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Texas Instruments TI-Collège Plus (Engineering Validation Tests)

Date of introduction:	May 9, 2007 Available: Feb. 21, 2008	Display technology:	LCD dot matrix
New price:		Display size:	4 * 16 characters (5 * 19 for menus)
Size:	6.5" x 3.1" x 0.6" 166 x 79 x 16 mm³
Weight:	3.7 ounces, 104 grams	Serial No:
Batteries:	CR2032	Date of manufacture:	mth 08 year 2006
AC-Adapter:		Origin of manufacture:	China (N)
Precision:	13	Integrated circuits:	Toshiba JT6F54-998S
Memories:	7
Program steps:		Courtesy of:	Joerg Woerner

Texas Instruments introduced in February 2008 with the TI-Collège Plus the successor of its TI-Collège introduced already in 2005 as the first calculator with keys (e.g. ANNUL), notations and even the menus in French to simplify the use by younger students.

Due to some design problems with the calculator it took until February 2008 before the TI-Collège Plus arrived together with the TI-34 MultiView finally in the store shelves. Don't miss an early TI-Collège Plus Prototype using the original TI-30XS MultiView software pre-programmed in its single-chip microcontroller.

Dismantling the featured TI-Collège Plus EVT (Engineering Validation Tests) calculator manufactured in August 2006 by Nam Tai Electronics, Inc ., a well-known company with OEM calculator production facilities in Shenzhen, China, reveals a pretty common construction with two printed circuit boards (PCBs) and powered by a CR2032 lithium battery. The main PCB hides the Toshiba JT6F54-998S single-chip calculator 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.

Running Mike Sebastian's "Calculator Forensics" Test on this TI-Collège Plus EVT manufactured in August 2006 reveals with 9.00001561843 a slightly worse result than the TI-30XS MultiView.

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