TI-84 Plus series
Encyclopedia
The TI-84 Plus is a graphing calculator
made by Texas Instruments
which was released in early 2004. There is no original TI-84, only the TI-84 Plus and TI-84 Plus Silver Edition models. It is an enhanced version of the TI-83 Plus
. The key-by-key correspondence is relatively the same, but the 84 features some improved hardware. The memory is about 3 times as large, and CPU
about 2.5 times as fast (over the TI-83
and TI-83 Plus). A USB port and built-in clock functionality were also added. The USB port on the TI-84 Plus series is USB On-The-Go
compliant, similar to the next generation TI-Nspire calculator, which supports connecting to USB based data collection devices and probes, and supports device to device transfers over USB rather than over the serial link port.
The TI-84 Plus Silver Edition was released in 2004 as an upgrade to the TI-83 Plus Silver Edition. Like the TI-83 Plus Silver Edition, it features a 15 MHz
Zilog Z80
processor and 24 kB
user available RAM
. The chip
is 128 kB, but TI
has not made an OS
that uses all of it. Newer calculators have a RAM chip
that is only 48 kB. All calculators with the letter H or later as the last letter in the serial code have fewer ram pages, causing some programs to not run correctly.. There is 1.5 MB
of user-accessible Flash ROM. Like the standard TI-84 Plus, the Silver Edition includes a built-in USB port, a built-in clock, and assembly support. It uses 4 AAA batteries and a backup button cell
battery. The TI-84 Plus Silver Edition comes preloaded with a variety of programs, including App4Math, an interface upgrade that allows students to input math problems exactly as they appear in the textbook. These programs are also available for the TI-84 Plus, but they must be downloaded separately.
TI offers a special yellow version of the TI-84 Plus, inscribed with the words "School Property", for schools to loan out to students. This special design was produced in effort to combat theft. Owners can buy other interchangeable colored face-plates and slide-cases online. A kickstand-style slide case and other accessories are also available. Although graphing calculators have been called inexpensive in education reform research, the TI-84 Plus Silver Edition costs $149.00 as of 2011 on the TI online store.
s which can be downloaded or programmed into the calculators: TI-BASIC
, Z80 assembly language
, and Flash applications (also written in Z80 assembly). In addition, there are programs available that are able to compile or interpret other programming languages. There are a wide range of applications that this produces, from science classes, to games, to calculus
to note taking (when put together with a separately sold keyboard).
The TI-84 Plus Series is exactly like its predecessor in that it can be used on the SAT
and ACT examinations as well as International Baccalaureate examinations. However in some cases those administering the exam may reset the calculator's memory beforehand to prevent cheating through the use of built in programs or other data.
When OS
2.30 was initially released, users noticed the speed of graphing was greatly reduced. The explanation was that the update added asymptote
checking in graphing.
In January 2006, Texas Instruments released v2.40 of the operating system for the TI-84 Plus series. The most noticeable addition to the new OS was the "Press-To-Test" feature that allowed a teacher to disable any programs installed on the calculator, so they cannot be used on tests, etc.
As of OS version 2.53MP which was released in February 2010, support was added for prettyprint
ed expressions. However, some programs stopped working correctly in this OS version, or were running slower. The current OS version is 2.55MP which was released in January 2011.
In July 2009, a community-made patch now allows user-made operating systems to be easily uploaded onto the TI-84 plus series. Shortly after the patch was developed, the RSA keys for the calculator's operating system were factored via brute force. In response to this, some of the newer hardware revisions only accept other RSA keys, making it harder to load user-made operating systems or old TI operating systems (2.53MP and earlier).
Flash ROM
RAM
Display
I/O
USB
Power
Integrated programming language
s
-like language for calculators, unofficially dubbed TI-BASIC
. Programming for the TI-84 Plus is nearly identical to programming for the TI-83 Plus, with a few new functions in both TI-BASIC and the calculator's assembly support that do not exist on earlier models and OS versions.
Graphing calculator
A graphing calculator typically refers to a class of handheld calculators that are capable of plotting graphs, solving simultaneous equations, and performing numerous other tasks with variables...
made by Texas Instruments
Texas Instruments
Texas Instruments Inc. , widely known as TI, is an American company based in Dallas, Texas, United States, which develops and commercializes semiconductor and computer technology...
which was released in early 2004. There is no original TI-84, only the TI-84 Plus and TI-84 Plus Silver Edition models. It is an enhanced version of the TI-83 Plus
TI-83 series
The TI-83 series of graphing calculators is manufactured by Texas Instruments.The original TI-83 is itself an upgraded version of the TI-82. Released in 1996, it is one of the most used graphing calculators for students...
