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Texas Instruments TI-Nspire CX CAS (Revision CR IV)

Date of introduction:  November 2015 Display technology:  LCD dot matrix
 16-bit color, backlit
New price:  $180.00 (SRP 2016) Display size:  240 * 320 pixels 
Size:  7.5" x 3.4" x 0.65"
 190 x 87 x 16 mm3
   
Weight:  7.3 ounces, 206 grams Serial No:  2555013446
Batteries:  3.7L1200SPA Li-Ion Date of manufacture:  mth 11 year 2015 (W)
AC-Adapter:  AC9211U Origin of manufacture:  China (P)
Precision:  14 Integrated circuits:  CPU: ET-NS2010B-1 (T6UJ1XBG-0002)
 SDRAM and Flash MCP: Elite FM60D1G12A
 Flash-ROM: Macronix MX29SL402
Memories:      
Program steps:  64M Bytes, 100M Bytes Flash ROM Courtesy of:  Xavier Andréani

Texas Instruments changed the hardware design of the TI-Nspire CX and TI-Nspire CX CAS calculators from time to time and we know as of today five different Revisions:

Firebird Color: Revision A-I, February 2011 - February 2013
NSC CR: Revision J-N, March 2013 - March 2014
NSC CR II: Revision O-S, April 2014 - October 2014
NSC CR III: Revision P-V, October 2014 - August 2015
NSC CR IV: Revision W, November 2015 - March 2016 (CPU 156 MHz)
NSC CR VI: Revision Y, April 2016 - February 2017 (ET-LC2015C, no MCP)
NSC CR VII: Revision AA, March 2017 - Current (ET-LC2015C, no MCP)


Dismantling this TI-Nspire CX CAS manufactured in November 2015 by Inventec Corporation in its Pudong Campus in Shanghai, China reveals a very compact design based on only one printed circuit board (PCB) with just a few main Integrated Circuits. The Date code P-2011W of the featured TI-Nspire CX CAS refers to Revision W, also known as NSC CR IV (Corst Reduction Phase 4), which consolidated the electronics of the TI-Nspire from previously two PCBs onto just one PCB.

Processor: The ARM9 CPU is integrated into an ASIC with the markings ET-NS2010B-1 (T6UJ1XBG-0002), obviously from Toshiba, Japan. The ARM9 core is clocked with 156 MHz compared to the 132 MHz of the earlier TI-Nspire CX products and 90 MHz of the previous TI-Nspire. Learn more about the Hardware Architecture of TI’s Graphing Calculators.

Memory: Both the NAND Flash-ROM and the SDRAM are integrated into a Multichip Package with the part designation ESMT (Elite Semiconductor Memory Technology Inc., Taiwan) FM60D1G12A-6BE. Deciphering the part number reveals the capacity of the Flash-ROM (128M Byte) and SDRAM (64M Byte):

Product Family 60 NAND(x8) + Mobile SDRAM(x16)
Operating Voltage D = 1.8V NAND, 1.8V DRAM
Flash Density 1G = 1 Gbit NAND Flash-ROM
RAM Density 12 = 512 Mbit SDRAM
Major Version A
RAM Speed 6 = 166MHz
Package Code B = BGA107
Working Temperature E = -25°C to 85°C

In addition to this impressive Multichip Package we located on the PCB an additional Macronix MX29SL402 NOR Flash-ROM with a capacity of 512k Bytes, known already from the first Prototype of the TI-Nspire CX, called TI-Nspire COLOR. It is used for the first-stage bootloader ("Boot 1") and was integrated with the later TI-Nspire CX and CX CAS into the ASIC. We are surprised to locate a discrete memory on the PCB of this cost-optimized Revision CR IV of the TI-Nspire CX family.

Texas Instruments introduced in 2019 the successor of the TI-Nspire CX family with a 2 ½ times faster processor, don't miss the TI-Nspire CX II and TI-Nspire CX II CAS.


ROM-Versions:

TI-Nspire CX CAS

4.5.0.1180 (July 27, 2017)
Boot2 Code Version: 4.4.0.8


You can check the ROM version of your TI-Nspire CX CAS using the following key sequence and reading the number on your screen:

[HOME] [5] [4] (3.0)

Information provided by Xavier Andréani.

 
Exam acceptance:

Since the TI-Nspire CX CAS lacks a QWERTY keyboard it is permitted (as of May 29, 2020) for use on SAT, PSAT and AP exams. Calculators with computer algebra system (CAS) functionality are not allowed on ACT exams.

 

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If you have additions to the above article please email: joerg@datamath.org.

© Joerg Woerner, May 29, 2020. No reprints without written permission.