A while ago, Critor on TI-BANK has
discovered the existence of a rather interesting TI-Nspire prototype that happened to be one of the earliest ones. What is very special about it, however, is that it is very huge. Basically, there is a giant motherboard, on which a black TI-Nspire clickpad-style keypad (with the regular TI-Nspire clickpad, but other keys are like the CAS+ prototypes) and a screen are connected:
Picture of the "prototype"In fact, according to Critor, it was an ASIC development board, used for the conception of TI-Nspire and TI-Nspire CAS Clickpad models. One other interesting thing is that this development Nspire includes a RS232 serial port and a SD card slot,
traces of which are still available in the TI-Nspire OS as of now.
And now, a few days ago, Critor
has discovered another TI-Nspire prototype that looks more like the actual calculator than the one above, but it could actually be one of, if not the first available TI-Nspire prototype.
TI-Nspire CAS+ P1-EVT2As you will notice, this model also lacks the TI-Nspire name on its face, like some other prototypes, and the back is orange. One interesting thing, however, is that even the OS boot screen itself lacks the TI-Nspire logo: Instead, the Texas Instruments one is displayed!
[vimeo]25417168[/vimeo]
As you will also notice in this video by Critor, the OS booting takes a considerably longer amount of time compared to other OSes (We are glad that newer OSes aren't so slow to load, as it would be outrageous before an exam). Also, according to the
TI-BANK news about this prototype, the LCD quality is inferior to the one used for newer TI-Nspire prototypes and commercial models. This model also contains a bug: It is impossible to turn it OFF, as the screen will flash instead. You must pull batteries to turn it OFF.
