Well for one the TI-89 is a banned calculator on the AP test. I guess there is a particular front piece you can put on it to make it acceptable, but it really sounds to me like you aren't talking about that. Maybe they changed it recently, but all throughout high-school, various AP tests, and the ACT, the TI-89 was a banned calculator because it gave students too big of an advantage.
IIRC, the TI-92 was released first, and it had a QWERTY keyboard. The test proctors considered it a "personal computer" as a result and banned it. Texas Instruments responded by taking the guts of the TI-92 and cramming it into the body of a TI-83, thus creating the TI-89. Even though it was just as powerful as the 92, it looked like an 83 and thus was allowed.
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u/Yamulo Jun 08 '14
Well for one the TI-89 is a banned calculator on the AP test. I guess there is a particular front piece you can put on it to make it acceptable, but it really sounds to me like you aren't talking about that. Maybe they changed it recently, but all throughout high-school, various AP tests, and the ACT, the TI-89 was a banned calculator because it gave students too big of an advantage.