TI-54

Last updated
TI-54
Vintage Texas Instruments TI-54 LCD Electronic Pocket Calculator, Made In USA, Copyright Date On Original Box Is 1981 (24028190510).jpg
The TI-54 calculator
Type Scientific
Manufacturer Texas Instruments
Introduced1981
Discontinued1983
Cost$40 USD
Calculator
Precision11
Display type Liquid crystal display
Display size8+2
Programming
Other
Power supply2 alkaline LR44 batteries
Weight0.106 kg
Dimensions14.7 x 7.9 x 2.3 cm

The TI-54 was a scientific calculator produced by Texas Instruments, primarily marketed towards engineers and science professionals. [1] It was introduced in 1981, and at the time was the only calculator that could deal with complex numbers. [2] It was discontinued in 1983.

The TI-54 touted features such as "built in algebraic functions for both real and complex numbers", "hyperbolic and trig functions for real numbers", and conversion functions such as polar to rectangular, and degrees/minutes/seconds to decimal degrees. It also came with Texas Instruments' Constant Memory feature, which allowed for data storage even after the calculator was turned off.

Unfortunately, this calculator, like some others of the "slanted series", had the so-called ti key disease, which means that pressed keys were either not recognized at all or were recognized as having been pressed several times. Solving arithmetic problems became a game of patience and the correct result was only obtained through pure luck. Texas Instruments later launched a recall campaign due to massive user complaints and exchanged this model for a successor with an improved keyboard free of charge.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sinclair Scientific</span> Scientific calculator introduced in 1974

The Sinclair Scientific calculator was a 12-function, pocket-sized scientific calculator introduced in 1974, dramatically undercutting in price other calculators available at the time. The Sinclair Scientific Programmable, released a year later, was advertised as the first budget programmable calculator.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">TI-83 series</span> Series of graphing calculators produced by Texas Instruments

The TI-83 series is a series of graphing calculators manufactured by Texas Instruments.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Scientific calculator</span> Calculator designed to calculate problems in science, engineering, and mathematics

A scientific calculator is an electronic calculator, either desktop or handheld, designed to perform calculations using basic and complex mathematical operations and functions. They have completely replaced slide rules and are used in both educational and professional settings.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Speak & Spell (toy)</span> Electronic toy made by Texas Instruments

The Speak & Spell line is a series of electronic hand-held child computers by Texas Instruments that consisted of a TMC0280 linear predictive coding speech synthesizer, a keyboard, and a receptor slot to receive one of a collection of ROM game library modules. The first Speak & Spell was introduced at the summer Consumer Electronics Show in June 1978, making it one of the earliest handheld electronic devices with a visual display to use interchangeable game cartridges. The company Basic Fun brought back the classic Speak & Spell in 2019 with some minor changes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">TI-82</span> Graphics calculator produced by Texas Instruments

The TI-82 is a graphing calculator made by Texas Instruments. The TI-82 was designed in 1993 as a stripped down, more user friendly version of the TI-85, and as a replacement for the TI-81. It was the direct predecessor of the TI-83. It shares with the TI-85 a 6 MHz Zilog Z80 microprocessor. Like the TI-81, the TI-82 features a 96x64 pixel display, and the core feature set of the TI-81 with many new features.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">TI-81</span> Graphing calculator produced by Texas Instruments

The TI-81 was the first graphing calculator made by Texas Instruments. It was designed in 1990 for use in algebra and precalculus courses. Since its release, it has been superseded by a series of newer calculators: the TI-85, TI-82, TI-83, TI-86, TI-83 Plus, TI-83 Plus Silver Edition, TI-84 Plus, TI-84 Plus Silver Edition, TI-84 Plus C Silver Edition, TI-Nspire, TI-Nspire CAS, TI-84 Plus CE, and most recently, the TI-84 Plus CE Python. Most of them share the original feature set and 96×64-pixel display that began with this calculator, with the exceptions of the TI-84 Plus C Silver Edition and the TI-84 Plus CE family.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">TI-30</span> Scientific calculator by Texas Instruments

The TI-30 is a scientific calculator manufactured by Texas Instruments, the first model of which was introduced in 1976. While the original TI-30 was discontinued in 1983 after several design revisions, TI maintains the TI-30 designation as a branding for its low and mid-range scientific calculators.

