Okay, this is my 1000th posts and I wanted to do something 'special'. Not another simple random post so I decided to do this.
I've seen several people making a topic and asking which calc to buy. I've always tried to convince them to buy a 68k calc. Why? I'll answer that in the following short article I wrote.

Why to buy a 68k calc.

When I started programming we had 'only' the TI-92 and the TI-92+ calcs. So I used those. A few years ago I began using a TI-89, which I stilll use. (I even bought another one).The only other calc I have programmed on is the TI-83+, which I only started doing this year.  Till then I always had programmed in TI-basic, which is quite awesome on the 68k calcs. A proof of that may be this: http://ourl.ca/13279. You can see that the most featured pure basic programs on Ticalc.org are of the  68k calcs with 14 files. The z80 only have 3 files. I'm not trying to say that the z80 calcs are bad, but trying to pint out that the 68k's are even better! This year I made a program in Newprog, which you can call the AXE for 68k calcs. It wasn't the hardest game but it went very smooth and I had finished it in  very few days.  It was as fast as an assembly or C program would be. I was really impressed.
Also the beautifull screens(TI-89: 160x100 px TI-92-V200:240x128) make programming on these calcs even more enjoyable.

In the past few years the 68k community kinda died, which is a very sad thing that can have to do with the fact that the z80 calcs are now needed for school and not other calcs. If you don't know why I'm sad just take a look a this page: http://www.ticalc.org/pub/89/asm/games/rate.html
It's a list of all the TI-89 asssembly games organised on rating. All of those games look, and I'm sure ARE very epic. At the basic section there'll be quite some nice games too, but just aren't rated that much because they're basic and many people probably won't even look at them.
Also all the 68k calcs(excluding the Ti-92(non plus)) have CAS(http://www.math.wpi.edu/IQP/BVCalcHist/calc5.html), making them an exellent calc for math.
In my opinion these calcs are the best and actually even beat the nspires a bit for me. Programming on it is wonderfull, it's actually better to say: It is a calc made for programmers.
So I'm recommending people who want to  program and want CAS to buy these amazing calcs and help the 68k community to come back alive and rule the world.

If you still believe another calculator is better or want a color calc feel free to do so. I'm just trying to show how I think.


Whoohoo. 1000 posts!

MYST 89! It's the killer app for the TI-89!

Also congrats on 1000 posts!

Lol. There much better full games out there like Super Mario 68k for example.

Before I bought my nspire I took some advice with some older colleagues taking my course. They all said to buy a Voyage 200 or a TI-89 because there are plenty of software to help the students while studying and while being tested. But I was fascinated with the nspire intrinsic capabilities like having much more memory and resolution. They told me that having a nspire was like having a sportscar without wheels.

In the end after hearing the pros of the 68k calcs and searching about the nspire I ended up buying the latest to dive in a new world and start to build up the collection of software I needed. That's why I joined the project asstermo which some of you may already have read about.

Compared to Z80 BASIC, how fast is the 89 Titanium's basic?

Yeah ofcourse, I think it depends what you want to do with it

I just want to take my mechanical engineering course, any advice? xD

I have been debating between a PIRZM and an 89 ti for a while, and you may have won me over...

before buying the nspire I didn't knew it was very limited, compared to my TI-83... Before Lua appeared I missed draw commands and getKey because it really gave me the feel of control and power.... Anyway I do not regret my choice...

Awesome article Stefan. It is a shame that TI doesn't really push it's 68k line anymore, as they are really great calculators. I still love my old TI-89.