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Calculator Community => TI Calculators => General Calculator Help => Topic started by: epic7 on November 14, 2011, 04:35:20 pm

Title: What calculator is best?
Post by: epic7 on November 14, 2011, 04:35:20 pm
I need help making a decision.
I have a Ti-83+ and I'm very familiar with basic and Axe.

I'm trying to decide whether to get:

A. Ti-84 Plus Silver Edition
B. Ti-Nspire CX CAS
C. Something else :P
Title: Re: What calculator is best?
Post by: parserp on November 14, 2011, 04:39:50 pm
I'd recommend the 84+ SE, but I'm not sure, cause I've never had a Nspire CX CAS.
Title: Re: What calculator is best?
Post by: njaddison on November 14, 2011, 04:56:35 pm
You should get a TI-Nspire.
I'm taking Algebra 1.
At my school, I'm the person who is obsessed with my calculator.
I'm always thinking of a new idea.
You should get the nspire. IF you can think of something for the nspire, then 9 times out of ten, you can make it.
But, if you don't like taking advice from preteens,
then ask someone else.
Title: Re: What calculator is best?
Post by: AngelFish on November 14, 2011, 04:57:34 pm
Prizm ;D
Title: Re: What calculator is best?
Post by: flyingfisch on November 14, 2011, 05:00:04 pm
I would recommend PRIZM or FX-9860GII
Title: Re: What calculator is best?
Post by: epic7 on November 14, 2011, 05:09:45 pm
How is the programming on the Prizm?
Title: Re: What calculator is best?
Post by: cantbeetpie on November 14, 2011, 05:35:25 pm
I would strongly reccommend the nspire cx cas. It is very easy to download games onto, has a very good display, and can solve very complex problems. It also solves for variables, simplifies radicals, fractions, and decimals with ease. You should get the nspire cx cas because its better and looks cooler than the prizm.
Title: Re: What calculator is best?
Post by: Nick on November 14, 2011, 05:45:02 pm
to answer on njaddisons topic, that's not true, it is limited too, but indeed less than the 84 editions. But remember, it also stops at 150 mHz, zo it is only 3 times the 84...
btw, if you're able to program in axe you can make very nice games for the 84+SE, and the Nspire costs a lot...
I have an nspire too, but i wouldn't have bought it if i didn't have to.
of course, graphically and mathematically the nspire is a lot stronger..
Title: Re: What calculator is best?
Post by: epic7 on November 14, 2011, 06:12:13 pm
Im looking for mainly programming :P
Title: Re: What calculator is best?
Post by: willrandship on November 14, 2011, 06:16:55 pm
Well, for one thing the prizm is far better than an 84+, and while technically slower than an nspire, it does have native C and Assembly support, which the Nspire CX, and nspires with OS 3.0, lack (Currently! however, even when ndless 3 comes out you will need to install it, compared to native support in the prizm). They have lua, which I can almost guarantee will be slower than C on the Prizm, being an interpreted language. Oh yeah, and a prizm's cheaper.

I recommend Prizm, as long as you're willing to deal with learning a new system architecture (big changes for Asm, smaller ones for C)
Title: Re: What calculator is best?
Post by: epic7 on November 14, 2011, 06:27:38 pm
When will ndless 3 probably be released?
Title: Re: What calculator is best?
Post by: ruler501 on November 14, 2011, 06:37:01 pm
We dont know theres a proof of concept for the nonCX 3.x's it might be 6 months or more for all we know till it is fully functional
Title: Re: What calculator is best?
Post by: willrandship on November 14, 2011, 06:38:23 pm
Yeah, the proof of concept is quite similar to the one demonstrated on the original ndless, for 1.1. It just displays a picture.

