Omnimaga
Calculator Community => TI Calculators => General Calculator Help => Topic started by: turbogsr on April 10, 2013, 06:33:56 pm
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I've been a user of the ti-83 and have an hw2 Ti-89, then one day I see that Ti releases the Nspire series, later to have the Nspire CX(with color) series. I liked the community of the old school ti8x series and how it could load apps... however, I hear that you can't do this with the nspire series?
Any how, I'm looking for a new calculator, I'm the type of geek/tinkerer who likes to get my hands on gadgets. I want CAS functionality, but since I hear you can load CAS on a non-CAS nspire(for the non-cx version at least), is there a reason to pick one over the other?
(again, I don't want to break any forum rules, please have patience or let me know)
What do you recommend for being not only a powerful calculator(with CAS functions), but also with mod-ability/tinkering?
Last but not least, as a coder/tinkerer/modder(within legal boundaries), which calculator would you pick and why(between nspires: touchpad, touchpad CAS, CX, CX CAS)? Is there any real benefit of getting the CX series(I know it's backlit color, I know it has a rechargeable battery, it's slimmer/lighter, and I know it has more memory storage... but all these things I could live without to be honest...unless it has significantly more processing power than a non CX version...also I don't care about the gbc emulator either, lol).
Thanks in advance!
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Heya and welcome here. To load apps on the TI-Nspire you need OS 3.1 (it's possible to downgrade if you got OS 3.2). 3.1 can also run most Lua games. CAS is disallowed at some tests, while allowed at others, if you live in USA. I believe in France you can use it anywhere, though. Of course if you pick the non-CAS we can't help on putting a CAS OS on it since some people use it to cheat, but in both calculator cases you have 64 MB of RAM and a 132 MHz processor that can be set to 220+ MHz (I saw some calcs go up to 250, but mine can only reach 242 or 246).
Both calcs are a pain to program because of how locked down they are, though. On the TI-84 Plus C Silver Edition that just came out, you can do anything you want, but it only has 128 KB of total RAM and 3.5 MB of flash. The processor runs at 15 MHz so you need to do like NES/SNES programmers and use programming shortcuts for games. The screen has color too and supports 320x240 and 160x240 resolution (the latter is similar to the Commodore 64 and Atari 2600)
Of course if you absolutely want a CAS and color you're stuck with the TI-Nspire CX (or CAS if you don't want to go through the hassle of installing a CAS OS on a non-CAS model)
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Thanks for the reply Dj Omnimaga.
I guess I won't be looking at the CX series then(I don't care about color).
The CAS touchpad seems more of a logical choice(if I'm not mistaken, I can do pretty much everything that I can do on the ti-89? Integration? differentials? imaginary numbers?) I won't be using it for school as far as I can tell, it's just solely for being a collector/tinkerer(while also being functional).
Only reason I considered the non-CAS touchpad was because it comes with a Ti-84 emulator(doesn't it?), which can probably also run apps? While also being able to load CAS?(but I just found out from you that it's a pain and not guaranteed, esp in the US.. which is where I am)
I haven't used the Nspires, but from what I understand there downloadable apps(officially from TI) to add functionality(chemistry, physics, more math stuff,etc.)?
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Wait, this is what I was referring to when I mentioned the Ti-84:
http://education.ti.com/en/us/promotions/84_redemption
Does that only work on the non-CAS nspire? Or does it also work on the CAS nspire as well?
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I would absolutely recommend getting a CX non-cas. It can run so many more stuff, like the gameboy emulators in full-color :3 It's awesome, especially for "tinkering" like you said. When you want to throw the CAS on it, just ask for help on the forums if you cannot figure it out.
I for one don't recommend getting a 84CSE: from what I've heard it is quite slow.
Hope that helps you choosing!
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Actually the 84+CSE is a bit annoying in the PRGM editor but it's kinda entertaining to code and there are some sort of speed shortcuts you can use while still keeping decent graphics. You better wait until some ASM libs came out, though.
