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Texas Instruments TI-Nspire CX EZ-Spot (Revision CR III)

Date of introduction:  October 2014 Display technology:  LCD dot matrix
 16-bit color, backlit
New price:  $145.00 (SRP 2015) Display size:  240 * 320 pixels 
Size:  7.5" x 3.4" x 0.65"
 190 x 87 x 16 mm3
   
Weight:  8.5 ounces, 242 grams Serial No:  2449033222
Batteries:  3.7L1200SPA Li-Ion Date of manufacture:  mth 12 year 2014 (T)
AC-Adapter:  AC9211U Origin of manufacture:  China (P)
Precision:  14 Integrated circuits:  CPU: ET-NS2010B-0 (T6UJ1XBG-0002)
 SDRAM and Flash MCP: Elite FM60D1G12A
Memories:      
Program steps:  64M Bytes, 100M Bytes Flash ROM Courtesy of:  Joerg Woerner

To reduce theft of this new school-owned TI-Nspire CX calculator, Texas Instruments introduced on February 25, 2011 the TI-Nspire CX EZ-Spot Teacher Packs with a bright, easy-to-spot, "school bus yellow" design. The TI-Nspire CX was replaced in March 2019 with the TI-Nspire CX II and consequently introduced the TI-Nspire CX II EZ-Spot in a bright white/yellow design.

Texas Instruments changed in October 2014 the internal construction of the TI-Nspire CX calculators and we noticed Li-ion batteries with a larger capacity of 1,200 mAh compared to the original 1,060 mAh specification. The batteries are interchangeable with the TI-84 Plus CE.

Dismantling this TI-Nspire CX EZ-Spot manufactured in December 2014 by Inventec Corporation in its Pudong Campus in Shanghai, China reveals a very compact design based on just two printed circuit boards (PCBs) with just a few main Integrated Circuits. The Date code P-1214T of the featured TI-Nspire CX refers to Revision T, also known as NSC CR III (Cost Reduction Phase 3) while the original design is known as Firebird Color. Texas Instruments introduced in March 2013 with Revision J the first major redesign of the TI-Nspire CX, known as NSC CR and in April 2014 with Revision O the second redesign known as NSC CR II, followed in October 2014 with this Revision T, known as NSC CR III. Texas Instruments changed in November 2015 the design of the hardware completely and Revision W, known as NSC CR IV, consolidated all electronics of the TI-Nspire onto one PCB and increased teh CPU speed from 132 MHz to 156 MHz. Since April 2016 we know NSC CR VI (Revision Y) and in March 2017 NSC CR VII (Revision AA) was introduced, both sporting a new ASIC with an ET-LC2015C (T6UJ1XBG-0003) marking.

Processor: The ARM9 CPU is integrated into an ASIC with the markings ET-NS2010B-0 (T6UJ1XBG-0002), obviously from Toshiba, Japan. The ARM9 core is clocked with 132 MHz compared to the 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 Bytes) and SDRAM (32M x 16 bits):

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



ROM-Versions:

TI-Nspire CX EZ-Spot

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 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 EZ-Spot lacks a QWERTY keyboard it is permitted (as of March 10, 2011) for use on SAT, ACT, PSAT and AP exams.

 

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

© Joerg Woerner, June 25, 2019. No reprints without written permission.