Omnimaga

Calculator Community => Casio Calculators => Topic started by: DJ Omnimaga on September 13, 2013, 08:44:13 pm

Title: FX-CP400 (ClassPad 400): Who got one?
Post by: DJ Omnimaga on September 13, 2013, 08:44:13 pm
I recently bought a new Casio FX-CP400 (ClassPad 400) for $135 at Staples and it arrived at the store, so I could finally pick it up. I haven't gotten much time to test it yet, but I was wondering if anybody got one?

The first thing that caught my attention is that the LCD is twice the size of the one on the TI-Nspire CX. O.O That gotta be the largest calculator screen ever (both in resolution and in physical size). Too bad about the outdated hardware, although I was happy to get the calc for less than the insane $175 (excluding shipping/taxes) at some places, since it adds up to my collection. :)
Title: Re: FX-CP400 (ClassPad 400): Who got one?
Post by: TIfanx1999 on September 14, 2013, 12:15:04 am
I didn't know this calc. was even out yet. Not really interested thoughz so i haven't kept up with it.
Title: Re: FX-CP400 (ClassPad 400): Who got one?
Post by: flyingfisch on September 14, 2013, 12:27:45 am
I recently bought a new Casio FX-CP400 (ClassPad 400) for $135 at Staples and it arrived at the store, so I could finally pick it up. I haven't gotten much time to test it yet, but I was wondering if anybody got one?

The first thing that caught my attention is that the LCD is twice the size of the one on the TI-Nspire CX. O.O That gotta be the largest calculator screen ever (both in resolution and in physical size). Too bad about the outdated hardware, although I was happy to get the calc for less than the insane $175 (excluding shipping/taxes) at some places, since it adds up to my collection. :)


Woah. That and an HP Prime. I. Need. them. really.

Is it available in the USA yet?
Title: Re: Re: FX-CP400 (ClassPad 400): Who got one?
Post by: DJ Omnimaga on September 14, 2013, 12:36:01 am
Not sure about USA. It came out in May 2013 in Europe and started appearing on some online stores, then it came out in August in Canada. It doesn't appear to be available in US based stores, though (Staples.ca got it, but not Staples.com). I would suggest getting the Prime instead, then if you have money, add the CP400 in your collection if you don't have a 84+CSE and PRIZM already. I got mine earlier because of the $35-off rebate.
Title: Re: FX-CP400 (ClassPad 400): Who got one?
Post by: flyingfisch on September 14, 2013, 09:50:23 am
Not sure about USA. It came out in May 2013 in Europe and started appearing on some online stores, then it came out in August in Canada. It doesn't appear to be available in US based stores, though (Staples.ca got it, but not Staples.com). I would suggest getting the Prime instead, then if you have money, add the CP400 in your collection if you don't have a 84+CSE and PRIZM already. I got mine earlier because of the $35-off rebate.

Yeah. Also, sort of off subject, I am shocked at how low the price is for the HP Prime. I was expecting it to be much more expensive...
Title: Re: FX-CP400 (ClassPad 400): Who got one?
Post by: Lionel Debroux on September 14, 2013, 10:19:12 am
Quote
Yeah. Also, sort of off subject, I am shocked at how low the price is for the HP Prime. I was expecting it to be much more expensive...
The HP Prime is just a bit less overpriced than the other calcs are, that's all :)
Title: Re: FX-CP400 (ClassPad 400): Who got one?
Post by: DJ Omnimaga on September 14, 2013, 11:27:50 am
Indeed. Plus it's still very overpriced in Europe anyway. In USA it shouldn't be that bad considering it has more storage memory than my smartphone, yet is cheaper, but it's still high considering we can get Chromebooks for almost the same price.
Title: Re: FX-CP400 (ClassPad 400): Who got one?
Post by: Adriweb on September 14, 2013, 07:10:53 pm
I have one, although Critor has it as of today and, well, uses it for more good than myself right now, since he can screenshot algorithms for math exercises :)
Title: Re: FX-CP400 (ClassPad 400): Who got one?
Post by: Lionel Debroux on September 15, 2013, 02:09:50 am
... and he can report how horribly slow the machine is for simple BASIC programs.
Title: Re: FX-CP400 (ClassPad 400): Who got one?
Post by: critor on September 15, 2013, 06:33:32 am
Yes - by default 6mins40secs for a simple 1000 iterations loop without any display inside the loop (just calculations).
After forcing the decimal mode, 50secs.

And for the same program, HP-Prime, TI-Nspire and even the TI-84+CSE only need between 1sec and 3secs.

Source: http://tiplanet.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=62&t=12948
(http://i.imgur.com/uapOMqj.png)


I've allways read on Casio forums that the Classpad basic was slow, but I would never have imagined this...
Title: Re: FX-CP400 (ClassPad 400): Who got one?
Post by: DJ Omnimaga on September 15, 2013, 02:11:12 pm
O.O

How about the PRIZM? I know that drawing things on the ClassPad is faster than the PRIZM, but how does the rest compare?

Also, can DrawStat, FLine and stuff like that still be used to display stuff faster?

Casio always did the worst job in making a BASIC interpreter. Granted, many people here complained that TI-BASIC, even on the Nspire, was too slow for the hardware, but Casio has always been the worst. The only positive note is that since the FX-9860GII/PRIZM hardware is faster, certain BASIC programs can have respectable speed in terms of gameplay, but still, it's insane how slow it can get. The 84+CSE does a decent job, though, considering the hardware limitations.