. The key-by-key correspondence is relatively the same, but the 84 features some improved hardware. The memory is about 3 times as large, and CPU
Central processing unit
The central processing unit is the portion of a computer system that carries out the instructions of a computer program, to perform the basic arithmetical, logical, and input/output operations of the system. The CPU plays a role somewhat analogous to the brain in the computer. The term has been in...
about 2.5 times as fast (over the TI-83
TI-83 series
The TI-83 series of graphing calculators is manufactured by Texas Instruments.The original TI-83 is itself an upgraded version of the TI-82. Released in 1996, it is one of the most used graphing calculators for students...
and TI-83 Plus). A USB port and built-in clock functionality were also added. The USB port on the TI-84 Plus series is USB On-The-Go
USB On-The-Go
USB On-The-Go, often abbreviated USB OTG, is a specification that allows USB devices such as digital audio players or mobile phones to act as a host allowing a USB Flash Drive, mouse, or keyboard to be attached.- Architecture :...
compliant, similar to the next generation TI-Nspire calculator, which supports connecting to USB based data collection devices and probes, and supports device to device transfers over USB rather than over the serial link port.
The TI-84 Plus Silver Edition was released in 2004 as an upgrade to the TI-83 Plus Silver Edition. Like the TI-83 Plus Silver Edition, it features a 15 MHz
Hertz
The hertz is the SI unit of frequency defined as the number of cycles per second of a periodic phenomenon. One of its most common uses is the description of the sine wave, particularly those used in radio and audio applications....
Zilog Z80
Zilog Z80
The Zilog Z80 is an 8-bit microprocessor designed by Zilog and sold from July 1976 onwards. It was widely used both in desktop and embedded computer designs as well as for military purposes...
processor and 24 kB
Kilobyte
The kilobyte is a multiple of the unit byte for digital information. Although the prefix kilo- means 1000, the term kilobyte and symbol KB have historically been used to refer to either 1024 bytes or 1000 bytes, dependent upon context, in the fields of computer science and information...
user available RAM
Ram
-Animals:*Ram, an uncastrated male sheep*Ram cichlid, a species of freshwater fish endemic to Colombia and Venezuela-Military:*Battering ram*Ramming, a military tactic in which one vehicle runs into another...
. The chip
Integrated circuit
An integrated circuit or monolithic integrated circuit is an electronic circuit manufactured by the patterned diffusion of trace elements into the surface of a thin substrate of semiconductor material...
is 128 kB, but TI
Texas Instruments
Texas Instruments Inc. , widely known as TI, is an American company based in Dallas, Texas, United States, which develops and commercializes semiconductor and computer technology...
has not made an OS
Operating system
An operating system is a set of programs that manage computer hardware resources and provide common services for application software. The operating system is the most important type of system software in a computer system...
that uses all of it. Newer calculators have a RAM chip
Integrated circuit
An integrated circuit or monolithic integrated circuit is an electronic circuit manufactured by the patterned diffusion of trace elements into the surface of a thin substrate of semiconductor material...
that is only 48 kB. All calculators with the letter H or later as the last letter in the serial code have fewer ram pages, causing some programs to not run correctly.. There is 1.5 MB
Megabyte
The megabyte is a multiple of the unit byte for digital information storage or transmission with two different values depending on context: bytes generally for computer memory; and one million bytes generally for computer storage. The IEEE Standards Board has decided that "Mega will mean 1 000...
of user-accessible Flash ROM. Like the standard TI-84 Plus, the Silver Edition includes a built-in USB port, a built-in clock, and assembly support. It uses 4 AAA batteries and a backup button cell
Button cell
A watch battery or button cell is a small single cell battery shaped as a squat cylinder typically 5 to 12 mm in diameter and 1 to 6 mm high—like a button on a garment, hence the name. Button cells are used to power small portable electronics devices such as wrist watches, pocket...
battery. The TI-84 Plus Silver Edition comes preloaded with a variety of programs, including App4Math, an interface upgrade that allows students to input math problems exactly as they appear in the textbook. These programs are also available for the TI-84 Plus, but they must be downloaded separately.