Encouragingly, I don't think I saw any external hardware, unlike 1.1's preview vid. :D BTW from 1.1 I think it took about 7 months.
Title: Re: What calculator is best?
Post by: epic7 on November 14, 2011, 06:39:58 pm
So, in conclusion.... :P
Title: Re: What calculator is best?
Post by: Nick on November 14, 2011, 06:41:21 pm
non cx cas?
Title: Re: What calculator is best?
Post by: willrandship on November 14, 2011, 06:42:02 pm
Non cx cas if you don't care about color, prizm if you do, I guess?
Title: Re: What calculator is best?
Post by: epic7 on November 14, 2011, 06:43:49 pm
Now Im deciding between

Non CX CAS
Prizm
CX CAS

Almost somewhat at a conclusion :P
Im going to do some prizm research. Im not familiar with casio.
Title: Re: What calculator is best?
Post by: willrandship on November 14, 2011, 06:44:58 pm
One big advantage of the non-cx variety is that I've been debating doing a hardware mod involving keypads, which would unfortunately exclude CX devices.
Title: Re: What calculator is best?
Post by: epic7 on November 14, 2011, 07:21:47 pm
I think I'm going to stick with ti.

Now narrowed down to
CX CAS
Non CX CAS
Title: Re: What calculator is best?
Post by: Nick on November 14, 2011, 07:23:02 pm
noncx if you cannot wait for ndless or you don't bother color, cx if you would love color, but with a slower rendering
Title: Re: What calculator is best?
Post by: epic7 on November 14, 2011, 07:23:47 pm
CX is slower, but is it still quick, or is it slow like 83/84 basic?
Title: Re: What calculator is best?
Post by: Nick on November 14, 2011, 07:25:29 pm
yes, certainly... but as soon as you use graphics (real TI.images i mean) or a lot of colors you see the difference..
Title: Re: What calculator is best?
Post by: mushmoom on November 14, 2011, 07:25:59 pm
To be honest, I still like the 83/84 series the most AS CALCULATORS.  I'm not that familiar with the prism, and the Nspire is too much like a computer.  That's great, but the touchpad sort of drives me crazy when I'm playing games.
Title: Re: What calculator is best?
Post by: flyingfisch on November 14, 2011, 07:27:04 pm
Touchpad as in iPhone-type touchpad?

O.O
Title: Re: What calculator is best?
Post by: Nick on November 14, 2011, 07:27:49 pm
that's absolutely true, if you just touch the thouchpad somewhere (not pressing it) and you want to press an arrow with another finger is doesn't work.. but that's with both the cx and no cx, so you should go back to the clickpad :)
Title: Re: What calculator is best?
Post by: mushmoom on November 14, 2011, 07:27:57 pm
Touchpad, not touchscreen. :)
Title: Re: What calculator is best?
Post by: flyingfisch on November 14, 2011, 07:29:30 pm
Touchpad, not touchscreen. :)
whats the difference?
Title: Re: What calculator is best?
Post by: mushmoom on November 14, 2011, 07:30:15 pm
Despite how awesome the cx is, I still want an optional clickpad keypad for the nspire!

Oh, and btw: touchpad is what you have on your laptop.  touchscreen is, well a touchSCREEN.
Title: Re: What calculator is best?
Post by: Nick on November 14, 2011, 07:30:43 pm
touchpad is like that mouse that's built in into you laptop, or the touchpad from an ipod nano, not that from the ipod thouch, thats a screen

ninja'd p
Title: Re: What calculator is best?
Post by: flyingfisch on November 14, 2011, 07:31:05 pm
OK, thats cool
Title: Re: What calculator is best?
Post by: AngelFish on November 14, 2011, 07:34:22 pm
You should get the nspire cx cas because its better and looks cooler than the prizm.

