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BeerNTacos t1_iwxkf0w wrote

As a calculator nerd, I know the exact model this is.

It's not the original TI-36 SOLAR but the 1989 revision, the second model.

The solar cells on that calculator are smaller than the original version, plus the "ANYLITE SOLAR" language wasn't used until the 1989 revision, and ONLY for that revision. The bottom text said "SCIENTIFIC" for every model before and after, The depending on the year's revision the text was either lower center or lower right.

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lake_huron OP t1_iwywqal wrote

I had this in high school which was before 1989.

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BeerNTacos t1_ixb0g5h wrote

Okay, I did a little digging around and contacting some old folks who knew people back in TI's earlier days.

The records back then are not great but it seems this model is definitely the second model, but there seems to have been some earlier models of this version made, possibly as early as 1986. Original version came out ~1985 but used the TI-35's solar cells. This version specifically used the ANYLITE SOLAR designation to differentiate between the two models. It wasn't until ~1989 that TI advertised this version. Even then, outside of this naming convention they were using the packed in 1985 materials come out like the original manual.

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