Oh, I don't know... I've got a TI-92 (much newer, though a little rare) that has survived for many years. I got one of the prototypes in exchange for developing some educational software for it for one of my math professors, and it has recently been granted a new lease on life by becoming my wife's college calculator.
It's fancy, to be sure- the only calculator I've ever seen with drop-down menus, 3D graphing, CAD (a light version of it, anyhow), the ability to solve complex calculus equations and a full QWERTY keyboard. But it's built like a truck, and has a hard cover that clips over it. Could be it's not an import, but I don't see that sucker ever getting wrecked by anything short of a house fire or a bullet.
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Greg G
I guess my reply was a bit vague. I didn't mean to imply that the newer TI models, import or otherwise, wouldn't last as long as the old basic TI calculator. I was speaking primarily of the Casio/RS/etc. import brands which became mainstream competitors.
Since computers were coming into vogue, I never bothered with buying any more calculators, especially since portability for field work or classes weren't a factor in my usage of a calculating device.
Sounds like an on-site engineers dream come true.
Both HP and TI seem to be able to make assorted plastic parts fit together with more durability and longevity than competitors - albeit for a price. ;-) Probably due to the intended market audience. (Which I am not a part of...)
Greg G.
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Puckdropper
Greg G. wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@4ax.com:
My last calculator purchase (TI-89 Titanium) was a computer... At least by definition. I'm very careful about mentioning that fact to my teachers, as I sometimes smell fear of powerful calculators.
*trim*
I'd have to say the school calculator environment (TI's market) is one of the most hostile that you'll ever have a device in. You've got lots of kids who have nothing better to do there than mess with and abuse things. Most TI calculators survive, but not all do.
Puckdropper
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Prometheus
Ah yes. The Casios are kind of junky when you put them next to a TI. Same deal as the tool industry, I'd guess- they're almost 1/2 the price in a lot of cases, so they get sold. I'd wager TI owes a lot to the school system- most of which is still suggesting their products, and using them almost exclusively. My wife bought a cheap one, and then took mine after she realized that all of the buttons had different labels than the teacher's.
I've always had a strong attraction/repulsion to calculators. I like the built-in programming capabilities many of them have, but actually feel like using a calculator for simple math is too much of a crutch. Mine usually do duty as handheld units for collecting and interpreting SPC data, or less useful things like playing old side scrolling video games I putz around with programming from time to time.
Oh yeah- or even just a regular geek's. After the wife gets done with her math class, it's going back to work with me. I don't actually
*need* it, it's just a useful toy for tracking SPC data that I'm not actually required to worry about. (The boss doesn't seem to think it's necessary, I just do it because I can.)
Most likely due to the target market, sure. The things have to hold up to teenagers dropping them in a bag with a half-dozen huge, heavy books with hard covers. If they couldn't take a beating, they'd be useless to a lot of kids.
Never saw the HPs, but like you, I'm not part of the target market anymore. Even if I head back to school one of these days, I can't imagine *outgrowing* the one I've got, even if I majored in advanced math or theoretical physics, which is pretty unlikely at my age. (I'm not really "old" by most anyone's standards, but it's been long enough that I imagine it'd be about as pleasant as a visit to the dentist trying to get my semi-rusty brain to work that way again.)
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Jim Behning
Nah, my wife has done it with a HP Deskjet. That would be an inkjet printer. Google search for Inkjet tshirt paper shows a bunch of answers.
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J. Clarke
I wasn't talking about using T-shirt paper, I was talking about printing something on ordinary paper then ironing to transfer the image.
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barry
Thanks.
Barry
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