Survey posted 2001-01-07 17:22 by Andy Selle.

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I'm definitely buying one. I'm obsessed with TI calculators. I like the 83+ already, how could anyone resist 1.5 MB of flash and a 15 MHz CPU! This is great; I can't wait until I can buy one.

I agree totally with everything you just said. I just don't know if they will be better than the 86s. If they are, I might get one. After all, ITS REALLY JUST A CLEAR CALCULATOR

I'm definitely buying one. I'm obsessed with TI calculators. I like the 83+ already, how could anyone resist 1.5 MB of flash and a 15 MHz CPU! This is great; I can't wait until I can buy one.

Notice I coppied this from Micheal Vincents comment above. It is NOT just a clear calculator. It is BIGGER AND BETTER. 1.54 MB of flash. 24 K of Ram and a 15 mhz processor. Who wouldn't want one (unless you're broke)? It definently does so much better than the TI-86.
Thankyou.

--NATE

You could spell my name right :)

Oops. Sorry. :P

Why buy a TI-83+ SE or an 86 at all when an 89 is just a bit more.

The TI-89 is still the best calc on the market!

Not once this baby comes out. This will be great for it's purpose-- better than the 83, 83 Plus (and all the previous models), and the TI-86.

--NATE

Yeah, the 83+SE will be great for ITS purpose: games. Last time I checked the 82/83 couldn't do things like the find the area under the x² function between 2 and 7 (335/3) or what the second derivitive of sin²x at π/3 was (-1). Perhaps you'd like a polynomial root finder, financial and advanced stats capabilities? Unit conversions? Comparing the 83+SE and the 86 is like comparing a weak Game Boy to, well, an 86. Because the purpose of the 86 is math.

And that would be why TI has left room for up to 94 applications. The TI-83+SE could very well top or overcome the TI-89 in sheer solving power. See as I didn't say computing power. In one application alone, TI could add all or most of the 89's features to the 83+SE. Think again about the 83+SE and what TI is really making it.

Do you really think TI would be as stupid so as to undercut it's most advanced calculator? There's a reason it costs $150 - because the CAS was hell tobuild and make user friendly. There's a beta CAS right now for the 86 on ticalc.org, but it's so confusing and so huge that almost no one downloads it. They may give you some basic stuff, but if you want anything to make higher maths a lot easier buy an 86 or 89.

Where at ti.com did you find this beta CAS?

TI has not yet produced a Flash App that I actually use. Everything I use for math and science comes from ticalc.org's archives.

How are organizers, periodic tables, and interactive graphing functions not useful?

did you think before you spoke? you just said the 83++ could outperform the 89 in some way. ARE YOU NUTS? While I highly respect my 86, the 8x series has absolutely no hope of ever getting better than the 89/92. Unless they switched over to motorola 68k. But then they'd have to rewrite the OS. probably go for a more stable platform like C, and, wait, That's an 89! In order to have a calculator that Math teachers and testing boards alike don't outright ban. you must keep it whimpy. The final test will be wether this poor monstrosity can be used on the SAT and ACT

Perhaps the 82/83 cannot do these things. I don't have one. The following information is on the 83+, which the 83+ SE is based on.
You can "find the area under the x² function between 2 and 7" by typing fnInt(x²,x,2,7
You can similarly find derivatives using the nDeriv( function.
You can find roots of any function with the Solver.
There is an application that does finance (which I wish I could delete because I never use it).
I’m not sure what stats entail (so I probably shouldn’t say anything), but I’m sure that the 83+ has some, because Chapter 12 of the manual is called Statistics.
Unit conversions is one helpful feature that it does not have, but you could easily make a program that does them for you.

I don’t believe that either the 83+ or the 86 can actually find the derivative of a function as another function or do indefinite integrals. (Correct me if I’m wrong.) I feel that the 83+ and the 86 are quite close in math, and if you need something better, you should get an 89. In addition, with extra memory one can make programs equivalent to features on another calc (within reason).

The 82 and all higher calculators are capable of numeric integration.

Only the 89 and 92(+) are capable of symbolic integration.

The 85 and higher are capable of finding the roots of polynomials.

Only the 83(+) has built-in finance and stats functions.

A program for unit conversions came with my Graph Link software and works quite well even though it's written in BASIC.

You keep talking about how the 83p SE is great for it's purposes, but haven't your purposes increased?


-Samuel

This idiot is saying a ti-83 plus SE is better than a ti-89
W.T.F.

this whole ti83+silver thing is the most stupid thing i have ever heard. why doesn't ti just make a calc that can be used for all math classes. one that has a big display and runs fast with a lot of memory. hell, might as well just make it a palm top. give it a color screen and wireless internet ready. they could have little speakers that you can hook up to it. and a keyboard that can be attached also. how about a touch screen with a little stylo. maybe even a connectable cd rom and burner. and a microphone so you could use it as a phone also. it should except any ti programing language so you wouldn't have to port all of you favorite games to it's platform.

but they will never do this because by making a calc that will do everything they would be able to make lots of money on new and imporved ti83's.

but they could make the dream calc and still make lots of money because they could come out with a new slide cover with a different "have to have" design on it every week.

onefastfiveoh

<<but they will never do this because by making a calc that will do everything they would be able to make lots of money on new and imporved ti83's.>>

i meant that they WOULDN'T be able to make lots of money.

sorry bout the typo

onefastfiveoh

I have an 86 right now, and I'm mad that ti keeps making the "lesser" calculators better. I just might get it unless an 86+ comes out (Doubtful) because I think ti is trying to phase out the 85/86 line, but if it's as slow as the 82 phase out, it will be around for years.

