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Texas Instruments Programmables

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Back in the 1970's, you were either a TI person or an HP person. The two camps had irreconcilable differences, constantly eager to prove the superiority of their chosen brand of calculators. TI calculators, of course, had a major advantage: they were a lot cheaper. Which is probably one reason why they were more readily available in my native Hungary.

I admit: at the time I also preferred the "AOS" data entry method (algebraic entry with operator precedence) of TI calculators over HP's RPN. Today, I am no longer sure: RPN, once you get used to it, is a lot more efficient, especially when it comes to calculator programming.

Back in the late 70s, however, it was a TI-59 that I was dreaming about. Today, I have several; sadly, except for "New Old Stock" machines, their card readers have either failed or are about to do so, and they're a lot more difficult to repair than the card readers of HP calculators. Yet another point in favor of HP technology!

Keystroke Programmables

Like Hewlett-Packard's, Texas Instruments' first "electronic slide rules" were non-programmable machines, including the SR-50/SR-51 line of products, effective rivals to HP's HP-35 and HP-45. Shortly after the legendary HP-65, however, TI also introduced its first programmables: the SR-56, and the high-end SR-52, a calculator with magnetic cards and an I/O connector for an external printer unit. And now the race was on: for many years afterwards, TI and HP were leapfrogging each other with ever more impressive technological achievements.

Electronic Slide Rules Texas Instruments was one of several early manufacturers who called their scientific calculators electronic "slide rules". The distinction was important. To an engineer of the 1960s, a calculator (mechanical or electrical) meant a digital device performing the four basic arithmetic functions; the values of transcendental functions were usually computed using printed tables or slide rules. High-end electronic calculators in the 1970s opened up a new frontier: portable calculating devices that went beyond the four arithmetic functions, and packed ever more of the functionality of the engineer's slide rule into a pocket-sized package.
-	Model	Type	Display	Programming model	Programming features	Memory	Special functions
	SR-52	Scientific	10+2 LED digits	Partially merged keystroke (224 program steps)	Conditionals, Branching, Subroutines, Labels, Indirect addressing	60(22) numbers	Trigonometrics, Exponentials, Magnetic cards
	SR-56	Scientific	10+2 LED digits	Partially merged keystroke (100 program steps)	Conditionals, Branching, Subroutines	10 numbers	Trigonometrics, Exponentials

 

The Ultimate LED Series The second generation of TI calculators featured a machine that can easily be called the ultimate LED programmable calculator: the TI-59. This machine's prodigious amount of memory, magnetic card, solid state software modules, and printer interface made it a true marvel of its time.
-	Model	Type	Display	Programming model	Programming features	Memory	Special functions
	TI-57	Scientific	8+2 LED digits	Fully-merged keystroke entry (50 program steps)	Conditionals, Branching, Subroutines, Labels	8 numbers	Trigonometrics, Exponentials, Standard deviation
	TI-58	Scientific	10(8+2) LED digits	Partially merged keystroke (480 program steps)	Conditionals, Branching, Subroutines, Labels, Indirect addressing	60(0) numbers	Trigonometrics, Exponentials, Linear regression
	TI-58C	Scientific	10(8+2) LED digits	Partially merged keystroke (480 program steps)	Conditionals, Branching, Subroutines, Labels, Indirect addressing	60(0) numbers	Trigonometrics, Exponentials, Linear regression, Continuous memory
	TI-59	Scientific	10(8+2) LED digits	Partially merged keystroke (960 program steps)	Conditionals, Branching, Subroutines, Labels, Indirect addressing	100(0) numbers	Trigonometrics, Exponentials, Linear regression, Magnetic cards

 

Low-end LED Programmables Before the era of LED calculators has drawn to a close, we saw the birth of a new concept in programmable scientific calculators: that of a low-end machine, cheap in construction, with minimal programming capabilities.
-	Model	Type	Display	Programming model	Programming features	Memory	Special functions
	MBA	Financial	10(8+2) LED digits	Keystroke entry (32 program steps)		12(8) numbers	Exponentials, Linear regression, Financial
	TI-42 MBA	Financial	10(8+2) LED digits	Keystroke entry (32 program steps)		10(8) numbers	Exponentials, Linear regression, Financial
	TI-51-III	Scientific	8+2 LED digits	Partially merged keystroke (32 program steps)		10(8) numbers	Trigonometrics, Exponentials, Linear regression
	TI-55	Scientific	8+2 LED digits	Partially merged keystroke (32 program steps)		10(8) numbers	Trigonometrics, Exponentials, Linear regression

