TI-92 series
Encyclopedia
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...
s are a line of calculators produced 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...
. They include: the TI-92 (1995), the TI-92 Plus (1998,1999), and the Voyage 200 (2002). The design of these relatively large calculators includes a QWERTY
QWERTY
QWERTY is the most common modern-day keyboard layout. The name comes from the first six letters appearing in the topleft letter row of the keyboard, read left to right: Q-W-E-R-T-Y. The QWERTY design is based on a layout created for the Sholes and Glidden typewriter and sold to Remington in the...
keyboard. Because of this keyboard, it was given the status of a "computer
Computer
A 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...
" rather than "calculator" by American testing facilities and cannot be used on tests such as 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...
or AP Exams while the similar TI-89 can be.
TI-92
The TI-92 was originally released in 1995, and was the first symbolic calculator made by Texas InstrumentsTexas 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...
. It came with a computer algebra system
Computer algebra system
A computer algebra system is a software program that facilitates symbolic mathematics. The core functionality of a CAS is manipulation of mathematical expressions in symbolic form.-Symbolic manipulations:...
(CAS) based on Derive
Derive computer algebra system
Derive was a computer algebra system, developed as a successor to muMATH by the Soft Warehouse in Honolulu, Hawaii, now owned by Texas Instruments. Derive was implemented in muLISP, also by Soft Warehouse. The first release was in 1988. It was discontinued on June 29, 2007 in favor of TI-Nspire...
, and was one of the first calculators to offer 3D graphing. The TI-92 was not allowed on most standardized tests due mostly to its QWERTY keyboard. Its larger size was also rather cumbersome compared to other graphing calculators. In response to these concerns, Texas Instruments introduced the TI-89 which is functionally similar to the original TI-92, but featured Flash ROM and 188 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...
RAM, and a smaller design without the QWERTY keyboard. The TI-92 was then replaced by the TI-92 Plus, which was essentially a TI-89 with the larger QWERTY keyboard design of the TI-92. Eventually, TI released the Voyage 200, which is a smaller, lighter version of the TI-92 Plus with a QWERTY keyboard and more Flash ROM.
The TI-92 is no longer sold through TI or its dealers, and is very hard to come by in stores.
TI-92 Plus
The TI-92 Plus (or TI-92+) was released in 1998, slightly after the creation of the almost-identical (in terms of software) TI-89TI-89 series
The TI-89 and the TI-89 Titanium are graphing calculators developed by Texas Instruments. They are differentiated from most other TI graphing calculators by their computer algebra system, which allows symbolic manipulation of algebraic expressions...
, while physically looking exactly as its predecessor, the TI-92 (which lacked flash memory
Flash memory
Flash memory is a non-volatile computer storage chip that can be electrically erased and reprogrammed. It was developed from EEPROM and must be erased in fairly large blocks before these can be rewritten with new data...
). Besides increased memory over its predecessor, the TI-92 Plus also featured a sharper "black" screen, which had first appeared on the TI-89 and which eases viewing.
The TI-92 Plus was available both as a stand-alone product, and as a user-installable Plus module which could be added to original TI-92 units to gain most of the feature improvements, most notably Flash Memory. A stand-alone TI-92 Plus calculator was functionally similar to the HW2 TI-89, while a module-upgraded TI-92 was functionally similar to the HW1 TI-89. Both versions could run the same releases of operating system software.
As of 2002, the TI-92 Plus was succeeded by the Voyage 200 and is no longer sold through TI or its dealers.
Voyage 200
Voyage 200 (also V200 and Voyage 200 PLT) was released in 2002, being the replacement for the TI-92 Plus, with its only hardware upgrade over that calculator being an increase in the amount of flash memory available (2.7 megabyteMegabyte
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...
s for the Voyage 200 vs. 702 kilobyte
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...
s for the TI-92 Plus). It also features a somewhat smaller and more rounded case design.
