Re: Why not the TI-92?

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Re: Why not the TI-92?

On Wed, 27 May 1998 05:42:25 GMT, autumn_storms@hotmail.com (Midnight
Wells) wrote:

>Hi All,
>
>I've been lurking in this group for some time and I'm a little bit
>confused about the 'which is my favourite calculator thread.'
>
>What is confusing me is that there appear to be very few responses
>listing the TI-92 as the favourite calculator -- and, given that it
>appears to be the calculator with all the bells and whistles, this is
>not what I expected.
>
>I know nothing about the TI calculators nor do I understand complex
>mathematics, but I guess I just assumed people would naturally favour
>the 'latest and greatest.' Can anyone explain why so many people are
>opting for TI-86s and so on?
>
>BTW, I am contemplating pursuing studies in statistics -- can anyone
>tell me if the TI-92 is suitable for statistical calculations? Forgive
>me if this is a silly question.
>
>Many thanks,
>
>Midnight.

        Technical superiority does not always make a device any
individual person's favorite.  The TI-92 may have a processor twice as
fast as an 8x and a much bigger display, but I personally find it to
be rather, well, kludgey.  This is very subjective, but it is my
opinion and I know of many people that share it.  It is large, but
that means it is also bulky.  There are way too many buttons, and the
orginization is not as logical as one might  think.  And despite all
the  keys, some functions are still buried in menus.  The display
seems extremely dim and making out things is quite difficult.

        Some of these things are probably just due  to my own
ignorance, and obviously some people will consider the  design format
to be a plus.  And the QWERTY keyboard helps for text entry.  But
guess what.   I have a computer if I need something with lots of
bloated, overly glitzy software and  a qwerty keyboard.  And you can
get pdas with regular keyboards that are much smaller than the  TI-92,
which also have more memory, faster processors, etc.

        I don't like my TI-86 because it is the most feature packed
calculator ever made, or the  fastest.  Because it isn't.  But it is
very straightforward, and has all the built in functions I will be
needing to use in the near future.  I can cram it with 85k of games
and still use it in class without any major crashes.  And the display
has wonderful  contrast.  That is my opinion, not an empirical fact.

        I am sure to some people the TI-92 is perfect, and they would
quite rightly point out that the 8x series is based on a processor
from the seventies, with tiny illegible displays, meager built in
functionality, and a keypad which makes text entry more or less
impossible.  And they are right, too.

        For that matter, you  could make a case for the TI-80.  I
mean, it is very compact, and straightforward.  Certainly if that is
all you need you shouldn't go  out and buy a Cray supercomputer, or a
TI-92.

-Andy
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