Re: ok, the big question; and the 86 demo prog

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Re: ok, the big question; and the 86 demo prog

>  Ok, here's the big question. I am goin into my junior year in highschool
so
> I will be taking the SAT and the ACT this year. I have a TI-92 but it is
not
> allowed on those tests, plus it is inconvenient in class sometimes
> (size...plus I think it intimidates the teachers : ) ).

92's are not usually a good buy for high schoolers.

> Now, should I get an 85 or an 86?  The 85 is more well supported, but the
> 86 has more memory, etc. Oh yeah, something else to take into
> consideration are games. I want to be able to play/program games too.
> Which is better for this?

The 85 meets more of your specifications now, but I think you'll be sorry in
a few months. Many of the good assembly programmers have already purchased an
86 in addition to their 85 (me included), or they sold an 85 to get an 86.
The 86 is also a little bit more advanced than the other calculators. Some of
the new features may even raise your test scores a few points (hey, it could
happen). I'd go with the 86.


While we're on the topic of 86's, has anyone seen TI's demo program? I work
at OfficeMax, and we just set up a new "Back to School With TI" display. When
I got the chance, I decided to check out the new 86 (selling for $129.99
U.S.). When I pressed [ON], I got a menu like this:

Stuff I don't remember
    1. Start demo
    2. Skip demo

Out of curiosity, I pressed [1]. A new menu came up with 7 or 8 options
listing differet features. I chose the ALL option. It started by giving me a
demonstration of matrices. It exited to the home screen, pressed [2nd] [MATR]
_itself_, typed [ALPHA] [A] [B] [C] [ENTER], and then entered 9 elements into
that advanced list editor __ITSELF__! (Note: during all of this, no keyboard
key would respond, including [ON]). After going through a 15 minute demo
(which I didn't see most of, I was working), it brought me back to that first
menu. I pressed [2] and it brought me back to the home screen. I then went to
the MEM menu. I chose delete all, and all of the variables showed up (duh).
Among them was a matrix called ABC and 2 programs. One 2k and the other 500B.
(I didn't delete anything.)

My explanation: You TI guys who are monitoring this, correct me if I'm wrong.
The 2 programs are assembly programs (they were edit locked). After going
through the menu thing, the assembly program starts an interrrupt-based
program and exits to the home screen. The interrupt program then forces
keycodes into the keyboard scancode byte, "fooling" the OS into thinking
these keys are actually being pressed. This would be the easiest method and
the method I would use if trying to do something like this. Eiter way, good
job, TI. *applause**applause*. You finally took advantage of a very easy (and
rather obvious) commercialization method. After all, I bought that 86, didn't
I?
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