Omnimaga
Omnimaga => News => Topic started by: DJ Omnimaga on July 26, 2013, 02:42:30 pm
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After long speculations in the TI community, it seems that some of the 68K calculators might soon be reaching the end of their lives, along with some of the Z80 models... at least in France.
Texas Instruments has recently posted the France catalog of calculators at http://www.e-catalogue-ti.fr/ on Facebook and after being asked about the state of the TI-76.Fr, TI-84 Plus, TI-84 Pocket.Fr & Voyage 200, which are not included in the catalog, Texas Instruments France has replied (https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=676451302368576&set=a.382562221757487.105587.132142133466165&type=1&comment_id=2436431&offset=0&total_comments=2&ref=notif¬if_t=photo_reply&theater) that those models have reached the end of their lives, meaning that they are now discontinued.
It is unclear about the status of those calcs outside France, though. In other words, the TI-76.Fr will have lasted only 3 years and the TI-84 Pocket.Fr only 2 years. This might also mark the beginning of the end of the 68K calculator line that many of us have predicted for at least 3 years.
In the TI-84 Plus case, the TI-84 Plus Silver Edition has been renamed to TI-83 Plus.Fr, replacing the already existing TI-83 Plus.Fr model with 15 MHz hardware and 1.5 MB of Flash. It is also rumored that the TI-84 Plus C (color) Silver Edition will come out this Fall in France. It is possible that the TI-83 Plus.Fr is simply replacing the TI-84 Plus there.
Source: Texas Instrument France on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=676451302368576&set=a.382562221757487.105587.132142133466165&type=1&comment_id=2436431&offset=0&total_comments=2&ref=notif¬if_t=photo_reply&theater)
TI-Planet post on the topic (http://tiplanet.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=41&t=12727&p=146261#p146119)
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That sucks, the 68k series is so awesome! Same with the z80 :P
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Whoa, that's a big surprise to me. I thought the TI-84 Pocket.fr was a nice shiny new calculator that was just gaining ground.
Well, I'm glad I have one :)
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If the Pocket.Fr and 76.Fr sold poorly and not many were made, I guess they'll now become collectibles. This sucks though because the Pocket calc was small and a bunch of people liked it. As for the TI-76.Fr I have been trying to buy one on Ebay for 3 years but either people want $100 for it, either they charge $50 for shipping or they don't ship to Canada/USA.
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This sucks, especially for the Voyage 200. 68k dying is not a good sign. :(
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I guess it's to be expected, though, considering how expensive the 68K models are compared to the Nspire CAS CX and how few people seems to use them anymore. I guess the 76.Fr was not much of a success, either, but then I wonder why TI still bothers selling the 73 in USA? ???
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Well, at least the TI-89 Titanium is not discontinued (although it's 2 years newer, but the 84+, which was introduced in the same year as the Titanium, was discontinued). And if one does plan on getting a 68K calc, it will almost always be the Titanium, since the Voyage 200 is banned on many tests. So it's unlikely that the Titanium will be discontinued for a long time.
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Yeah the only 68k calc I have is the TI-89 Titanium.
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Hopefully TI starts on a faster TI-89 C or whatever they want to call it, the 84C is way too underpowered for its screen. However, the nSpire has been displacing the 68k (at least here).
The 83.fr is probably going to replace the 84s in France. Any word on the fate of the 82 Stats.fr?
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As far as I can see, the TI-Nspire line is the succesor for the 68k line. The mathematical engine is a direct continuation of their code base. So I don't think you can expect a color 68k calc, as that's what the CX actually is.
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What jim said, plus a 89C Titanium would probably suffer from the same problems as the 84C anyway (same processor speed as the 89T although 180 ish KB of RAM). That said I found the 68K interface more user-friendly than the Nspire when it comes to basic maths, although I found the 84+ one much more friendly.
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As far as I can see, the TI-Nspire line is the succesor for the 68k line. The mathematical engine is a direct continuation of their code base. So I don't think you can expect a color 68k calc, as that's what the CX actually is.
Yeah, that's what it feels like. They're pushing it as a high-end calculator (for math/engineering) in contrast to the TI-83/84 series, like the 68k calculators once were.
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Don't mind anymore. I got my 84+. :p
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I hope the 84+ won't get discontinued anytime soon, though, because it has by far the largest library of math programs and games (perhaps more than every non-TI-89 calc combined) and it's still quite popular.
THat said, it seems like the TI-84 Plus C Silver Edition is already gaining some sort of audience outside Omni at least now. Just look at Zelda: Sord of Atari download count despite being an intentionally crappy game and download counts of other programs as well (most notably Frogger )
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I'm expecting TI to move the Z80 series completely to color calculators soon, but I don't know how easy that would be seeing the enormous popularity of the plain TI-83/84 Plus series.
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I think the 83+ will lose popularity a lot where the 84+ is sold for cheaper, but in places like Canada, where the 84+ is still $142 and the SE $150, most parents will probably continue buying the $124 83+ since most people live under the poverty limit.
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Some of the stores here don't even carry TI-83 Plus anymore (only TI-84 Plus). Saddens me.
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Not totally offtopic: I just from a store. I saw some 83+fr. Is that 83+fr?
It's been months since I didn't saw any 84+ n stores...
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Not totally offtopic: I just from a store. I saw some 83+fr. Is that 83+fr?
It's been months since I didn't saw any 84+ n stores...
If it has the 84+ casing, then its specs are similar to that of an 84+SE.
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Yeah, basically in France the original TI-83+Fr was discontinued, then the TI-84+SE was renamed to 83+Fr (except that the OS still says 84+SE.)
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I'm expecting TI to move the Z80 series completely to color calculators soon, but I don't know how easy that would be seeing the enormous popularity of the plain TI-83/84 Plus series.
^This. I don't see the classic series going anywhere for some time. They might scale back the number of noncolour z80 models though. In fact, I'd be kind of surprised if they didn't.