Survey posted 2000-03-25 19:17 by Andy.

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I think it should be more memory (RAM). I have a TI 83+ and archiving/unarchiving programs is a pain (even though ION is quite good). A color display is a waste - bettery life would be zilch. Faster processor might be nice but I think you can over clock the ones already.

-Aram

Having tons of RAM is really cool. That's why I like my HP49 so much. Too bad it's broken so I'll have to return it :-( .

512k of ram , that's good . But the HP49 has a 4 bit processor , while my TI89 has a 16 bit one :-)

that may be so..but the hp still does things quicker.. 3d graphing, factoring, solving..it's the calculator for the heavy duty stuff.. you get your self a hp49, and start getting used to it, you'd be amazed what a 4 bit processer can do..if you dont believe me goto there website..and read all the statistics..

I don't care about the statistics , I own a Ti89 and I use the HP49G emulator and I can see the diferences .
The TI89 is faster than the HP . except in 3D graphing.
Both are graphing calcs , so , the most important thing is graphing . The TI89 can graph functions faster than the HP . Even my casio 9850G can graph faster than the HP.....!! but in 3D ..... the TI89 is slow , very slow...

How are you able to accurately compare speeds between a real TI-89 and an HP-49 _EMULATOR_?!? That's specious. Also, graphing is /not/ the most important thing to a graphing calculator. If it were, why did they even make the 89?

THE REASON THE HP49 GRAPHS 3d FASTER IS BECAUSE THE DEFAULT GRID IS 6x6 ON THE 49 AND 14x14 ON THE 89! At the same resolution, you see that the 89 is 2x faster.

Who uses their graphing calculator mainly for graphing???..... I thought so. :P

Teachers do. Anyway some teachers, like my math teachers actually play calculator games themselves. I guess thats why our math teacher doesn't reset peoples memory unless they don't lissen the first time, I've been caught before but she just says theres no use for the calculator now if shes giving instruction, and if she does take action she just holds it until you leave or need it.

I'm pretty sure that the HP has a 16bit, 4Mhz processor. The 89 has a 16bit, 10Mhz processor.

-Killer2

Why are all you guys debating about things you don't know ?!? The 49 has a 64-bit, 4-MHz Saturn and the 89 a 32-bit, 10-MHz 68000.

DUDE! please tell me that 6 was accidental. You might be referring to the 64bit register size, but the Saturn processor has a 4bit data bus, so it can only process 4 bits at a time. Similarly, the m68k has 32bit registers and a 16bit data bus, so it can process 16 bits at a time.

Don't talk about what you don't understand. A Saturn processor can perform 64-bit register-register operations and has a 64-bit internal bus. So technically it's a 64/4 bit CPU. The 68000 can only do 32-bit register-register operations and has a 32-bit internal bus, so it's a 32/16 bit CPU. And the HP49 can do some things faster than a TI-89 with AMS1.0 because AMS1.0 was written in unoptimised C while the HP49's ROM was written in assembly language. Hardware version 2 and AMS 2 have improved the TI-89 heaps.

TECHNICALLY the data bus determines the processor type. You can't transfer 64 bits through a 4bit bus. It can do 64 bit operations, but in 4 bit segments. You would not understant this unless you know the architecture of a microprocessor.

I know more about processor architecture than you. A Saturn _does_ have a 64-bit internal bus and cand do 64-bit maths in one hit! The 4-bit external bus limits memory access to 4-bit chunks, it doesn't affect the ALU. You're not going to say that because a 68000 has a 16-bit external bus it has to do 32-bit operations in two goes, are you? We all know it can, provided it's working register-register. The Saturn works the same way!

Just to check something, the 68000 only has 24-bit addressing correct? I seemed to remember reading that even though there are 32-bit address registers, you couldn't access anything beyond 24 bits. If so, would that mean the data bus would have to be larger than 16-bit, or is it still possible to have 32-bit "processing", 24-bit "addressing", and 16-bit "data bussing"?

The 68000 has a 24-bit address bus, limiting the amount of RAM/ROM/devices you can access directly at any one time to 2^24 bytes (i.e. 16 meg). The top eight bits of the address registers are ignored when accessing the bus, but they are used for maths.

The external data bus is 16 bits wide, so the 68000 can read or write data to memory in two byte chunks.

The internal data bus is 32 bits wide, enabling the 68000 to do 32-bit arithmetic operations directly (rather than doing two sixteen bit operations like an 8086 does).

A Saturn has a 4-bit external data bus (making memory access slow), and a 64-bit internal data bus (making high-precision maths fast). I can't remember how wide its address bus is.

You're right that the Saturn can do 64-bit arithmetic internally, but when most of our arithmetic functions (say, Integral) are actually functions in ROM, a wider data pathway makes for faster execution.
And the 68000 is 32-bit internal, 32-bit data external, 24-bit address external, btw.

No, the 68000 has a 16-bit external data bus. 32-bit external data came with the 68020 and later chips.

(Your TI89, unless you've modified it, actually features a full 32-bit processor. Just my two cents. :-)

Definately more memory (RAM). I have a TI-83 and it doesn't have crap for memory. I mean just when I start making a game the memory is already gone. The games that I make most often are RPGs, and you need much more then 27K (I know it has 32K, but this is the free RAM when calc is reset) to make a really good RPG. I mean you can't really have much of a storyline with such little memory.
I don't think the calc needs to be any faster. I think that it moves fast ebough (at least when programming in ASM), and color display would just be too much. Higher resolutions would be good, BUT higher resolutions means that each sprite, etc. will take up more memory.

Overall I think the people at TI should develope a memory expander for all the calculators with professionally made drivers/hardware that would hold about a meg. That would be the way to get more memory for all the calculators (not including the ones without link ports) I'm so sick and tired of waiting for the expander 2 to have the drivers for my calculator (82) Any way the stuff that is made by TI is way better then home made crap (link cable/ memory expander) that will never come close to the quality of one actually purchased from TI.

I think one of the 83+'s nicest features is the FlashRom(aka Archive RAM), because it doesn't get erased when your Calc is reset or crashes.

Well, this is the case most of the time, but one time I got a "Bad Address" error message when I was trying to group some stuff. Then my calc crashed and when I put the batteries back in, my RAM was cleared and all that was left of my Archive was the Apps and half of the groups. No kidding. This has only happened once though.

he i really scrwed up my 83+ once, i decided to mess abound with clac sys, and i was messing round with the flags and i got bored doing that so i quit and played tetris for a while when i exited the calc froze and the screen went off, i thought no biggie, so i turned to e calc over poped out the batteries and held down on, and it just turned on and then turned right back off, hell my calc was un operable for like 4 days (i tried anything possible) and eventually i got it to work by hitting on, holding it down adn then hitting clear before that calc turned off.. when i looked in the memory, it had the right amount free but the only variable left on the calc was calc sys (heh tahts kinda funny the program that i used to fuck up my calc was the only one left)

well thats enough of my boring sotry

That Sucks

If you're a programmer though, overclocking it might be a waste of time. Programs may seem fast on yours but may be extremely slow on others.

What they should do is make it have a file system close to Computers so that you don't archive and unarchive, the flash memory should be used as a hard drive and the ram as computer ram, this would also lenghthen the life of the flash memory, it will only write to it if it is saving changes to it, not if it is just reading.