DATAMATH CALCULATOR MUSEUM
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DATAMATH CALCULATOR MUSEUM |
Texas Instruments TI-30XS MultiView™ (Underwood Distributing Co.)
| Date of introduction: | July 2024 | Display technology: | LCD dot matrix |
| New price: | $17.95 | Display size: | 4 * 16 characters (5 * 19 for menus) |
| Size: | 6.8" x 3.2" x 0.6" 172 x 83 x 15 mm³ |
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| Weight: | 4.2 ounces, 120 grams | Serial No: | |
| Batteries: | Solar cells + CR2032 | Date of manufacture: | mth 01 year 2024 (K) |
| AC-Adapter: | Origin of manufacture: | Philippines (L) | |
| Precision: | 13 | Integrated circuits: | |
| Memories: | 7 | ||
| Program steps: | Courtesy of: | Joerg Woerner |
Jake Smarkusky, Managing Director of
Underwood Distributing Co.,
surprised us a few weeks ago with pictures of a
pink colored TI-30XS MultiView for the
Back-to-School 2024 campaign, that looked
familiar to us but yet somehow different. Comparing the provided pictures with a
pink TI-30XS MultiView released in 2011 for Office Depot, revealed immediately
some subtle changes in the coloring of some keys.
IIwas manufactured by Kinpo Electronics, Inc. for the office product retailer Office Depot. It was released for the Back-to-School 2011 campaign together with a pink TI-30X IIS and the TI-84 Plus Silver Edition in the colors of pink and black. Staples added this TI-30XS MultiView for the Back-to-School 2012 campaign to its selection.
Don't miss the lime-green colored TI-30XS MultiView introduced in 2017.
Instead of the 2-line display
of the TI-30X IIS, feature both the TI-30XS MultiView and its battery only powered sibling TI-30XB
MultiView a dot
matrix display with 31 * 96 addressable pixels allowing the calculator to
display equations as they would be printed in a text book.
In addition to this
so called "MathPrint" mode the calculator sports a TI-30X IIS
compatible "Classic" mode.
Compared with the original TI-30X IIS, in the US the
quasi-standard for pupils, we notice more bang ($15.99 versus $14.99) for the bucks:
| •
Classic (compatible with TI-30X IIS) and MathPrint Mode • EOS with 8 pending operations and 23 levels of parentheses • 7 memory variables x, y, z, t, a, b, c • Data editor and list formulas: 3 lists, each up to 42 items • Function table • Toggle key fractions and decimals • Equation entries up to 80 digits |
Dismantling the
featured TI-30XS MultiView manufactured in January 2024 in the Philippines, reveals a pretty common
construction with two printed circuit boards (PCBs). The main PCB hides the
single-chip calculating circuit under a small protection blob of black epoxy and
drives the graphing display with a heat sealed fine-pitch connector. The
keyboard makes use of a much simpler second PCB and a heat sealed connector,
too. The prominent SR21 designation on the main PCB proves that this calculator was manufactured by Kinpo Electronics,
Inc., a famous company located in Taiwan and doing
calculator production for well established companies like Texas Instruments, Hewlett Packard, Casio,
Canon and Citizen.
Please compare the TI-30XS
MultiView with its competitors Canon
F-718SG, Casio
fx-300ES, Citizen SR-270X
aka Ativa AT-30SX,
Hewlett-Packard SmartCalc 300s,
and Sharp EL-W535.
If you have additions to the above article please email: joerg@datamath.org.
© Joerg Woerner, August 2, 2024. No reprints without written permission.