 

TI-55 LCD Family Among the first Texas Instruments programmable calculators with a liquid crystal display was a series of machines that built upon the earlier success of the TI-55 and the MBA. These machines were characterized by a clean keyboard layout and a very simple programming model, capable of storing only a few dozen program steps.
-	Model	Type	Display	Programming model	Programming features	Memory	Special functions
	BA-54	Financial	8(5+2) LCD digits	Keystroke entry (40 program steps)		5(0) numbers	Exponentials, Financial, Continuous memory
	BA-55	Financial	8(5+2) LCD digits	Keystroke entry (40 program steps)		5(0) numbers	Exponentials, Financial, Continuous memory
	TI-53	Scientific	8(5+2) LCD digits	Keystroke entry (32 program steps)		1 numbers	Trigonometrics, Exponentials, Continuous memory
	TI-55-II	Scientific	8+2 LCD digits	Partially merged keystroke (56 program steps)		8(1) numbers	Trigonometrics, Exponentials, Hyperbolics, Linear regression, Continuous memory, Unit conversions
	TI-55-III	Scientific	8+2 LCD digits	Partially merged keystroke (56 program steps)		8(1) numbers	Trigonometrics, Exponentials, Hyperbolics, Linear regression, Continuous memory, Unit conversions
	TI-56	Scientific	8+2 LCD digits	Partially merged keystroke (56 program steps)		8(1) numbers	Trigonometrics, Exponentials, Hyperbolics, Linear regression, Integration, Continuous memory, Unit conversions

 

LCD Programmables Other early LCD programmables offerred an increased amount of memory, but surprisingly (with the exception of the successors to the TI-57) the programming model remained primitive.
-	Model	Type	Display	Programming model	Programming features	Memory	Special functions
	TI-57 LCD	Scientific	8+2 LCD digits	Fully-merged keystroke entry (49 program steps)	Conditionals, Branching, Subroutines, Labels	7(0) numbers	Trigonometrics, Exponentials, Continuous memory
	TI-57 LCD Constant Memory	Scientific	8+2 LCD digits	Fully-merged keystroke entry (49 program steps)	Conditionals, Branching, Subroutines, Labels	7(0) numbers	Trigonometrics, Exponentials, Continuous memory
	TI-57 II	Scientific	8+2 LCD digits	Fully-merged keystroke entry (49 program steps)	Conditionals, Branching, Subroutines, Labels	7(0) numbers	Trigonometrics, Exponentials, Continuous memory
	TI-60	Scientific	10(7+2) LCD digits	Keystroke entry (84 program steps)		12(1) numbers	Trigonometrics, Exponentials, Hyperbolics, Linear regression, Integration, Continuous memory, baseN, Unit conversions
	TI-60X	Scientific	12 LCD characters	Formula programming (96 program steps)		12(0) numbers	Trigonometrics, Exponentials, Hyperbolics, Linear regression, Fractions, Complex, Continuous memory, baseN, Unit conversions
	TI-68	Scientific	12 LCD characters	Formula programming (440 program steps)		55(0) numbers	Trigonometrics, Exponentials, Hyperbolics, Linear regression, Solver, Integration, Complex, Continuous memory, baseN, Unit conversions, Constants

 

"Galaxy" series The "Galaxy" series represented a change in both appearance and design. Externally, they were characterized by a horizontal layout; internally, these machines were no longer TI-designed, for instance the chipset of the TI-66 was made by Toshiba.
-	Model	Type	Display	Programming model	Programming features	Memory	Special functions
	TI-62 Galaxy	Scientific	10+2 LCD digits	Fully-merged keystroke entry (112 program steps)	Conditionals, Branching, Subroutines, Labels	10(0) numbers	Trigonometrics, Exponentials, Linear regression, Continuous memory
No Image Available	TI-64	N/A	LCD
	TI-65	Scientific	10+2 LCD digits	Fully-merged keystroke entry (112 program steps)	Conditionals, Branching, Subroutines, Labels	16(0) numbers	Trigonometrics, Exponentials, Hyperbolics, Linear regression, Integration, Complex, Continuous memory, Real-time clock, baseN, Unit conversions, Constants
	TI-66	Scientific	10(8+2) LCD digits	Partially merged keystroke (512 program steps)	Conditionals, Branching, Subroutines, Labels, Indirect addressing	64(0) numbers	Trigonometrics, Exponentials, Linear regression, Continuous memory
	TI-67 Galaxy	Scientific	12 LCD characters	Formula programming (1536 bytes)	Conditionals, Branching, Subroutines, Labels	1536(0) bytes	Trigonometrics, Exponentials, Hyperbolics, Linear regression, Integration, Fractions, Continuous memory, Constants

