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Texas Instruments TI-84 Plus CE EZ-Spot

Date of introduction:  January 27, 2015
 Available: March 2015
Display technology:  LCD dot matrix
 16-bit color, backlit
New price:  $150.00 (SRP 2015) Display size:  240 * 320 pixels 
Size:  7.5" x 3.2" x 0.63"
 190 x 82 x 16 mm3
   
Weight:  5.8 ounces, 164 grams Serial No:  1153010471
Batteries:  3.7L1200SPA Li-Ion Date of manufacture:  mth 03 year 2016 (C)
AC-Adapter:  AC9211U Origin of manufacture:  Philippines (L)
Precision:  14 Integrated circuits:  ASIC: ET 2015-00
 Flash: W29GL032C
 Display: Ilitek ILI9335
Memories:      
Program steps:  154k Bytes, 3M Bytes Flash ROM Courtesy of:  Joerg Woerner

Texas Instruments announced on January 27, 2015 a colorful addition to the TI-84 Plus family of graphing calculators - the new TI-84 Plus CE and successor of the TI-84 Plus C Silver Edition introduced just 2 years earlier.

To reduce theft of this new school-owned calculator, Texas Instruments introduced the EZ-Spot Teacher Packs with a bright, easy-to-spot, "school bus yellow" design.

It features full-color capabilities, a high-resolution, back-lit screen, rechargeable batteries and an updated operating system in a housing 30 percent thinner and 30% lighter than the outgoing mode and yet sporting six times the memory and operating at three times the speed.

Comparing this TI-84 Plus CE EZ-Spot manufactured in March 2016 by Kinpo Electronics, Inc. in the Philippines with its predecessor TI-84 Plus C Silver Edition reveals only few differences. The design sports still 3 chips:

ET 2015-00: eZ80 microprocessor, 256k Bytes Static RAM, USB-Port 
    and supporting logic
Winbond Electronics Corporation W29GL032C: 4M Bytes Flash ROM
Ilitek ILI9335: Single-chip 320*240 pixel display driver

The picture on the right gives an enhanced view of the ASIC that clocks the eZ80 microprocessor with 48 MHz and incorporates the RAM, USB-Port and logic. Learn more about the Hardware Architecture of TI’s Graphing Calculators.

This TI-84 Plus CE EZ-Spot manufactured in March 2016 makes use of one Winbond W29GL032C Flash ROM with 4M Bytes capacity.

While the early members of the TI-84 Plus calculator family use AAA-sized alkaline batteries, accommodate the Color versions an internal Li-ion battery with a capacity of 1,200 mAh and a voltage of 3.7 Volt for a typical operating time of 50 hours. A USB type wall charger is included with each unit but for classrooms is the TI-84 Plus CE Charging Station available. It holds up to 10 calculators and charges them with two small contacts located in the front of the calculator.

The TI-84 Plus CE dropped the serial port known from earlier members of the TI-84 Plus family and doesn't support the ViewScreen panel and the TI-Presenter with the Presentation Link Adapter anymore. The USB interface of the TI-84 Plus CE calculator connects directly with the Calculator-Based Ranger CBR 2 introduced in 2004, the Vernier EasyLink and EasyTemp systems.

The TI-SmartView™ CE Emulator Software for the TI-84 Plus CE allows educators to project a representation of the calculator’s display to the entire class.

The TI Connect™ CE computer software allows for connectivity between a computer and the TI-84 Plus CE to transfer data, update the Operating System (OS), download Calculator Software Applications (Apps), and to edit and load programs to the calculator

The new operating system 5.x of the TI-84 Plus CE is based on the OS 4.0 known from the TI-84 Plus C Silver Edition but they are not compatible due to the different microprocessors used.

Don't miss the TI-83 Premium CE sold in France and the TI-84 Plus CE-T sold in some European countries.

ROM-Versions:

5.0.0 (April 10, 2015)

5.0.1 (April 28, 2015)

5.1.0 (August 27, 2015)

5.1.5 (January 19, 2016)

5.2.0 (June 15, 2016)

5.2.1 (September 28, 2016)

5.2.2 (March 14, 2017)

You can check the ROM version of your TI-84 Plus CE using the following key sequence and reading the number on your screen:

[2nd] [MEM] [1]

Information provided by Xavier Andréani.

Exam acceptance:

The TI-84 Plus CE EZ-Spot is permitted (as of June 20, 2017) 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, July 29, 2017. No reprints without written permission.