Texas Instruments TI-86 Graphing Calculator
Designed with power users in mind, the TI-86 graphing calculator has all the power and functionality of the popular TI-85 but with significant enhancements aimed at students of college mathematics, engineering, and science. The TI-86 includes a function evaluation table, deep entry recall, seven different graph styles with multiple line and shading options, and slope and direction fields for differential equations. In addition, the TI-86 boasts 96 KB of user-available memory--three times more than the TI-85. There's also a new function evaluation table which shows numeric output for function, polar, parametric, and differential equation modes.The TI-86 runs with programs designed for the TI-85 and includes all the same matrix features, but with a new matrix editor that allows the user to view and edit matrices in two dimensions. You can also view multiple lists and attach formulas to those lists for automatic computations. A new aspect of the TI-86 is the ability to customize product functionality with machine language programs downloaded from TI's Web site. Besides the strong graphing abilities, the TI-86 also has powerful calculus features like integration, derivatives, minimums, maximums, roots, and arcs. It also supports Z80 assembly language programming.The 64 x 128 high-contrast pixel screen displays eight lines of 21 characters each plus two levels of display menus. With the TI-86, you can link to other TI-86s and TI-85s via the input/output port, and to CBLs, CBRs, and computers.--Dana Van Nest