Texas Instruments TI-30 Series
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Texas Instruments TI-30 Series
Since 1976, Texas Instruments has manufactured over three dozen calculators called TI-30 something-or-other. Some variations are minor, some are drastic enough to warrant calling them by a completely different number. But TI knows what sells, and the TI-30 brand is a consistant money maker.
The TI-30's feature set has expanded over the years, and I'll list feature additions in the table below. All models include the four basic operations, reciprocal, square, square root, evolution, involution, common logarithm, natural logarithm, circular trigonometric functions, percentage operations, and constant operation.
Some newer models have a two-line display. You enter your formula in the top line and the answer appears in the bottom line. I'm not sure I like this feature so much. It makes it harder to learn the properties of numbers by dinking around with the calculator. On the original TI-30, it was easy to see that hitting the cosine key repeatedly caused the result to converge to 0.99984774. But with the two-line calculators, you have to repeatedly press [cos] [2nd] [ANS] [=] to repeat the operation. (well, you could hit [uparrow] [=], too.)
I know this is TI's way of being more "honest" about their claim that all you need to to is input the formula the way it's written. But it makes creative playing more difficult. YMMV.
As an experiment, I started shopping around on eBay and local drug stores, to see how many variants I can come up with. I've set myself a fairly modest goal of one dozen calculators. I'll add them here as they come in.
| Features | ||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Picture | Calculator | Year | Cube Cube Root | Factorial | Combination Permutation | Random Numbers | Polar Conversion | Sexagesimal Conversion (DMS) | Hyperbolic | 1-variable Stats | 2-variable Stats | Fractions | Memories | Display Lines | Power Source | Forensic ID |
 | TI-30 | 1976 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | 1 | 1 | 9 Volts or RK1 | 9.177087103 |
 | TI-30-II | 1983 | -- | YES | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | 1 | 1 | A76 x2 | 9.114640577 |
 | TI-30 STAT | 1986 | -- | YES | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | YES | -- | -- | 1 | 1 | A76 x2 | 9.114640577 |
 | TI-30SLR+ | 1987 | -- | YES | -- | -- | YES | YES | -- | YES | -- | -- | 1 | 1 | Solar | 9.0000278593 |
 | TI-30 STAT | 1988 | -- | YES | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | YES | -- | -- | 1 | 1 | A76 x2 | 9.114640577 |
 | TI-30 | 1989 | -- | YES | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | 1 | 1 | A76 x2 | 9.114640577 |
 | TI-30 Challenger | 1990 | -- | YES | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | 1 | 1 | Solar | 9.0000278593 |
 | TI-30Xa | 1996 | YES | YES | YES | -- | YES | YES | YES | YES | -- | YES | 3 | 1 | A76 x2 | 9.00000229461 |
 | TI-30XIIB | 1999 | -- | YES | YES | YES | YES | YES | YES | YES | YES | YES | 5 | 2 | CR2025 x1 | 9.000003512065 |
 | TI-30Xa | 2004 | YES | YES | YES | -- | YES | YES | YES | YES | -- | YES | 3 | 1 | A76 x2 | 9.00000229461 |
 | TI-30XIIB | 2004 | -- | YES | YES | YES | YES | YES | YES | YES | YES | YES | 5 | 2 | CR2025 x1 | 9.000003512065 |
 | TI-30XIIS | 2004 | -- | YES | YES | YES | YES | YES | YES | YES | YES | YES | 5 | 2 | Solar plus CR2025 x1 | 9.000003512065 |