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Also, remember that Axe came out LONG after the 84+ came out. I imagine some on-calc game programming language for the Nspire coming out some day too (I have stuff lying around, main bottleneck is learning how to access the screen in nspire c)
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I imagine some on-calc game programming language for the Nspire coming out some day too (I have stuff lying around, main bottleneck is learning how to access the screen in nspire c)
Well, that'd be Lua with an on-calc editor (even though I don't see the Nspire being a device to program directly on, but rather on the computer. The color, large screen makes it possible to create complex things, especially with a bigger power you can do more stuff with, it's largely easier to make programs on the computer)
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Personally I'd still go for some sort of powerful on-calc editor/compiler on the Nspires. Same for the Prizm. Bonus points for being a largely cross-compatible language.
Even if a person has their own computer it's still a lot more mobile to only need the calc to get things done ;) Just need to take care/backup more :P
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Are you only limited to TI calcs? What about a Casio calc? I really enjoy my 9750gII, the BASIC is powerful and runs at a decent speed, and they can also be programmed in C. They also have an iOS-esque menu (more friendlier than TI's command-line interface), and good filesystem tools.
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Are you only limited to TI calcs? What about a Casio calc? I really enjoy my 9750gII, the BASIC is powerful and runs at a decent speed, and they can also be programmed in C. They also have an iOS-esque menu (more friendlier than TI's command-line interface), and good filesystem tools.
What is command-line like in TI's OSes ? ???
On the contrary, I like TI's calc for having a key to go in every menu, while on Casio, you have to guess the first key then press the F# keys like twenty times before getting to the right token.
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Are you only limited to TI calcs? What about a Casio calc? I really enjoy my 9750gII, the BASIC is powerful and runs at a decent speed, and they can also be programmed in C. They also have an iOS-esque menu (more friendlier than TI's command-line interface), and good filesystem tools.
Not necessarily limited to TI-calcs, however, in the big picture I do want CAS capabilities. I've heard plenty of great things about the casio 9750/8560's(and prizms too, in fact I like casio's interfaces, I think they are usually quite efficient, I rock a fx-115es). It's just that you can get nspire touchpad cas's for a lot less now, I thought I might get one. After hearing that the 84 emulator sucks on the nspire touchpad, I guess I'll cross that off the list.
I was debating between the nspire: touchpad, touchpad CAS, and maybe a CX(though they cost at least double of the non-CX version, and I wasn't sure if it was worth it for me at least, again I'm aware of their spec advantages, just wasn't sure on the software hackability side).
I thought the normal touchpad might be favorable at first because of the 84emulator/faceplace + hearing that you could load in the CAS... but as it turns out from hearing from you guys, the 84emulator is half baked, and loading CAS on there is a pain.
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Are you only limited to TI calcs? What about a Casio calc? I really enjoy my 9750gII, the BASIC is powerful and runs at a decent speed, and they can also be programmed in C. They also have an iOS-esque menu (more friendlier than TI's command-line interface), and good filesystem tools.
What is command-line like in TI's OSes ? ???
On the contrary, I like TI's calc for having a key to go in every menu, while on Casio, you have to guess the first key then press the F# keys like twenty times before getting to the right token.
Arrow keys and EXE button make menu navigation a lot easier.
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Are you only limited to TI calcs? What about a Casio calc? I really enjoy my 9750gII, the BASIC is powerful and runs at a decent speed, and they can also be programmed in C. They also have an iOS-esque menu (more friendlier than TI's command-line interface), and good filesystem tools.
What is command-line like in TI's OSes ? ???
On the contrary, I like TI's calc for having a key to go in every menu, while on Casio, you have to guess the first key then press the F# keys like twenty times before getting to the right token.
I agree with you. On my 84+ everything is 1/2 buttons away while I've never figured out Casios, programming them is a freaking PITA too (the editor is unfriendly).
I really recommend that you go for a CX. It has more power than classics (64MB RAM instead of 32 and I think the CPU is faster). That's what I'm gonna do and add in CAS because in France there's no problem to that and it's cheaper.
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I love discussions like this! :D
Are you going for a CX or non CX? Because the CX non-CAS is the most widely used right now. The CAS is amazing for math, though, and plus, I believe that CAS models have slightly better stats (Average CPU max on CX's is about 250Mhz, my CX CAS gets 264Mhz safely :), and 16 Mb more storage space on CAS... )... But as of late, there is debate whether the 15 dollars is worth it. This is because of nLaunch, the tool that can be used to run a CAS operating system on a non-CAS Nspire. My observation, however, is that it is still a sketchy process that many experts on Nspires still have trouble with. Nspires are hard to hack, and it's often not worth it to newbs to hack it for any purpose except gaming. If gaming is what you want, then I'd get a CX CAS for storage space, and the CPU. If math is your game, (puns, my friends!), then you will have to decide: "Is it worth it to try to run a very different OS on a calculator that shouldn't support it at all?" because I have seen no newb-proof tutorials yet about that sort of thing yet...
