Texas Instruments Voyage 200 Calculator by Texas Instruments
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Digital camera reviews of Texas Instruments Voyage 200 Calculator
Digital camera Review: Poor - The Calculator has defective keys
Summary: 1 Stars
The Texas Instruments Voyage 200 is defective. Three keys do not work and I am presently in Panama Central America and cannot find a serice center to repair the calculator. I am very unhappy that this brand new product does not work and is virtually worthless. If you know of an authorized Texas Instrument service center in Panama City Panama, please advise meDigital camera Review: Powerful little beast
Summary: 5 Stars
Plain and simple, I love calculators. Yes, I have both Matlab and Mathematica running on my multiprocessor workstation but calculators have always had a special place in my heart. Since high school, I've firmly been in the HP camp and like many, I think the HP41C remains one of the finest calculators ever made. But the HP legacy started its sad decline with the 28C and the bottom fell out with the HP48G, perhaps the worst calculator HP has ever made. (It literally can take seconds to add two numbers... what could they have been thinking?)
All of that being said, I decided to venture into the TI camp, if only because they still take calculators seriously. I was dubious, however, because their machines seem designed for high school students rather than professional scientists/engineers, and this is reflected in the lack of high-end software packages available for them. Nonetheless, I don't think since the HP41 line have any calculators attracted so much interest or had so large a community built around them as have the recent TIs.
The Voyage 200 is something of a tour de force. It is based on the Motorola 68000, the same processor found in the original Macintosh and many other popular computers. It is programmable both in TI Basic and in 68000 assembly, the latter of which has lead to a rather impressive library of available games and applications that all run amazingly quickly given their platform. This whole software world is somewhat muddled by the fact that TI has released a series of operating system upgrades and patches for this calculator and wading the compatibility waters is very confusing for the uninitiated. (For example, for HP aficianados, it is quite possible to run an extremely well done RPN interface on this calculator, but it requires that you find & download both the RPN assembly program and HW2 AMS 2 TSR support (h220xTSR) if you're using the latest version of the operating system, AMS 2.09. When was the last time you worried about what operating system your calculator was running??)
Another troublesome point about this calculator is the documentation is shockingly bad. Really, it is just plain awful. It comes with a thin, almost useless manual, and you'll have to read through 20+ pages just to find out how to add 1+1. Haven't they ever heard of a "getting started quickly" guide? There are several hundred pages of manuals on CD and on the web, but in general, there are written very poorly indeed. Coming from the world of professionally written documentation for systems like Mathematica and Matlab, I realize just how lucky we are that those companies take documentation very seriously and write far simpler manuals for much more complex systems.
All in all, however, I think the Voyage 200 is the best thing going in the calculator world today. It's wonderful to once again have a calculator whose capabilities are as much fun to discover as it is to use. I doubt I'll ever find time for assembly programming on this beast, but it warms my heart to know that I could.
Digital camera Review: Probably the last calculator you'll ever need.
Summary: 5 Stars
I'm going to assume anyone reading this review is already considering or has already seen the TI-89 (or TI-92 plus, or TI-89 Titanium). Rest assured, this is the same ridiculously powerful machine, with distinct improvements. I've had mine for five years and I STILL haven't discovered everything it's capable of (blame that on the manual or my not reading it if you must). It's a fantastic mathematical tool, and I use it frequently as a portable table of integrals and to solve complex equations. It's also fantastically sturdy; I've dropped it and accidentally knocked it off tables multiple times and it's still in great shape.
Compared to the TI-92+, the Voyage 200 uses AAA batteries, is in a much smaller case (which just fits in a pocket), and has 2.7 MB flash memory to store stuff in. It can also run the latest AMS version.
Compared to the TI-89 Titanium, the Voyage 200 lacks the USB port, but the QWERTY keypad makes it a LOT easier to type in symbolic calculations with different variable names. The V200 also allows you to type in the names of functions that don't have their own dedicated key, without having to go through the catalog menus. For example, the keypad has a dedicated ln(<expression>) button, but all you have to do is type log(<expression>) and you'll get base-10 logarithms. You can also do that on a TI-89, but it's more cumbersome. The larger screen means the Voyage 200 uses a larger font by default, and you can see more with graphs. It really is helpful.
In short, if you're in high school and will have to deal with standardized tests, get the TI-89 titanium. If standardized tests are not a problem but you still need a calculus-solving behemoth of a calculator, go with the Voyage 200 for all the reasons I listed above. I would not buy it if you already have an 89 or a 92, since you've already got a nearly identical model.