 

High-end Programmables At the highest end of TI's keyboard programmable product line are two notable machines: the TI-88 is a legendary unreleased model, whereas the TI-95, despite having the appearance of a BASIC programmable pocket computer, is in fact another high-end keystroke programmable.
-	Model	Type	Display	Programming model	Programming features	Memory	Special functions
	TI-88	Scientific	16 LCD characters	Keystroke entry (960 program steps)	Conditionals, Branching, Subroutines, Labels, Indirect addressing	120(0) numbers	Trigonometrics, Exponentials, Linear regression, Continuous memory, Real-time clock, Sound
	TI-95	Scientific	16 LCD characters	Keystroke entry (1000 program steps)	Conditionals, Branching, Subroutines, Labels, Indirect addressing	250(0) numbers	Trigonometrics, Exponentials, Linear regression, Continuous memory, baseN

Handheld Computers

Like other manufacturers, Texas Instruments also made a few handheld computers; in TI's case, all were programmable in the BASIC language.

BASIC Programmables Before the era of LED calculators has drawn to a close, we saw the birth of a new concept in programmable scientific calculators: that of a low-end machine, cheap in construction, with minimal programming capabilities.
-	Model	Type	Display	Programming model	Programming features	Memory	Special functions
	CC-40	BASIC Programmable	31 LCD characters	BASIC (8 kilobytes)	Conditionals, Branching, Subroutines, Indirect addressing	8(0) kilobytes	Trigonometrics, Exponentials, Continuous memory
	TI-74	Scientific	31 LCD characters	BASIC (8 kilobytes)	Conditionals, Branching, Subroutines, Labels, Indirect addressing	8(0) kilobytes	Trigonometrics, Exponentials, Hyperbolics, Linear regression, Continuous memory
	TI-74S	Scientific	31 LCD characters	BASIC (8 kilobytes)	Conditionals, Branching, Subroutines, Labels, Indirect addressing	8(0) kilobytes	Trigonometrics, Exponentials, Hyperbolics, Linear regression, Continuous memory

Graphing Calculators

Presently, Texas Instruments is most famous for its highly successful line of educational graphing calculators, which became the de facto standard in many classrooms in North America and elsewhere. The high-end models, in particular the TI-89, give even Hewlett-Packard a run for their money, matching HP's top-of-the-line models in both features and quality.

Graphing Calculators TI offers a variety of graphing calculators for all students from high school to college.
-	Model	Type	Display	Programming model	Programming features	Memory	Special functions
	TI-73	Graphing	96×64 LCD pixels	Formula programming (28 kilobytes)	Conditionals, Branching, Subroutines, Labels, Indirect addressing	28(0) kilobytes	Trigonometrics, Exponentials, Hyperbolics, Linear regression, Graphing, Fractions, Continuous memory, Matrix, baseN
	TI-80	Graphing	64×48 LCD pixels	Formula programming (7 kilobytes)	Conditionals, Branching, Subroutines, Labels, Indirect addressing	7(0) kilobytes	Trigonometrics, Exponentials, Hyperbolics, Linear regression, Graphing, Continuous memory, Matrix, baseN
	TI-81	Graphing	96×64 LCD pixels	Formula programming (2400 bytes)	Conditionals, Branching, Subroutines, Labels, Indirect addressing	2400(0) bytes	Trigonometrics, Exponentials, Hyperbolics, Linear regression, Graphing, Continuous memory, Matrix, baseN
	TI-82	Graphing	96×64 LCD pixels	Formula programming (28 kilobytes)	Conditionals, Branching, Subroutines, Labels, Indirect addressing	28(0) kilobytes	Trigonometrics, Exponentials, Hyperbolics, Linear regression, Graphing, Continuous memory, Matrix, baseN
	TI-83	Graphing	96×64 LCD pixels	Formula programming (28 kilobytes)	Conditionals, Branching, Subroutines, Labels, Indirect addressing	28(0) kilobytes	Trigonometrics, Exponentials, Hyperbolics, Linear regression, Graphing, Solver, Integration, Continuous memory, Matrix, baseN
	TI-83 Plus	Graphing	96×64 LCD pixels	Formula programming (28 kilobytes)	Conditionals, Branching, Subroutines, Labels, Indirect addressing	28(0) kilobytes	Trigonometrics, Exponentials, Hyperbolics, Linear regression, Graphing, Solver, Integration, Continuous memory, Matrix, baseN
	TI-83 Plus SE	Graphing	96×64 LCD pixels	Formula programming (28 kilobytes)	Conditionals, Branching, Subroutines, Labels, Indirect addressing	24(0) kilobytes	Trigonometrics, Exponentials, Hyperbolics, Linear regression, Graphing, Solver, Integration, Continuous memory, Matrix, baseN
	TI-85	Graphing	128×64 LCD pixels	Formula programming (28 kilobytes)	Conditionals, Branching, Subroutines, Labels, Indirect addressing	28(0) kilobytes	Trigonometrics, Exponentials, Hyperbolics, Linear regression, Graphing, Solver, Integration, Continuous memory, Matrix, baseN, Unit conversions, Constants
	TI-86	Graphing	128×64 LCD pixels	Formula programming (96 kilobytes)	Conditionals, Branching, Subroutines, Labels, Indirect addressing	96(0) kilobytes	Trigonometrics, Exponentials, Hyperbolics, Linear regression, Graphing, Solver, Integration, Complex, Continuous memory, Matrix, baseN, Unit conversions, Constants