CX CAS is my baby :)
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I would definitely get a CX CAS. The screen of the non-CX really sucks and the GBA emulator only works on a CX, plus you have much more storage space. The CX and the non-CX are both equally hackable at the moment. On the hardware side, the CAS and the non-CAS calculators are the same.
You could put a CAS OS on a non-CAS calculator, but as others have already said it isn't very easy to do.
Installing the hack for gaming is easy. Making your own assembly/C programs is a bit more difficult, some people have problems setting up a working development environment.
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Thanks for the insight Dapianokid.
The more I talk to you guys, the more I'm leaning more towards the touchpad CAS.... maybe down the road I'd consider the CX CAS, but I guess I'm not in a rush to for now. Math is my game, lol. But I also loved how there were so many custom apps that people made for the ti-89. It's saddening to hear that it's not as so with the nspire.
I heard about how os 3.1 can be hacked with ndless and then load lua and something else(can't remember) in order to run custom stuff, but then I ask myself, "are there that many custom progz/apps out there for the nspire? Or is more worth it to upgrade to 3.2?"
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Iirc it's possible to have both a ndless'd 3.1 os and 3.2 somehow. Haven't done it myself, so I'm not sure of the details tho.
Lua is possible to use without ndless, however a ndless program might add extra functions.
Also worth noting is there's prolly a ton more 68k (ti-89 and similar calcs) than nspire programs because 68k calcs have been around since the 90's, and the nspires only since '07 :P
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Off hand do you happen to know the major differences between 3.1 and 3.2 (on a functional level, is 3.2 "that" much better?)?
Interesting to know that there may be a way to keep both, hmm..
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3.2 is "improved" in that it has Lua physics simulation and text anti-aliasing (which is really ugly IMO)
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There are also some new graphing related features. You can find the release notes which list all changes on ti's website. direct link (http://education.ti.com/download/en/US/C2B211C1341B44C7938BFC6DE080D66B/70F2A286DA444235A43B479FDF89D20B/TI-Nspire_3.2_Release_Notes_EN.pdf)
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3.2 is "improved" in that it has Lua physics simulation and text anti-aliasing (which is really ugly IMO)
Well, for a complete Lua changelog, take a look here : http://wiki.inspired-lua.org/Changes_in_OS_3.2
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I'd definitely recommend a CX. It has much more storage space than the non CX models. The non CX models are also know for having very crappy LCDs, where with the CX, you get a nice colour display.
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I'd definitely recommend a CX. It has much more storage space than the non CX models. The non CX models are also know for having very crappy LCDs, where with the CX, you get a nice colour display.
I've heard of the issues in earlier models, but I thought that they were addressed, for the most part, when the touchpad models came out.
At first, I was only open to Ti Nspire's (mostly the CAS touchpad..unless you guys recommend the CX CAS due to vast superiority). However, I'll say this...
For roughly $50, I can get one or the other... either a Casio Prizm CG10, or a CAS touchpad(non CX)... I want to use it for some heavy duty math, and custom apps/programming for it helps a lot(which sucks that the new nspires are so locked down). But which would you get for that price? (which is why I have little motivation to get a CX CAS at the moment... because it costs quite a bit more right now).
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Well, the Prizm lacks a CAS completely. From a programming standpoint, it's completely open though. You actually can find the Nspire CX(non CAS) for a decent price if you have access to Ebay, but it may take some time looking. I got mine for $70. I'd guess the same holds true for the CAS models too, I just happened to be looking for the non CAS.
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Well, the Prizm lacks a CAS completely. From a programming standpoint, it's completely open though. You actually can find the Nspire CX(non CAS) for a decent price if you have access to Ebay, but it may take some time looking. I got mine for $70. I'd guess the same holds true for the CAS models too, I just happened to be looking for the non CAS.
Gotcha, that's a good deal ($70)! I guess I can keep looking/wait. I'll definitely keep that in mind. The two units I was talking about are new though(not that it matters, as long as it's in good condition).