Like its predecessor, Voyage 200 is an advanced calculator that supports plotting multiple functions on the same graph, parametric, polar, 3D, and differential equation graphing as well as sequence representations. Its symbolic calculation system is based on a trimmed version of the calculation software Derive
Derive computer algebra system
Derive was a computer algebra system, developed as a successor to muMATH by the Soft Warehouse in Honolulu, Hawaii, now owned by Texas Instruments. Derive was implemented in muLISP, also by Soft Warehouse. The first release was in 1988. It was discontinued on June 29, 2007 in favor of TI-Nspire...
. In addition to its algebra and calculus capabilities, the Voyage 200 is packaged with list, spreadsheet, and data processing applications and can perform curve fitting
Curve fitting
Curve fitting is the process of constructing a curve, or mathematical function, that has the best fit to a series of data points, possibly subject to constraints. Curve fitting can involve either interpolation, where an exact fit to the data is required, or smoothing, in which a "smooth" function...
to a number of standard functions and other statistical analysis
Statistics
Statistics is the study of the collection, organization, analysis, and interpretation of data. It deals with all aspects of this, including the planning of data collection in terms of the design of surveys and experiments....
operations. The calculator can also run most programs written for the TI-89 and TI-92 as well as programs specifically written for it. A large number of applications, ranging from games to interactive periodic table
Periodic table
The periodic table of the chemical elements is a tabular display of the 118 known chemical elements organized by selected properties of their atomic structures. Elements are presented by increasing atomic number, the number of protons in an atom's atomic nucleus...
s can be found online.
The V200 is easily mistaken for a PDA
Personal digital assistant
A personal digital assistant , also known as a palmtop computer, or personal data assistant, is a mobile device that functions as a personal information manager. Current PDAs often have the ability to connect to the Internet...
or a small computer because of its massive enclosure and its full QWERTY keyboard — a feature which disqualifies the calculator for use in many tests and examinations, including the American ACT
ACT (examination)
The ACT is a standardized test for high school achievement and college admissions in the United States produced by ACT, Inc. It was first administered in November 1959 by Everett Franklin Lindquist as a competitor to the College Board's Scholastic Aptitude Test, now the SAT Reasoning Test...
and SAT. The TI-89 Titanium offers exactly the same functionality in a smaller format that is also legal on the SAT test, but not the ACT test.
Technical specifications
| TI-92 TI-92II | TI-92 Plus | Voyage 200 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Display | 240×128 pixels | 240×128 pixels | 240×128 pixels |
| CPU | Motorola MC68000 Motorola 68000 The Motorola 68000 is a 16/32-bit CISC microprocessor core designed and marketed by Freescale Semiconductor... 10 MHz |
Motorola MC68000 12 MHz |
Motorola MC68000 12 MHz |
| RAM | 128 KB 70 KB user-available(TI-92) 256 KB 136 KB user-available(TI-92II) |
256 KB (188 KB user-available) |
256 KB (188 KB user-available) |
| Flash ROM | 1 MB ROM Read-only memory Read-only memory is a class of storage medium used in computers and other electronic devices. Data stored in ROM cannot be modified, or can be modified only slowly or with difficulty, so it is mainly used to distribute firmware .In its strictest sense, ROM refers only... , (non-upgradeable) |
2 MB, (702 KB user-available) |
4 MB, (2.7 MB user-available) |
| Link capability |
2.5 mm I/O port | 2.5 mm I/O port | 2.5 mm I/O port |
| Power | 4×AA AA battery An AA battery is a standard size of battery. Batteries of this size are the most commonly used type of in portable electronic devices. An AA battery is composed of a single electrochemical cell... , 1×CR2032 |
4×AA, 1×CR2032 |
4×AAA, 1×CR1616 |
| Release | 1995(TI-92) 1996(TI-92II) |
1998,1999 | 2002 |
Note. Official page specifies user-available ROM amount for TI-92 Plus as 702K http://education.ti.com/educationportal/sites/US/productDetail/us_ti92p.html?bid=5, but other sources specify it as 388K http://www.vernier.com/caliper/spring99/cbl.html. This is due to the TI-92+ coming with The Geometer's Sketchpad pre-installed, which uses the 314 KB difference.