If the "lesser" calculators are made better, then they won't be lesser calculators anymore.

It's not that they're giving it more capabilities. The 83+S will be nothing more than a souped up 83+. It won't be able to do symbolic manuipulation (89 and higher) or even basic calculus and other things (85 and higher).

It's basically like getting a faster computer so that you can reboot faster.

I wasn't refering to math. I bought two of my calculators for programming, three just for fun and because I'm obsessed, and only one for math. :) I meant in terms of speed and memory. The 83+ SE beats anything below a 89. It's not a lesser calculator in terms of power. Math, yes. It could use a calculus app.

The comment you were responding to was talking about the same thing I was.

I think a better comparison is when you put a 30gig hard drive in a 386 running DOS v1.0, you still have a 386 running DOS v1.0. (Don't flame me, the comparison just doesn't make sense using a Pentium, and the relationship is about equal between a 386 and a Pentium 500 and an 83+(S) and an 89.)

That wouldn't work. You'd need DOS 5.0 or higher, plus special software because the BIOS wouldn't support drives larger than ~528 MB. Trust me, I know. I once put a 2.1 GB HDD in a 386SX-25 laptop :).

I think he just meant it as a simple analogy, nothing more.

Agreed, but what they need to do is incorporate the menu system and high-quality LCD of the 86 into this new design, and the guess what it'll be, an 86 PLUS!. They have the technology for a superior menu system, and LCDs are cheap, so WHY are they promoting the crap system that's been around since the 81?

Shut up and go away NATE

The technology is certainly there, but there are four reasons why TI wouldn't do this:
1. None of the other calcs would sell if they were all inferior in every way :).
2. If the TI-89 isn't even allowed on the ACT, do you honestly think ANY teacher would let you use a perfect calc?
3. Different calcs are made for different people. A seventh grader might buy a 73 because it would have all the features he needed, and he wouldn't want to pay the extra fifty bucks for an 89 with features he's never heard of, let alone a perfect calc that would probably cost around 300 dollars.
4. New math theorems and technology come out every year. The Ancient Egyptians thought they had the perfect math system. Calculus only came out about 400 years ago. Sure, this perfect calc could use Flash technology, but eventually, the advancements in math and science would catch up to TI. People are also creating new processors and hard drives that are better than anything we could have now. Sure, the calc could be upgradable like a PC, but then, why not just get a laptop?
Just my $0.02

yes, i took into consideration all of those points before i posted my message. i don't agree with the point about the seventh grader. why buy a lesser calc then have to buy a better one later on. in the long run, it would be cheeper. as for new technology, that's why they invented flash rom, so you could upgrade. i know ti or any other company would never go as far to make the "perfect" calc because there would be no money in it. it's a sad world we live in when the first thing that comes to everyones mind is money. not for me, i usually think of sex first, then money, then sex again.

onefastfiveoh

Yeah, I guess you do have a point about the seventh grader thing. But there's the problem of the TI89 not being all that user-friendly. I just got one a few weeks ago, and just recently have I reached the point where I could write a pretty good BASIC program, and I've been researching the TI89 and all its features for about a year. Sure, this may not be a problem for high schoolers like me, but the majority of seventh graders would not want to spend their time learning how to use their calcs. Personally, I got a TI86 in seventh grade (it was a birthday present), and I haven't had much trouble learning how to use it. Well, I was the only person who didn't wait until eighth grade so the teacher could teach us how to use our 83+'s (being ahead of the class with a superior calc is fun :) ). Ok, I'm ranting, so I should stop now. Anyway, money may be the first thing on most companies' minds, but there are always other factors too. It wouldn't be a bad thing if TI only cared about money, though. I mean, they can't exactly give us calcs for free (drooling...).
That's another $0.02 for all of you. In case you're wondering how I'm being funded for this, I find a lot of pennies on the ground at school. It's tradition for the older students to throw pennies at the freshmen. Fortunately, I have super Matrix-related projectile dodging powers, so it's all profit for me :).

And the Egyptians thought pi was 3.

So did I when I was in 4th grade =)

Or you could go to www.handspring.com to get your dream machine! The only thing you (sarcastically) wanted that it doesn't have is a CD burner. I have one. I love it. I won't leave home without it!

All calculators can be used for all math classes, it depends on the knowledge of the user (in math and in programming). 10 years ago, we learned how to succeed in calculus with a TI-81, a calculator I still keep to today. The 81 did not have a default integral function, it had to be programmed.

But it would be funny if the calculators turned into palm pilots though.

Well, Palm Pilots can be turned into glorified calculators through third-party software ...

-- nik