Engineering notation or engineering form (also technical notation) is a version of scientific notation in which the exponent of ten is always selected to be divisible by three to match the common metric prefixes, i.e. scientific notation that aligns with powers of a thousand, for example, 531×103 instead of 5.31×105 (but on calculator displays written without the ×10 to save space). As an alternative to writing powers of 10, SI prefixes can be used, which also usually provide steps of a factor of a thousand. On most calculators, engineering notation is called "ENG" mode as scientific notation is denoted SCI.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Texas Instruments LPC Speech Chips</span>

The Texas Instruments LPC Speech Chips are a series of speech synthesizer digital signal processor integrated circuits created by Texas Instruments beginning in 1978. They continued to be developed and marketed for many years, though the speech department moved around several times within TI until finally dissolving in late 2001. The rights to the speech-specific subset of the MSP line, the last remaining line of TI speech products as of 2001, were sold to Sensory, Inc. in October 2001.

There are various ways in which calculators interpret keystrokes. These can be categorized into two main types:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">HP-16C</span> Programmable calculator produce by Hewlett-Packard

The HP-16C Computer Scientist is a programmable pocket calculator that was produced by Hewlett-Packard between 1982 and 1989. It was specifically designed for use by computer programmers, to assist in debugging. It is a member of the HP Voyager series of programmable calculators. It was the only programmer's calculator ever produced by HP, though many later HP calculators have incorporated most of the 16C's functions.

Texas Instruments TI-36 is a series of scientific calculators distributed by Texas Instruments. It currently represents the high-end model for the TI-30 product lines.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">TI-Nspire series</span> Series of graphing calculators

The TI-Nspire is a graphing calculator line made by Texas Instruments, with the first version released in July 2007. The calculators feature a non-QWERTY keyboard and a different key-by-key layout than Texas Instruments's previous flagship calculators such as the TI-89 series.

A graphing calculator is a class of hand-held calculator that is capable of plotting graphs and solving complex functions. There are several companies that manufacture models of graphing calculators. Texas Instruments is a major manufacturer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">TI-35</span>

Texas Instruments TI-35 was a series of scientific calculators by Texas Instruments. The original TI-35 was notable for being one of Texas Instruments' first use of CMOS controller chips in their designs, and was at the time distinguished from the lower-end TI-30 line by the addition of some statistics functions.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Texas Instruments Business Analyst</span> Series of financial calculators by Texas Instruments

The Texas Instruments Business Analyst series is a product line of financial calculators introduced in 1976. BA calculators provide time value of money functions and are widely used in accounting and other financial applications. Though originally designed specifically for financial use, current models also include basic scientific calculator and statistics functions. The BA series competes directly with other mid- to high-end financial calculators, particularly the HP-12C and other models from TI competitor Hewlett-Packard. There are two models in the product line: the BA II Plus and the BA II Plus Professional.

The TI-34 name is a branding used by Texas Instruments for its mid-range scientific calculators aimed at the educational market. The first TI-34 model was introduced in 1987 as a midpoint between the TI-30 series and the TI-35/TI-36 series. Earlier models included Boolean algebra features, though these were removed with the introduction of the TI-34II in 1999, which focuses more on fractional calculations and other subjects common in middle and high school math and science curricula.

The TI-1031 was a 4 function calculator manufactured by Texas Instruments. Introduced in 1981 at a price of $12, the calculator had a liquid-crystal display, weighed 1.9 ounces, and contained 24 keys.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">TI-BASIC 83</span> Calculator programming language

TI-BASIC 83,TI-BASIC Z80 or simply TI-BASIC, is the built-in programming language for the Texas Instruments programmable calculators in the TI-83 series. Calculators that implement TI-BASIC have a built in editor for writing programs. While the considerably faster Z80 assembly language is supported for the calculators, TI-BASIC's in-calculator editor and more user friendly syntax make it easier to use. TI-BASIC is interpreted.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dataman</span> Educational toy calculator with mathematical games

Dataman was an educational toy calculator with mathematical games to aid in learning arithmetic. It had an 8-digit vacuum fluorescent display (VFD), and a keypad. Dataman was manufactured by Texas Instruments and was launched on 5 June 1977.

References