Fall in line!! Awkward TI-36X Pro behaviour.

[Steve Simpkin]

(11-02-2024 02:49 AM)Matt Agajanian Wrote:  Hi. Just wondering… I’ve seen 36X Pro MathPrint models with the silver directional keys. I’ve also noticed them with a dark grey (or whatever that shade is) color. Is that a new design for the calc? Is this model a firmware improvement or just a keyboard design change?

They appear to be material changes only.

Here is the original TI-36X Pro from 2011 with the silver directional pad and 6 engraved silver keys (math/aprox/Enter) on the right. Note my copy of this version did not have black paint in the engraving of the 6 silver keys on the right so I had a very hard time telling some of the keys apart.
http://www.datamath.org/Sci/Modern/TI-36X-PRO.htm

Here is the 2021 refresh of the TI-36X Pro with the silver keys replaced by black keys with painted legends. Datamath notes "Everything else seems to be identical with its predecessor."
http://www.datamath.org/Sci/Modern/TI-36X-PROV2.htm

Edit: Later in the description of the second version, Datamath notes:
"Dismantling this TI-36X Pro with Date code L-0321E and manufactured in March 2021 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 SR-21 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."

Edit 2:
Comparing the internal layout and PCBs of the 2011 and 2021 version shows very minor differences in component layouts. They appear to be equivalent.
2011: http://www.datamath.org/Sci/Modern/Image...RO_PCB.jpg
2021: http://www.datamath.org/Sci/Modern/Image...1E_PCB.jpg