Re: TI-H: TI-86 (was "Basic $5 link question")

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Re: TI-H: TI-86 (was "Basic $5 link question")

Matthew Andersen wrote:
> 
> First off screw your teacher (sorry) but always get the better stuff if
> you can... now... just cause i want it get the 86... its cheaper than
> the 92 (way cheaper) and (i maybe wrong) but its suppose to be almost
> just exactly perfectly like the 85 except it looks like the 83 (which
> looks cool) and has more memory... hehe
> I could be wrong

I (lucky me) have both the 92 and 86.  The 92 is well worth the extra
$70, and kicks the 86's ass in everything but available memory.  My
f---head precalc teacher won't let me use my 92 in class (bastard), so I
went out and got an 86.  I can say from experience (I used to have an
85) that the 85 and 86 are functionally very similar, except that the 86
has built-in ASM support, more memory, and it's the new case design like
the 83.  Oh, the TEXT command for writing on the graph, and the
high-contrast screen.  It can do absolutely everything an 85 can do,
except for run out of memory with 3 ASM programs on it. ;)

The 86 can be turboed just like the 85.  I've seen it done, by a friend,
and he'll be doing mine soon.  I don't trust myself with a soldering
iron, I'm a software engineer, not an electronics one.  I beleive it's
done exactly like the 85, but with C9 instead of whatever it is you use
for the 85.  But don't just listen to me, I could be way off on that
number.

I do have a couple complaints about the 86.  The 83 sports scroll-up and
scroll-down buttons (alpha-up/down), which the 86 doesn't have.  You can
press F1 and F2, but you have to keep pressing it; you can't hold it
down.  Also, the 86 still uses the 85's format for complex numbers
[(a,b)], rather than dealing directly with i like the 83 and 92 do.

I highly recommend buying the 86, it's a great calculator.  Look around,
though, because it can be found for $10 less than the usual price of
$120.  I got mine for $109.95 at a distributor.  Go to your math teacher
and ask them where they go to get calcs when they buy them.  Then go
there yourself and ask for one.

-- 
    Jake Robb     Email:jake@netrus.net
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 < "Diplomacy is the art of saying 'nice >
 <  doggy' until you can find a rock."   >
 <  -Unknown                             >
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