You are quite literally the first person I have ever seen assert that the Nspire looks nicer than the Prizm.
Title: Re: What calculator is best?
Post by: Nick on November 14, 2011, 07:37:00 pm
i also like the look of the nspire more than those of the prizm, the prizm looka like a toy tbh
Title: Re: What calculator is best?
Post by: saintrunner on November 14, 2011, 08:07:37 pm
Ti 84+ SE, All the way! In my opinion, it is all better for programming in the sense that it is easier to use not only for school when necessary but also for programming. Also I know at least my school requires a 84+ or 84+ SE for the math classes, so out of the two I think it would be best with the 84+ SE. Pretty good memory space too!
Title: Re: What calculator is best?
Post by: epic7 on November 14, 2011, 08:09:20 pm
Ti says CAS is not for algebra but non-CAS is.... I thought CAS was for algebra!
Title: Re: What calculator is best?
Post by: saintrunner on November 14, 2011, 09:04:17 pm
CAS as in Computer Algebra System? It's in the name, shouldn't it be for algebra?
Title: Re: What calculator is best?
Post by: epic7 on November 14, 2011, 09:09:00 pm
Look, cas isn't for algebra. 
http://education.ti.com/educationportal/sites/US/nonProductSingle/graphing_course_comparision.html (http://education.ti.com/educationportal/sites/US/nonProductSingle/graphing_course_comparision.html)
Title: Re: What calculator is best?
Post by: saintrunner on November 14, 2011, 09:11:51 pm
It probably is good for algebra, it's just not listed as so because it does all those other things so much better! If it does all that. It does algebra. My advice, just go and try one at a store.
Title: Re: What calculator is best?
Post by: epic7 on November 14, 2011, 09:59:45 pm
I'd think algebra would still be significant given its in the name of the product :P
Title: Re: What calculator is best?
Post by: mushmoom on November 14, 2011, 10:18:38 pm
i also like the look of the nspire more than those of the prizm, the prizm looka like a toy tbh

A toy cellphone, that is.
Title: Re: What calculator is best?
Post by: ztrumpet on November 14, 2011, 10:40:23 pm
Hands down the best calculator to get from a programming perspective is one from the TI-83/84+(SE) series.  They have been programmed for over ten years, have thousands of programs written for them, and have three main language options with numerous other minor ones.  They is also a ton of information about them out there, as there has been a community actively using these calculators for almost their entire lifespan.  With massive resources like WikiTI, ticalc, and TI Basic Developer, you can learn about anything.  If you want to learn anything about these calculators you can find this information somewhere on the internet.  This line of calculators are the best things out there, as far as programmable, graphing calculators go.

Here's what a recommend getting:
TI-84+SE with a hardware version 'G' or before.  The hardware version letter is the last character of the serial number, which is found on the back of the calc.  If one of these calcs, you're as set for programming calcs as you can possibly be.
Title: Re: What calculator is best?
Post by: TIfanx1999 on November 15, 2011, 01:47:48 am
You may call me old fashioned, but I love the Z80 line. If you already own and are familiar with the TI 83+ a TI 84+, TI-84+ SE, or an TI-83+ SE are nice upgrades. You get more memory and access to a faster (15Mhz) processor. Not to mention they are highly programmable and you'd already be familiar with the language. I like the Prizm too, but it's user base is still young and growing at the moment.

I don't like the Nspire simply because TI keeps locking it down and attempting to control the platform.  Although, the recent advent of Lua has been quite nice.

The 68k series is another consideration (TI-89, Ti-89 Titanium, Voyage 200). They offer higher resolutions than the Z80 line, and processor speeds equal to the 83+SE and 84+Se's. They are programmable (primarily) in BASIC, ASM, and C. They aren't as popular as they used to be though.
Title: Re: What calculator is best?
Post by: Stefan Bauwens on November 15, 2011, 05:16:04 am
Yes, I'm actually surprised nobody, besides Art, said something of the 68k calcs. Of all the calcs I have worked with and seen  I prefer those above all. I have 2 ti-89's, that I LOVE, and they aren't even titanum. It also has Cas apparently and i just love it. It supports C and the basic language is good too. There exist quite some good games for it.(Including Super Mario 68k!). Somebody has also made another laguage for it :Newprog , which is easier than C and kinda basic style but powerfull. Kinda like axe for the 89 ;) I've programmed a game in it and it's quite easy to use. It's almost wonderfull at everything. The only thing is that there aren't anymore many people programming on it. :)

