TI-86

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TI-86

The TI-86 is a programmable graphing calculator introduced in 1997 and produced by Texas Instruments. The TI-86 uses the Zilog Z80 microprocessor. It is partially backwards-compatible with an older model, the TI-85.

The TI-86 can be thought of as the tier among various Texas Instruments calculators directly above the TI-83 and TI-84 line. In addition to having a larger screen than the TI-83, the TI-86 also allows the user to type in lower case and Greek letters and features five softkeys, which improve menu navigation and can be programmed by the user for quick access to common operations such as decimal-to-fraction conversion. The calculator also handles vectors, matrices and complex numbers better than the TI-83. One drawback, however, is that the statistics package on the TI-83 range doesn't come preloaded on the TI-86. However, it can be downloaded from the Texas Instruments program archive and installed on the calculator using the link cable.[1]

Despite the TI-86's limitation of a black and white monochrome screen, it is possible to emulate grayscale by rapidly toggling a pixel between on (black) and off (white) states. The pixel does not have time to fully fade to white before it is turned back on. The result is that the pixel is perceived as gray by the observer. By adjusting the balance between black and white, multiple shades of gray can be achieved.

[edit] Specifications

CPU: Zilog Z80 6 MHz
RAM: 128 KiB, 96 KiB user-accessible
ROM: 256 KiB non-upgradable
Display: 128×64 pixels high-contrast monochrome LCD
Data Communication: Serial link port; allows two TI-86 calculators to be connected to each other, or one TI-86 to be connected to a PC, for data transfer via a special link cable
Programming Languages: TI-BASIC, Z80 Assembly (ASM)