Spotlight: Texas Instruments TI-30 ECO RS: The Solar TI-30Xa
Quick Facts
Model: TI-30 ECO RS
Company: Texas Instruments
Timeline: 2015 – present (Europe
Type: Scientific calculator
Power: Solar
Display: One line, 10 digits, 2 digit exponents
Introduction
The TI-30 ECO RS is a European all-solar powered version of the battery-powered, specifically the LR44 battery, powered TI-30Xa.
Why did I get the TI-30 ECO RS? Truth be told, I am partial to solar-powered scientific calculators. I still dream of the day a solar powered (even if it is hybrid with battery) graphing calculator, that’s yet to happen. Blue is my favorite color.
Per Texas Instruments, the TI-30 ECO RS was awarded the Blue Angel award, which is a certification for the product being environmental friendly. Along with the calculator being completely solar powered, the TI-30 ECO RS is made from recycled plastic.
Features
The TI-30 ECO RS is a standard and simple scientific calculator that follows the classic TI-30 line:
* One line display, up to 10 digits. Display modes include floating pint, fixed decimal, scientific notation, and engineering notation.
* Arithmetic, powers, roots, exponential and logarithm functions
* Trigonometric functions and inverses
* Hyperbolic functions and inverses
* Fraction calculations, including fraction/decimal conversions. The maximum denominator is 999.
* One-variable statistics including mean, standard deviation, sums
* Combinations, permutations, and factorial of positive integers (up to 69)
* Polar/Rectangular and Decimal/Decimal-Minute-Second conversions
* Three memory registers (M1, M2, M3)
The TI-30 ECO RS follows the algebraic operating system and the standard order of operations is followed with a maximum of four pending operations. There is no implied multiplication.
The calculator uses postfix notation, where some one-number operations are entered after the number. For example, to calculate the sine of 30 degrees, press 30 [ SIN ] (in degrees mode). For the anti-log of 2.6, press 2.6 [ 2nd ] [ LOG ] <10^x>.
TI-30 ECO RS vs. TI-30Xa
Even though the feature set of the TI-30 ECO RS and the TI-30Xa are the same, there are some minor differences.
* The TI-30 ECO RS is solar powered and will never require a separate battery. This is not the first time Texas Instruments implemented the solar only design, as previous models include the TI-108, TI-31, TI-30 SLR+, the classic one-line TI-36X Solar, the classic TI-36 Solar, and the BA-Solar from 1987 are some examples. In the 1980s and 1990s, Texas Instruments used technology named Anylite Technology (TM).
* Pressing the [ON/AC] button clears everything including the memory and statistics registers and resets the calculator to Degrees mode. This is consistent with classic one-line TI solar powered calculators. If you intend to store constants long-term, you may want to consider the battery-powered TI-30Xa instead.
* Calculations on the solar powered TI-30 ECO RS are slightly slower than the TI-30Xa. I am guessing that it is due to the power source.
* Since 2015, both the TI-30 ECO RS and the TI-30Xa are free the logarithm bug (Datamath).
* The TI-30 ECO RS is sold in Europe. Outside of Europe, we have to buy a TI-30 ECO RS online. I was fortunately enough to buy one from an e-bay seller in Virginia.
Source
Woerner, Joerg. “Texas Instruments TI-30 ECO RS (2015)” Datamath Calculator Museum.
Updated May 17, 2016. Accessed June 6, 2024. http://www.datamath.org/Sci/Modern/TI-30ecRS_2015.htm
“Scientific calculator TI-30 ECO RS” Texas Instruments Calculators. 1995-2024. Accessed June 7, 2024. The page is in German. https://education.ti.com/de/produkte/taschenrechner/wissenschaftliche-rechner/ti-30-eco-rs
Eddie
All original content copyright, © 2011-2024. Edward Shore. Unauthorized use and/or unauthorized distribution for commercial purposes without express and written permission from the author is strictly prohibited. This blog entry may be distributed for noncommercial purposes, provided that full credit is given to the author.