So you can see, if I would buy a calc it would be a 89(titanum). It's community might have died, but that hasn't stopped me ;)
Title: Re: What calculator is best?
Post by: Jim Bauwens on November 15, 2011, 05:19:52 am
While I agree with my brother, I think you should get the 89's big brother, the TI-92 Plus :D
Title: Re: What calculator is best?
Post by: Stefan Bauwens on November 15, 2011, 05:55:16 am
While I agree with my brother, I think you should get the 89's big brother, the TI-92 Plus :D
Or even the Voyage 200!
Title: Re: What calculator is best?
Post by: Jim Bauwens on November 15, 2011, 05:57:56 am
Nah, the TI-92's form factor is better ;)
Title: Re: What calculator is best?
Post by: p2 on November 15, 2011, 06:04:16 am
I think the TI 84+ is the best!
(but maybe I just think that because i only have a TInSpireCX-CAS and many calcs of the 83-family!)
Title: Re: What calculator is best?
Post by: DJ Omnimaga on November 15, 2011, 05:51:55 pm
I like the 84+ series the best because it has a wider range of cool games and is more popular. However I like the Prizm better for both power and its ASM/C color potential. I like the Nspire a bit because of the games on it, but I dislike how TI closed the platform. As for 68K I liked them but almost nobody use them anymore, same for 86. :(
Title: Re: What calculator is best?
Post by: mushmoom on November 15, 2011, 05:53:11 pm
Go 83/84's!
Title: Re: What calculator is best?
Post by: InternetCliche on November 15, 2011, 05:53:50 pm
84+SE. Now if only I had one. :(
Title: Re: What calculator is best?
Post by: BalancedFury on November 15, 2011, 05:54:45 pm
Nspire Cx or Casio Prizm!! :w00t:
Whichever came out first :P
Why? you ask? ;)
Cause its the first with Corlor :D
Title: Re: What calculator is best?
Post by: epic7 on November 15, 2011, 06:54:03 pm
If I could get 2 calcs, Id get 84+se and CX. But since I already have an 83+, I'm closer to buying a cx
Title: Re: What calculator is best?
Post by: flyingfisch on November 15, 2011, 06:54:45 pm
I really dont care that much about color. I kinda like the novelty of grayscales.
Title: Re: What calculator is best?
Post by: DJ Omnimaga on November 15, 2011, 07:02:30 pm
Yeah that's true, although I guess it's kinda cool to be able to play Doom in color in classes on a non-blurry screen.

The Nspire Clickpad screen is so blurry that the game is almost unplayable x.x
Title: Re: What calculator is best?
Post by: flyingfisch on November 15, 2011, 07:09:25 pm
Well its fine for 2D games.
Title: Re: What calculator is best?
Post by: DJ Omnimaga on November 15, 2011, 07:11:04 pm
Not on the Nspire. Have you tried playing Super Mario Deluxe on the gbc4nspire emulator? Calc84maniac had to drop the framerate to 15 images per second to increase playability and reduce the blur, yet it's still barely playable. Games with no grayscale backgrounds are generally fine, though.
Title: Re: What calculator is best?
Post by: Yeong on November 15, 2011, 07:12:54 pm
Yea, I remember deleting SMDX because of that same problem.
Also, gbc4nspire crashes at every gb megaman games D:
Title: Re: What calculator is best?
Post by: epic7 on November 15, 2011, 07:14:27 pm
The color nspire, or the other ones? Or both?
Title: Re: What calculator is best?
Post by: Yeong on November 15, 2011, 07:15:44 pm
nspire cx doesn't have full ndless yet, so we're talking about non-color one.