TI59 VS the 41 Vs the 71 VS the 48 Shootout

[John W Kercheval]

The TI59 has some serious advantages esp the locking expansion dock superb plug ins, etc. But in a multi-way shootout I would give it to the 71. Then to the 48GX in a head-to-head shootout.

In HS I had the TI59, but stepped up to the 41CV in college and never went back.

I was a TI59 hardcore user back in those days. Bought it from the famous store- The Math Box in Fair City Mall, Fairfax, VA.

Any other TI59 users?

[Maximilian Hohmann]

(05-03-2014 01:10 PM)John W Kercheval Wrote:  Any other TI59 users?

Yes me. Back then. But even today, I would not trade my Ti59 for an Hp41 or 48.

[Dan B]

I could not afford a TI-59 when I graduated from High School, but got a TI-58C instead which got me through Engineering in College. I became a HP convert my Junior year in college, but since I had no money I stayed with my trusty 58C (even though the keyboard was wearing out!)

[Massimo Gnerucci]

(05-03-2014 01:10 PM)John W Kercheval Wrote:  The TI59 has some serious advantages esp the locking expansion dock superb plug ins, etc. But in a multi-way shootout I would give it to the 71. Then to the 48GX in a head-to-head shootout.

In HS I had the TI59, but stepped up to the 41CV in college and never went back.

I was a TI59 hardcore user back in those days. Bought it from the famous store- The Math Box in Fair City Mall, Fairfax, VA.

Any other TI59 users?

TI59??
41C*! 4evaNaDay.

[jebem]

That takes me back in time to the end of 70's when everybody around me used Texas TI-57/58/59 calculators at school (Technical Universities in Lisbon) and I was the only one defending the HP flag with my HP-67.

Our arguing in favor of Texas or HP had no end, and at that time the general feeling was that Texas was superior when compared to HP in most areas. And of course they dismissed RPN as a practical entry mode, even making jokes about it.

For me this was kind of a shock, as I was educated in Mozambique and South Africa where HP dominated the market and TEXAS was about non existent there. Even CASIO had more expression than TEXAS in those times at that region.

[walter b]

(05-03-2014 01:10 PM)John W Kercheval Wrote:  The TI59 has some serious advantages esp the locking expansion dock superb plug ins, etc. But in a multi-way shootout I would give it to the 71. Then to the 48GX in a head-to-head shootout.
...
Any other TI59 users?

TI59 wasn't launched yet when I started with an TI SR50 at university. But I remember those years of the calculator wars quite well. TI usually had some feature-wise advantages but their keyboards (those of 57, 58, 59 ...) turned out being their weak points after a while. It all changed with the HP-41C - I don't remember any serious competition from TI thereafter for many years.

BTW, your "shootout" (what else can one expect from an inhabitant of the USA?) is unfair for reasons of confronting different generations of calculators. It's like opposing bow and arrows to a Winchester - something people may remember out there.

d:-/

[HP67]

(05-03-2014 01:10 PM)John W Kercheval Wrote:  Any other TI59 users?

No, I had a TI-57, a Programmer, and several other models. To this day I will never understand comparisons between HP and TI calculators of the pre Kinpo era. TI were easy to use, had nice features, and were cheap. When you bought (and used) a TI for any length of time you knew you were going to need to replace it in a few years. The cases were flimsy and the keyboards all failed after heavy use.

HP was harder to use well at first, had great doc, and were built like tanks. All you needed was one.

[Ernst Fueloep]

(05-03-2014 01:10 PM)John W Kercheval Wrote:  ...
Any other TI59 users?

Yes, I used one when I was in High School; I bought it in 1979.
I have used it quite often and wrote several programs for it. One program for which I am very proud was a backtracking algorithm to solve the Solitaire Puzzle game.
See
The program run for almost a week and then produced a valid output on my PC-100C Printer where the TI-59 was connected.

I still have this TI-59 and it is still functioning. Although I have to admit that some keys have to be harder pressed to work. And the Card Reader is no longer working. It suffered the gummy wheel syndrom.

At that time in High School TI calculators were dominant in my classroom. Most of my colleagues had a SR-56, some a TI-58 and few a TI-59. One had a HP-19C. And this calculator was my first glimpse into the HP calculator world. I borrowed the HP-19C from him and was impressed by the small printer and the high quality of the keyboard. But the HP-19C was severe lacking of memory compared to my TI-59.

Of course, there were discussions which calculators are better TI or HP.
The HP calculators were way too expensive for most of us. And that was the main reason why TI was dominant.

One major advantage of the TI calculators at that time was the fact that they were using 13 digits for all internal calculations. This was true for the SR-56, TI-58 and TI-59. Compared to all the HP calculators at that time (HP-67, HP-19C, ..) they used only 10 digits.
I remember one test in a classroom where we had to solve some mathematical problem using our calculators. The teacher was using a HP-19C. And the result on all TI calculators were different than on the HP calculator. At first the teacher believed we all did a mistake. But we could show him that because his HP-19C only used 10 digits the result was wrong. The TI calcs used 13 digits and produced the correct result.
I don't remember the details of the calculations we had to perform then. I only remember the significant difference in the results between the HP and TI calcs.
The teacher said he will open a complain with HP because of this. But I never heard if he really did it and what happened then.

Now I have my own HP-19C and use it very often because of the small printer to document my results on paper.

[Paul Berger (Canada)]

I bought a 58C not long after I started working. I remember I bought it at a department store, that at the time had a showcase and counter dedicated to calculators. I lusted after the 41C with its alpha-numeric LCD display but could not afford one so I settled for a 58C that eventually succumbed to the bouncing key disease. I had also bought a PR-100 that I remember I replaced the print head in a few times. I still have some parts of that 58C within the last few years I got interested in them again and now have a couple working 58Cs and a fully functional 59 with a PR100A. One difference in construction I noted was the TIs have a thin piece of plastic foam between the keys and bubble switches where as the 41 has a sturdy rubber sheet. I trimmed one of these rubber sheets to fit in a TI keyboard and it work great.

[Massimo Gnerucci]

(05-04-2014 02:35 PM)Ernst Fueloep Wrote:  [quote='John W Kercheval' pid='10477' dateline='1399122621']
One major advantage of the TI calculators at that time was the fact that they were using 13 digits for all internal calculations. This was true for the SR-56, TI-58 and TI-59. Compared to all the HP calculators at that time (HP-67, HP-19C, ..) they used only 10 digits.

Until the HP-91, see pp. 16-17.

[Thomas Radtke]

(05-03-2014 01:10 PM)John W Kercheval Wrote:  Any other TI59 users?

Mine has its own desk, sitting on a PC-100 and usually beneath its cover. I have some statistics programs written for it but don't use it seriously. Still, I care for it by means of cleaning and keeping keyboard and card reader working.

[Namir]

I had the HP-67 when I came to the US. On the second day I went to Ulrich's Bookstore (Univ of Michigan, Ann Arbor) and saw how cheap a TI-59 was (compared to Paris where I was living for a few months). I snagged one and came back two days later to buy the printer! I used both calculators for homework (mostly the HP-67) and even took the two machines in a Stat class one day! The professor (an MIT PhD in chemical engineering who used the HP-65) was impressed!

When the HP-41C came out, that was it for the HP-67 and the TI-59. As Voltere said "The better is the enemy of the good!"

I do have the TI-59/58 emulators on the PC and my Android phone and Android tablet.

Namir