TI offers a special yellow version of the TI-84 Plus, inscribed with the words "School Property", for schools to loan out to students. This special design was produced in effort to combat theft. Owners can buy other interchangeable colored face-plates and slide-cases online. A kickstand-style slide case and other accessories are also available. Although graphing calculators have been called inexpensive in education reform research, the TI-84 Plus Silver Edition costs $149.00 as of 2011 on the TI online store.
Software
There are three different types of programComputer program
A computer program is a sequence of instructions written to perform a specified task with a computer. A computer requires programs to function, typically executing the program's instructions in a central processor. The program has an executable form that the computer can use directly to execute...
s which can be downloaded or programmed into the calculators: TI-BASIC
TI-BASIC
TI-BASIC is the unofficial name of a BASIC-like language built into Texas Instruments 's graphing calculators, including the TI-83 series, TI-84 Plus series, TI-89 series, TI-92 series , TI-73, and TI-Nspire...
, Z80 assembly language
Assembly language
An assembly language is a low-level programming language for computers, microprocessors, microcontrollers, and other programmable devices. It implements a symbolic representation of the machine codes and other constants needed to program a given CPU architecture...
, and Flash applications (also written in Z80 assembly). In addition, there are programs available that are able to compile or interpret other programming languages. There are a wide range of applications that this produces, from science classes, to games, to calculus
Calculus
Calculus is a branch of mathematics focused on limits, functions, derivatives, integrals, and infinite series. This subject constitutes a major part of modern mathematics education. It has two major branches, differential calculus and integral calculus, which are related by the fundamental theorem...
to note taking (when put together with a separately sold keyboard).
The TI-84 Plus Series is exactly like its predecessor in that it can be used on the SAT
SAT
The SAT Reasoning Test is a standardized test for college admissions in the United States. The SAT is owned, published, and developed by the College Board, a nonprofit organization in the United States. It was formerly developed, published, and scored by the Educational Testing Service which still...
and ACT examinations as well as International Baccalaureate examinations. However in some cases those administering the exam may reset the calculator's memory beforehand to prevent cheating through the use of built in programs or other data.
When OS
Operating system
An operating system is a set of programs that manage computer hardware resources and provide common services for application software. The operating system is the most important type of system software in a computer system...
2.30 was initially released, users noticed the speed of graphing was greatly reduced. The explanation was that the update added asymptote
Asymptote
In analytic geometry, an asymptote of a curve is a line such that the distance between the curve and the line approaches zero as they tend to infinity. Some sources include the requirement that the curve may not cross the line infinitely often, but this is unusual for modern authors...
checking in graphing.
In January 2006, Texas Instruments released v2.40 of the operating system for the TI-84 Plus series. The most noticeable addition to the new OS was the "Press-To-Test" feature that allowed a teacher to disable any programs installed on the calculator, so they cannot be used on tests, etc.
As of OS version 2.53MP which was released in February 2010, support was added for prettyprint
Prettyprint
Prettyprint is the application of any of various stylistic formatting conventions to text, source code, markup, and other similar kinds of content. These formatting conventions usually consist of changes in positioning, spacing, color, contrast, size and similar modifications intended to make the...
ed expressions. However, some programs stopped working correctly in this OS version, or were running slower. The current OS version is 2.55MP which was released in January 2011.
In July 2009, a community-made patch now allows user-made operating systems to be easily uploaded onto the TI-84 plus series. Shortly after the patch was developed, the RSA keys for the calculator's operating system were factored via brute force. In response to this, some of the newer hardware revisions only accept other RSA keys, making it harder to load user-made operating systems or old TI operating systems (2.53MP and earlier).
Technical specifications
CPUCentral processing unit
The central processing unit is the portion of a computer system that carries out the instructions of a computer program, to perform the basic arithmetical, logical, and input/output operations of the system. The CPU plays a role somewhat analogous to the brain in the computer. The term has been in...
- Zilog Z80Zilog Z80The Zilog Z80 is an 8-bit microprocessor designed by Zilog and sold from July 1976 onwards. It was widely used both in desktop and embedded computer designs as well as for military purposes...
15 MHz, with 6 MHz compatibility mode.
Flash ROM
- Plus Edition: 480 KBKilobyteThe kilobyte is a multiple of the unit byte for digital information. Although the prefix kilo- means 1000, the term kilobyte and symbol KB have historically been used to refer to either 1024 bytes or 1000 bytes, dependent upon context, in the fields of computer science and information...
user accessible of 1 MB - Silver Edition: 1.5 MBMegabyteThe megabyte is a multiple of the unit byte for digital information storage or transmission with two different values depending on context: bytes generally for computer memory; and one million bytes generally for computer storage. The IEEE Standards Board has decided that "Mega will mean 1 000...
user accessible of 2 MB - Third-party software permits usage of FAT16-formatted USB drives
RAM
Random-access memory
Random access memory is a form of computer data storage. Today, it takes the form of integrated circuits that allow stored data to be accessed in any order with a worst case performance of constant time. Strictly speaking, modern types of DRAM are therefore not random access, as data is read in...
