. For example, Why does it have to b
e a 486? it could be a chip that runs like a 286. By now some company had to ma
ke a chip which is faster that the ti chip and uses the same amount, or less po
wer than the current ti processor. As for storage ram. Ram today is inexpensiv
e. A megabyte of ram is probably around 12 to 20 dollars. or they could have ta
ken a ramcard approach. Put ram on cards which you can buy and stick in your ti
calc. Then when it is full you could take it out and put another one in the sl
ot. But you dont see any of these thing on a ti calc because 1) they dont want
to change the established calcs and 2) It would raise a calcs price. Sure! ti
could do this, but why release all these different versions of a calculator wh
en the current setup is perfect for doing what is was designed for; Math.
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