 

Advanced Graphing Calculators TI's advanced graphing calculators feature a 16-bit processor, high resolution display, a powerful programming language capable of symbolic manipulation, Flash programmability, and a considerable amount of memory.
-	Model	Type	Display	Programming model	Programming features	Memory	Special functions
	TI-89	Graphing	160×100 LCD pixels	Formula programming (192 kilobytes)	Conditionals, Branching, Subroutines, Labels, Indirect addressing	192(0) kilobytes	Trigonometrics, Exponentials, Hyperbolics, Linear regression, Graphing, Solver, Integration, Fractions, Complex, Symbolics, Continuous memory, Matrix
	TI-92	Graphing	240×120 LCD pixels	Formula programming (64 kilobytes)	Conditionals, Branching, Subroutines, Labels, Indirect addressing	64(0) kilobytes	Trigonometrics, Exponentials, Hyperbolics, Linear regression, Graphing, Solver, Integration, Fractions, Complex, Symbolics, Continuous memory, Matrix
	TI-92 Plus	Graphing	240×120 LCD pixels	Formula programming (192 kilobytes)	Conditionals, Branching, Subroutines, Labels, Indirect addressing	192(0) kilobytes	Trigonometrics, Exponentials, Hyperbolics, Linear regression, Graphing, Solver, Integration, Fractions, Complex, Symbolics, Continuous memory, Matrix
No Image Available	TI-92 II	Graphing	240×120 LCD pixels	Formula programming ( kilobytes)	Conditionals, Branching, Subroutines, Labels, Indirect addressing	kilobytes	Trigonometrics, Exponentials, Hyperbolics, Linear regression, Graphing, Solver, Integration, Fractions, Complex, Symbolics, Continuous memory, Matrix

Other Models

Texas Instruments models that were not yet added to any of the categories listed so far are shown below.
-	Model	Type	Display	Programming model	Programming features	Memory	Special functions
No Image Available	NSPIRE	Graphing	320×240 LCD pixels	(16 megabytes)			Trigonometrics, Exponentials, Graphing, Symbolics
Unconfirmed sighting	TI-84 Plus	Graphing	LCD pixels		Conditionals, Branching, Subroutines, Labels, Indirect addressing		Trigonometrics, Exponentials, Hyperbolics, Linear regression, Graphing, Continuous memory, Matrix, baseN
Unconfirmed sighting	TI-84 Plus SE	Graphing	LCD pixels		Conditionals, Branching, Subroutines, Labels, Indirect addressing		Trigonometrics, Exponentials, Hyperbolics, Linear regression, Graphing, Continuous memory, Matrix, baseN
No Image Available	TI-89 Titanium	Graphing	LCD pixels		Conditionals, Branching, Subroutines, Labels, Indirect addressing		Trigonometrics, Exponentials, Hyperbolics, Linear regression, Graphing, Symbolics, Continuous memory, Matrix, baseN
No Image Available	Voyage 200	Graphing	240×120 LCD pixels	Formula programming (192 kilobytes)	Conditionals, Branching, Subroutines, Labels, Indirect addressing	192(0) kilobytes	Trigonometrics, Exponentials, Hyperbolics, Linear regression, Graphing, Solver, Integration, Fractions, Complex, Symbolics, Continuous memory, Matrix

Variants/OEM Versions

Several Texas Instruments calculators were sold under the Tandy/Radio Shark store brand name.