(http://illusiat.reubenquest.net/xlib.mtv-music-generator.com_imagesThatWereOn57o9WhereJujuShouldPointTheXlibMTVMGSubdomainToBeforeWeLoseTheGame/zeldalastyle.gif)

HP wins on all these points with their two latest calcs, but again, they might have tried to make up for the (official) lack of ASM/C support, and even if BASIC is faster and less limited, if you slowed down the calc at 20 MHz or something, certain things might be very slow.
Title: Re: FX-CP400 (ClassPad 400): Who got one?
Post by: TIfanx1999 on September 16, 2013, 07:15:10 am
Yes - by default 6mins40secs for a simple 1000 iterations loop without any display inside the loop (just calculations).
After forcing the decimal mode, 50secs.

And for the same program, HP-Prime, TI-Nspire and even the TI-84+CSE only need between 1sec and 3secs.

Source: http://tiplanet.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=62&t=12948
(http://i.imgur.com/uapOMqj.png)


I've allways read on Casio forums that the Classpad basic was slow, but I would never have imagined this...

My god that's horrible. It makes no sense why they'd make something so ridiculously inefficient. D:
Title: Re: FX-CP400 (ClassPad 400): Who got one?
Post by: DJ Omnimaga on September 16, 2013, 07:30:39 am
Funnily, the PRIZM can do it at decent speed. Couldn't they have used some code from it? It seems like the Classpad 330 was coded by a different team than non-CAS calcs and they just re-used code...

Maybe this should be submitted by multiple people as bug report or something?
Title: Re: FX-CP400 (ClassPad 400): Who got one?
Post by: flyingfisch on September 16, 2013, 11:41:17 am
Casio-BASIC on the Classpad has always been very slow. Almost no one used it, instead they used CPLua.
Title: Re: Re: FX-CP400 (ClassPad 400): Who got one?
Post by: DJ Omnimaga on September 17, 2013, 01:07:13 am
I am curious if there is a way to hack the CP400 to run ASM programs... has anyone ever bothered trying or has the calc been dead on arrival due to the HP Prime and 84+CSE arrival?
Title: Re: FX-CP400 (ClassPad 400): Who got one?
Post by: Lionel Debroux on September 17, 2013, 01:38:27 am
There's basically always a way. It's just a matter of time, motivation, skills and also number of users. I remember about a group of users pwning, after 20 years of trying, some weird platform which had always resisted until then.

The fx-CP400 is less powerful, and will always be far less widespread, than the Nspire series, due to the relative market share of manufacturers. The Nspire series has always garnered low user interest compared to say, gaming consoles... so we can't be optimistic about development on the fx-CP400. Its Classpad 300/330 predecessors haven't been overly popular due to slowness and price tag, and Casio is repeating the mistakes, only with a color screen.
Title: Re: FX-CP400 (ClassPad 400): Who got one?
Post by: DJ Omnimaga on September 17, 2013, 01:41:29 am
IIRC the original CP models were not popular because of their bans in tests (back then, touch screen models were banned, but I'm unsure about now. The CAS didn't help either). ASM/C programs would most likely be very fast, though.
Title: Re: FX-CP400 (ClassPad 400): Who got one?
Post by: Lionel Debroux on September 17, 2013, 01:45:16 am
Classpad 300/330/400 native code programs should indeed be fast in relative terms if compared to TI-Z80, or to a lesser extent, TI-68k native code programs, but usually worse than Nspire (where native code programs are becoming a thing of the past) and most of all, future Prime native code programs.
Title: Re: FX-CP400 (ClassPad 400): Who got one?
Post by: critor on September 17, 2013, 01:40:12 pm
Classpad 300/330/400 native code programs should indeed be fast in relative terms if compared to TI-Z80, or to a lesser extent, TI-68k native code programs, but usually worse than Nspire (where native code programs are becoming a thing of the past)

Do you mean that we've lost the TI-Nspire battle and won't be able to bring native support back with the new hardware and OS?
Title: Re: FX-CP400 (ClassPad 400): Who got one?
Post by: DJ Omnimaga on September 19, 2013, 03:20:09 am
Well, for now ExtendeD is working on Ndless 3.2.4, but will it be successful and will TI have finally won the war with OS 3.6?
Title: Re: FX-CP400 (ClassPad 400): Who got one?
Post by: Adriweb on September 19, 2013, 05:25:15 am
Well, if whatever exploits he/they find on 3.2.4 still work on later versions, it'll be awesome :)
Title: Re: FX-CP400 (ClassPad 400): Who got one?
Post by: Streetwalrus on September 22, 2013, 04:14:33 am
I think that exploits shouldn't be released before OS 3.6 is out. ;)
Title: Re: FX-CP400 (ClassPad 400): Who got one?
Post by: Lionel Debroux on September 22, 2013, 04:24:26 am
Clearly, exploits (should there by any) need to be kept under wraps until some time after OS 3.6. We know from the general experience of communities fighting against the manufacturer, and also from our own experience (Nleash), that it's the appropriate thing to do.
Sitting on a 0-day (which later formed the basis of Ndless 1.7/2.0, i.e. the second generation) made Nleash possible, in a mere couple weeks, in the middle of the '2010 summer. That was a rousing success for users and programmers, and conversely, a big slap in TI's face :)