TI’s answer to the HP-41C

[Dave Britten]

So the official documents suggest I wasn't too far off the mark. While the TI-99/4 may not have been introduced specifically to compete with the 41C, it was clearly indicative of the overall direction that TI was going as their strategy to compete in the market that the 41C occupied, culminating in the CC-40.

(03-23-2021 12:06 AM)Valentin Albillo Wrote:  I also liked very much the newly introduced "pocket computers", starting with the SHARP PC-1211, which I also got (again for free !) and it was indeed a true replacement for the HP-41C and TI's keystroke programming models, and much better in a lot of important aspects. Subsequent SHARP models could run rings around contemporary HP and TI models in terms of performance, ease of programming and capabilities, while being more affordable.

Interesting perspective! I wholeheartedly agree that a symbolic language like BASIC is vastly easier to program than keystroke "languages" like on the 41C or TI-59. But the keystroke programmables often make it easier to use programs as part of a calculator-like workflow, so I somewhat begrudgingly write such programs to benefit from the resulting ease of use. Your example of nested looping is exactly the sort of thing that I would much rather prototype on a BASIC handheld so I can spend my time debugging the algorithm rather than the loop setup itself. If HP had made something with 100% identical functionality and UI to the 42S, but with a BASIC-like language, I'd be in heaven.

I actually have a PC-1211 that's in nearly pristine condition (remarkably - these are notorious for LCD rot). I should really try to track down a cassette interface and spend a little time with it and the enormous applications book. While not nearly as powerful as the 71B, I must say that the Sharp is certainly a heck of a lot simpler to use!

(03-22-2021 10:41 PM)rprosperi Wrote:  

(03-22-2021 03:35 PM)dhe Wrote:  Hi,
Either Here:
https://atariage.com/forums/topic/312771...nt-4661902

or Here:
https://atariage.com/forums/topic/313064...nt-4667988

Many thanks!! Never have been there, it would have taken much time to locate, so I appreciate the time you saved me (and a ton of quieter folks...).

Come on Bob, you know you want to get into Atari stuff too...