Final thoughts:
If you want RPN, look for "Lars' RPN for TI-89". I doubt it's much like RPN on HP calculators, but it's something. I've got it running on my V200 with AMS 3.10 and it seems to work fine. There's also the "Hail Equation Writer" by Samuel Stearly (again, check online)
TI reserves 1.7 MB of that 2.7 MB for their own installable flash apps. You can remove that limit and use the full 2.7 MB for flash apps or your own programs with a use-at-your-own-risk program called Xpand (search for "Xpand V200")
Digital camera Review: Received used item instead of Brand New
Summary: 1 Stars
I ordered a brand new Voyage 200 here from Amazon but to my disappointment I received an obviously used item. The outside box was re-taped. The items inside were not in its original plastic packaging and it was all scrambled inside the box. There are slots provided for each item but they were all just dumped underneath the slots at the bottom of the box. There was also a bubble wrap that was meant for a certain item but it was missing.
This is very dishonest and Amazon lost one customer. If I was promised a brand new item I should not be receiving a used one.
Okay, I called the customer service and her name sounded like S. Kailly or S. Kelly. Our conversation initially started okay, when she asked me why did I think that the item was used. I told her everything that I noticed and also mentioned about the wires and possibly missing items, to my surprise she interrupted me and snapped at me while saying "okay, okay I get it the item was used so I can offer you a replacement!" That to me was very rude and doesn't exemplify a good customer service.
I was merely describing the condition of the item but I was rudely interrupted by the person who is supposed to represent this company and make the customer feel better for receiving such a crappy item (not in terms of the calculators function itself but about the condition of the item when delivered to me). I told this customer service person that she was rude for interrupting me and her job is actually to listen to the customer's concern but she was impatient and she obviously did not want to do that so since she doesn't want to listen anymore then she can just proceed into telling me what she can do for me because I need the calculator in time for my finals next week.
That kind of change her tone, she apologized and told me to continue but she made me very upset on top of my disappointment from getting a used and incomplete item. I managed to control my temper and told her to h=just replace my item and I was the conversation to be over since she obviously don't want to listen and do her job.
My daughter recently had an issue with some of her orders too and when she emailed the customer service, the reply that she received was "you're welcome."
My family and I have been a loyal customer of Amazon.com for so many years now but this current issue is not worth wasting more time and money buying an item that will just cause me stress. Again, you lost the business of my whole family who has been a loyal customer who must have spent thousands and thousands of dollars ordering from your company.
Digital camera Review: Solid Upgrade to TI-84 -- Great for Physics
Summary: 5 Stars
This calculator is absolutely wonderful. One absolutly incredible feature is the ability to use units (all physics units) at will. I can do particle physics, mechanical, relativistic (with all constants stored), both in SI and Standard British units. Type joules/second, and you get watts. Incredible.
The screen is large. Those upgrading from a TI-84 will find this nice, but at the same time a lot more "stuff" is going on, on the screen. The standard location for entering locations is in a line by line fashion on the 84, but here the equation line remains stationary at the bottom and is only one line (but long enough for most equations). The keys on the voyage 200 are approximately 1/2 as large in terms of area than those of the 84, so it may take some getting used to. I cannot type fast on this keyboard, and I have relatively small hands/fingers, so you won't be writing essays on here (though, a $40 laptop sized keyboard is available from TI).
People complain about the documentation, and yes it is a bit verbose, but it is VERY succinct and misses no detail. To get a feel for the calculator, I recommend downloading the manual on TI's website before buying to see the layout and the modus operandi of the system. Every one of its preprogrammed equations (2000+) is detailed. It would be illogical to include a printed manual of this since it would be 1008 pages long! Obviously expensive, and would merely be another textbook that no one would want to lug around. This calculator is expected to be used by an engineer/math major/physics major, therefore, the documentation needs to have everything detailed. Those fluent in mathematics will find it relatively easy to deal with. Furthermore the e-version of the manual is a PDF, making it easy to search for functions. But, I will agree that it can be upsetting to forget the key command for a function. Looking through the catalog on the calculator will do no good. I recommend keeping a list of all of your important commands, such as taylor() (finds taylor polynomials), csolve() (solves in respect to complex numbers), impdif() (implicit differentiation), et cetera.
Best bang for your buck. Its only a bit more expensive than a TI-89, and definitely worth the money.