Saturday, May 23, 2015

Review: TI-84 Plus CE

Review:  TI-84 Plus CE


TI-84 Plus CE

  
Calculator Information:

Calculator:  TI-84 Plus CE
Manufacturer:  Texas Instruments
Twitter: @ticalculators

Price:  $119 - $135

Availability:  Currently online through select distributors.  I purchased mine from the Bach Company (website: http://www.bachcompany.com/ ).  For a complete list of vendors, check the Texas Instruments calculator website at http://education.ti.com/en/us/purchase/purchase  .   It should be available at popular retail stores, in many colors, by the time the next school year (2015-2016) comes around.

Current OS:  5.0.1.0012.

What’s in the package?

TI-84 Plus CE, standard mini-USB charging cable, calculator to calculator cable, warranty information, getting standard guide (fold out card), and a short operation manual (fold out card).  The full manual is found online from the TI Calculator website. 

If you want to see a video introduction of it, click this link:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F7OAG3dNpzE  


Key Features:

*  For those of you new to the TI-83/84 Plus family, the TI-84 Plus CE is the latest incarnation.  Like 2013’s TI-84 Plus C Silver Edition, the TI-84 Plus CE is a color graphing calculator, that has a rechargeable battery. 

* If you know how to operate any of the TI-83 or TI-84 calculators and are considering either an upgrade or adding this calculator to your collection, you will feel right at home operating the TI-84 Plus CE.  In general, you have the same interface and syntax (for most commands).  The best part is that the TI Basic programs (with few exceptions) can easily be transferred to the TI-84 Plus CE from older calculators.

* Mathematical features:

Mathematical:  All the standard scientific functions, integer and fractional part extraction, numeric derivative, numeric integral, numerical summation, and numerical solver.

Complex Numbers:  arithmetic, power, roots, exponential, and logarithmic.

Graphing:  Function, Parametric, Polar, Sequential

Matrices:  Up to 10 matrices can be stored. Operations include determinant, transpose, inverse, row operations, and generation of identity and random integers. 

Lists:  6 default list names but you can add more.  List operations include cumulative sum, sum of the list, dimension, and change between elements.

Statistics:  1 and 2 variable.  The regressions available are med-med, linear (two forms), quadratic, cubic, quartic, exponential, logarithmic, power, logistic, and sinusoidal. 

Programming: TI-Basic, Assembly, and Applications. 

Distributions:  Normal (with inverse), T (with inverse), Chi Square, F, Binomial, Poisson, and Geometric.

Colors:  Up to 15 different colors for graphing and displaying text can be used.

* Memory:  Archive 3 MB (1.92 MB available after the OS and default included apps), RAM:  154,000 bytes.

* Applications Included:  Finance (basic), CabriJr (geometry), Conics, Vernier EasyData (for classroom peripherals), Inequalz*, Periodic (table), PlySlmt2 (polynomial and simultaneous equation solver), Prob Sim (probability simulator), SciTools*, and Transfrm (dynamic graphing by including A, B, C, etc in functions).

Inequalz:  Run this app and you are able to graph inequalities as well as equalities complete with shading.

SciTools:  This adds constants, conversions, and vector operations.  Vector operations are 2D and are drawn.  Operations available are addition, subtraction, dot product, and cross product. Data/Graphs wizard is a statistics interface. 

MathPrint vs. Classic:  You can operate the TI-84 Plus CE in the classic mode, which the way older TI-83 Plus calculate, or in MathPrint.  In MathPrint, you can express calculations using templates.  With the faster processor, I don’t really think there is any advantage to using Classic mode any more (except for maybe to get used to syntax required for programming).

TI 84 Plus CE in action

SciTools app in action


What I like the Most:

* I am loving the increased amount of RAM that the TI-84 Plus CE has.  It has the most ram of any incarnation of the TI-83/84 family.  154,000 bytes are now available compared to the small 21,000 bytes that the TI-84 Plus C Silver Edition offered.

* The new software that is associated with the TI-84 Plus CE is the TI Connect CE.  Features include easily being able to take screen shots, transfer files, and even editing programs in the Connection software.  TI Connect CE works with the TI-84 Plus family and the TI-83 Plus fr (France’s edition of the TI-84 Plus), and TI-83 Premium CE (France’s version of the TI-84 Plus CE). 

* The TI-84 Plus CE is at least three times faster than the predecessor.  And this is welcome.  The CE gets a new 48 Mhz ez80 processor. The internal RAM has doubled from 128 KB (which 21 KB-24 KB was available for the user) to 256 KB (154 KB available to the user), allowing for faster calculations.

* It may be settle, but I detect a better key press response rate.

* Like the previous C Silver Edition, the screen is crisp and clear.  The text is very easy to read.

* This is the thinnest TI-84 calculator ever.  Yet the CE fits comfortably in my hand and the keyboard is large with easy to read keys. 

‘*  The QuickPlot&Fit-EQ feature (present on the previous C Silver Edition as well).  To use it, press the [graph] key.  The press the [stat] key, scroll up, and select E: QuickPlot&Fit-EQ under the CALC submenu.  Drop points using the [enter] key.  Once you are done, press [graph] (FITEQ) to fit the points.  Select the appropriate curve and the curve is plotted.  You can see whether the curve plotted works.  Results can be stored.  

QuckPlot&Fit-EQ in action:  I love this feature!


Being Nit Picky?

* The graph screen still has a border from the previous C Silver Edition.  I was hoping the calculator take advantage of the entire screen that the monochrome 84s did.

*  I would really still like to see vector functions make the Math or Vector menu, as well as trigonometric functions being allowed to handle complex numbers.  Maybe a future update?  (You can see my wish list here:  http://edspi31415.blogspot.com/2015/05/ti-84-plus-wish-list.html )

For a more technical review, please check out KermMartin’s review at cemetch.net:  http://www.cemetech.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=11434

Verdict:

If you have been waiting to get a color graphing TI-84, then the wait has paid off.  The TI-84 CE is a delight to use, and the operation is fast and responsive.  I think only the black case TI-84 CEs are available, if you really want to have the CE in another color (red, dark blue, light blue, pink, purple, or gray), then it is a wait until Back to School season. 

If you do not have a TI-84 and either are interested or need to get one for school, the CE is the version to consider, because you get the color, backlit screen, the rechargeable battery, and a large amount of RAM (user memory). 

I think Texas Instruments has a winner with the TI-84 Plus CE.

Eddie

  
This blog is property of Edward Shore.  2015.


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