- 24 KB RAM user accessible of 128KB (48KB on newer models)
Display
Electronic visual display
An electronic visual display is display technology which incorporates flat panel displays, performs as a video display, output device for presentation of images transmitted electronically, for visual reception, without producing a permanent record....
- Text: 16×8 characters (normal font)
- Graphics: 96 (0-95) ×64 (0-63) pixelPixelIn digital imaging, a pixel, or pel, is a single point in a raster image, or the smallest addressable screen element in a display device; it is the smallest unit of picture that can be represented or controlled....
s, monochrome (software grayscale can be used)
I/O
I/O
I/O may refer to:* Input/output, a system of communication for information processing systems* Input-output model, an economic model of flow prediction between sectors...
- Link port, 9.6 kbit/s
- 50 button built-in keypad
USB
Power
- 4 AAA batteriesAAA batteryA triple A or AAA battery is a standard size of dry cell battery commonly used in portable electronic devices. A carbon-zinc battery in this size is designated by IEC as "R03", by ANSI C18.1 as "24", by old JIS standard as "UM 4", and by other manufacturer and national standard designations that...
plus 1 SR44SW or 303 silver oxide battery for backupBackupIn information technology, a backup or the process of backing up is making copies of data which may be used to restore the original after a data loss event. The verb form is back up in two words, whereas the noun is backup....
Integrated programming language
Programming language
A programming language is an artificial language designed to communicate instructions to a machine, particularly a computer. Programming languages can be used to create programs that control the behavior of a machine and/or to express algorithms precisely....
s
- TI-BASICTI-BASICTI-BASIC is the unofficial name of a BASIC-like language built into Texas Instruments 's graphing calculators, including the TI-83 series, TI-84 Plus series, TI-89 series, TI-92 series , TI-73, and TI-Nspire...
and machine codeMachine codeMachine code or machine language is a system of impartible instructions executed directly by a computer's central processing unit. Each instruction performs a very specific task, typically either an operation on a unit of data Machine code or machine language is a system of impartible instructions...
. AssemblyAssembly languageAn assembly language is a low-level programming language for computers, microprocessors, microcontrollers, and other programmable devices. It implements a symbolic representation of the machine codes and other constants needed to program a given CPU architecture...
and CC (programming language)C is a general-purpose computer programming language developed between 1969 and 1973 by Dennis Ritchie at the Bell Telephone Laboratories for use with the Unix operating system....
require a computerComputerA computer is a programmable machine designed to sequentially and automatically carry out a sequence of arithmetic or logical operations. The particular sequence of operations can be changed readily, allowing the computer to solve more than one kind of problem...
with a Z80 cross-compiler or an on-calc assembler.
Programming
The TI-84 Plus is based heavily on its predecessor, the TI-83 Plus. As with all other calculators in the series, the TI-84 Plus supports native Z80 assembly as well as TI's interpreted, BASICBASIC
BASIC is a family of general-purpose, high-level programming languages whose design philosophy emphasizes ease of use - the name is an acronym from Beginner's All-purpose Symbolic Instruction Code....
-like language for calculators, unofficially dubbed TI-BASIC
TI-BASIC
TI-BASIC is the unofficial name of a BASIC-like language built into Texas Instruments 's graphing calculators, including the TI-83 series, TI-84 Plus series, TI-89 series, TI-92 series , TI-73, and TI-Nspire...
. Programming for the TI-84 Plus is nearly identical to programming for the TI-83 Plus, with a few new functions in both TI-BASIC and the calculator's assembly support that do not exist on earlier models and OS versions.
External links
- TI Education Portal
- ticalc.org The flagship hobbyist program- and game-hosting archives
- WikiTI is a wikiWikiA wiki is a website that allows the creation and editing of any number of interlinked web pages via a web browser using a simplified markup language or a WYSIWYG text editor. Wikis are typically powered by wiki software and are often used collaboratively by multiple users. Examples include...
documenting the hardware and operation system of the TI-83 Series and TI-84 Series of calculators.