Author Topic: fx-CP400 comparative test by cnCalc at Casio-Shangai  (Read 15051 times)

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Offline critor

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fx-CP400 comparative test by cnCalc at Casio-Shangai
« on: July 15, 2013, 12:12:00 pm »
The chinese calculators community cnCalc.org had the honor of being invited by Casio China in its skyscraper in Shanghai.

At the corner of a corridor, cnCalc could find the full paper version of the Prizm fx-CG20 color calculator manual, which is not included with the calculator. :o

But here is the real purpose of the visit, the comparative test of the new ClassPad fx-CP400 color calculator of back to school 2013! :D

Many reference models were therefore available at Casio China to achieve an accurate comparative test:

Texas Instruments calculators:
  • TI-92
  • TI-Nspire CM-C
  • TI-Nspire CX
Casio calculators:
  • fx-5800P
  • fx-9750Gii
  • fx-9860Gii
  • fx-9860Gii SD
  • ClassPad 330 Plus
Hewlett Packard calculators:
  • HP-35s

CnCalc welcomes the great attention that was ported to the design of the fx-CP400, and the high quality of its screen.

For the drawbacks, we note some criticisms of the minimalist keyboard and the difficulty of entering expressions on the touch screen, but it might be because the touch screen interface needs the user to be used to it.

More importantly, cnCalc finds the fx-CP400 performances disappointing . Although more powerful than the ClassPad 300/330, the fx-CP400 is more than 2x slower as the Prizm fx-CG20 for running BASIC programs.
As a comparison, the Prizm fx-CG20 would have to be downclocked from 58MHz to 25MHz for similar performances...
This is due to the additional cpu-time needed to handle the huge color screen.
The fx-CP400 therefore has the same performance problem as the TI-84 Plus C Silver Edition.



Crossposted from:
http://tiplanet.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=12677&lang=en
« Last Edit: July 15, 2013, 04:04:52 pm by critor »
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Offline ElementCoder

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Re: fx-CP400 comparative test by cnCalc at Casio-Shangai
« Reply #1 on: July 15, 2013, 01:12:05 pm »
Why would a calculator need a manual that thick o.o At first I thought it would work out well, but it turns out I was wrong then. Things like this make me wonder why companies make such fancy calcs when they don't put in the hardware capable of giving reasonable/respectable performance.

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Offline Sorunome

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Re: fx-CP400 comparative test by cnCalc at Casio-Shangai
« Reply #2 on: July 15, 2013, 01:15:09 pm »
Wait, there is a chinees calc community? O.O

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Offline critor

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Re: fx-CP400 comparative test by cnCalc at Casio-Shangai
« Reply #3 on: July 15, 2013, 01:25:43 pm »
Yes, there: http://cncalc.org/

Lots of developpers and hackers, for both TI and Casio.
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Offline Spenceboy98

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Re: fx-CP400 comparative test by cnCalc at Casio-Shangai
« Reply #4 on: July 15, 2013, 02:44:15 pm »
Wow.  :crazy: That is way bigger than I thought it would be. :P Although the tests don't sound too good, I would still get one to experiment with and stuff(show off at school  >:D).
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Offline critor

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Re: fx-CP400 comparative test by cnCalc at Casio-Shangai
« Reply #5 on: July 15, 2013, 04:06:47 pm »

It wasn't easy to find, but the omitted Casio calculator (at the right of the only HP calculator) is a fx-5800P Super-FX Plus.

I've now added it.
« Last Edit: July 15, 2013, 04:07:42 pm by critor »
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Offline DJ Omnimaga

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Re: fx-CP400 comparative test by cnCalc at Casio-Shangai
« Reply #6 on: July 16, 2013, 12:19:15 am »
Disappointing performance; but not surprising from Casio. I wonder if drawing commands are slower than the prizm too? Those were just brutal. Even the 84+CSE is much faster with its 15 MHz CPU.

I think I'll pass on this calc and go with the HP Prime.

Offline DJ Omnimaga

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Re: fx-CP400 comparative test by cnCalc at Casio-Shangai
« Reply #7 on: July 17, 2013, 09:52:15 pm »
Bump:

On the Casio site, the CP330 is listed at $149.99 ($139.99 on Underwood DIstributing) and on the TSP Promotion site, it's listed at 4 euros higher than the new CP400, meaning that there's currently a promotion on the latter. If the regular price in France is 20 euros higher than the monochrome counterpart, then that would make the calc $159.99-169.99. Even if the price is $10 higher, it's still really overpriced when you consider that it's possible to get a TI-Nspire that is much more powerful (although it has a much more limited BASIC language) for the same price sometimes.

Of course, the ClassPad series has historically been much more expensive than other calcs, though. A few years ago, I often saw the calc running for $300+ on Ebay and it's very rare. I think it's because in Europe, everything costs higher and the calc happens to only be sold there for the most part, so as a result, it's that expensive.
« Last Edit: July 17, 2013, 09:55:52 pm by DJ Omnimaga »