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Ti-84 Evo

education.ti.com

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Re: Ti-84 Evo

#341

Post by zarzavat »

Arainach wrote: post #127
levocardia wrote: post #126

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Agreed, it's insane to me that in an era of Google Colab (et al) schools still require students to shell out >$100 for one of these. I'm sure there is some backroom arrangement with schools of some kind.

A lack of functionality is the point. You don't want a full CAS or Internet search results available, or many students will just take the easy route and not learn anything. Neither teachers nor school districts have the time or resources to audit every new tool someone wants to use, or to help students figure out how to use their preferred tool to do something - find something that works and just use that

It's a weird halfway house.

I had a cheap Casio fx calculator. It got me all the way through my exams in school and university. I had Mathematica at home.

While I can see that being very good on a TI-84 would help you complete exams faster and get better marks, is that a skill that we want students to learn? Being good on a fancy calculator is essentially useless in real life. In real life people use computers not fancy calculators.

IMO it's better to either allow only basic calculators, or to allow real mathematics software.

Re: Ti-84 Evo

#342

Post by Aeolun »

jacobolus wrote: post #304
kstrauser wrote: post #292

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Anyone here have an idea why the models jumped around like that? Like why'd the 82 come out after the 85, or the 83 after the 92?

They had different models with different capabilities. As they made minor style changes, they bumped the numbers slightly. The 81–82–83–84 were basically the same concept, as were the 85–86. The 89 and 92 were higher-end models. The 80 and 73 are simpler models intended for middle school. All of them are basically a multi-generational scam perpetrated against the hapless parents of American high school students who w…

Huh. I have only good memories of this calculator. Would buy for my kids in a heartbeat. The fact that it barely changed is a feature to me. I know exactly what they’d be getting.

Re: Ti-84 Evo

#343

Post by postalcoder »

sizzle wrote: post #274
clamprecht wrote: post #271

My TI-85 story. While I was in prison, around 1996 or 1997, I found out a friend had a TI-85 calculator. I realized it was programmable, so I borrowed it over the weekend and wrote a program to track his stock portfolio. It was the first time I had programmed anything in 2 or 3 years. Then I learned that the US Bureau of Prisons had a rule against any calculator (or device) that was "programmable". So I programmed th…

How long were you locked up in the clink for? Did you get any access to computers there? How did your time there affect you or change how you think? Thanks for sharing

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chris_Lamprecht

Re: Ti-84 Evo

#344

Post by poink »

As someone who built a custom serial cable (not my idea, greetz to the original designer) to load assembly programs on TI-85s for all my friends, the “approved for exams” shit is so funny

Re: Ti-84 Evo

#345

Post by kernz »

Classic hacker mindset - the rule said no programmable calculators, so you made it say it wasn't one. Security through labeling.

Re: Ti-84 Evo

#346

Post by incanus77 »

linguae wrote: post #145
LeoPanthera wrote: post #11

What calculators are you guys using that aren't in academia anymore and don't need the "exam approved" limitations? Or are we all just using software on our computers now. That would be sad. (I've had a Casio fx-991EX on my desk for a few years, that replaced a broken Casio fx-991ES. Though designed for academia, its operation is burned into my brain at this point.)

I collect HP calculators: I have an HP 12C, an HP 15C Collector's Edition (there are a few of them left still for sale), an HP 32Sii, and an HP 48SX. I sometimes use them, but whenever I'm in front of a computer (which is almost all the time), I find myself using the Unix dc command. Handheld calculators are nice, but outside of exam settings, I could use a smartphone or a computer, though calculators are nice when I…

I collect as well:

  HP-35 (1972, first scientific, first in space) - in leather case
  TI-30 (1976, first low-cost scientific)
  HP-12C (1981, financial, c. 2000 remanufacture)
  HP-15C (1982, advanced scientific) - in leather slipcase
  HP-16C (1982, computer programming) - in leather slipcase with manual
  TI-30 SLR (1982, TI’s first solar-powered scientific)
  HP-17B II (1990, financial)
  TI-85 (1992, TI’s first with link port)
  TI-82 (1993)
  TI-92 (1995, TI’s first with computer algebra system)
I use the HP-16C pretty regularly when I'm working on network protocol programming. I have good apps that do it, but there's something about having the calculator right in front of my keyboard rest and turning to it that I like more. In a pinch or outside the house I'll use JPRN instead.

https://github.com/zathras/jrpn

Re: Ti-84 Evo

#347

Post by mrexroad »

jacobolus wrote: post #304
kstrauser wrote: post #292

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Anyone here have an idea why the models jumped around like that? Like why'd the 82 come out after the 85, or the 83 after the 92?

They had different models with different capabilities. As they made minor style changes, they bumped the numbers slightly. The 81–82–83–84 were basically the same concept, as were the 85–86. The 89 and 92 were higher-end models. The 80 and 73 are simpler models intended for middle school. All of them are basically a multi-generational scam perpetrated against the hapless parents of American high school students who w…

> scam

… that continues no matter what. I gave my kid my 89 from the late 90s—I was happy to avoid the TI student tax. Then a year or two back, the college board banned the 89 from certain tests/classes and so I had to cough up for an 84. Even if you take care of your stuff, treat it well to pass on to your kids, the Man finds a way to extract their cut.

Re: Ti-84 Evo

#348

Post by pizzafeelsright »

clamprecht wrote: post #271

My TI-85 story. While I was in prison, around 1996 or 1997, I found out a friend had a TI-85 calculator. I realized it was programmable, so I borrowed it over the weekend and wrote a program to track his stock portfolio. It was the first time I had programmed anything in 2 or 3 years. Then I learned that the US Bureau of Prisons had a rule against any calculator (or device) that was "programmable". So I programmed th…

You're a hero of mine so here is my story.

Me in math class in 1996 - I had a TI-82 things are programmable so I have no formal education, my parents are illiterate, and taught myself to program, and I begged them to buy me one.

I spent time learning how to code on it, writing from scratch, the game Spyhunter.

I couldn't figure out how to draw with lines or pixels so I used ASCII or text.

I presented this to my teacher who told me "these aren't for games". I was crushed.

Re: Ti-84 Evo

#349

Post by brewdad »

the-grump wrote: post #272
ziofill wrote: post #153

About 25 years ago my parents got me a Ti84 as a surprise for Christmas and they hid it in the attic so I couldn't find it in the meantime. A few months went by and a couple days before Christmas, when it was time to wrap the presents they couldn't find it anymore. My dad went out and got a Casio something as a late minute replacement, and that was the calculator I used in high school and I never knew about this stor…

Every time I see a post about the TI calculators, I think about how much I dislike their interface, and it's all because I started out on a Casio.

I had a Casio because it was $10 cheaper than the TI. Man I was jealous of the "rich" kids.

Re: Ti-84 Evo

#350

Post by snvzz »

TI calculators peaked with TI-89/92/v200. Functionality, low latency UX, long battery life. These are still readily available in the second hand market, at very reasonable pricing (thanks to them selling well back then).

Unfortunately, ever since, they seem to have decided to imitate smartphones and focus on making restricted devices for exam taking, rather than tools to empower the user.

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