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The calculator of your dreams (or your fears)

Started by Dream of Omnimaga, October 30, 2015, 02:57:49 AM

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Dream of Omnimaga

I saw a topic on TI-Planet https://tiplanet.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=32&t=17473 and I thought it would be interesting to see what people here would like as a new graphing calculator, what they expect the next TI/Casio/HP calculator to be, in terms of technical specs (eg processor name, speed, RAM, flash, etc). :)

Make sure to be somewhat realistic, though, perhaps basing yourself on past TI calculator releases or smartphone attempts at dabbling into calculators (eg Lexibook).
  • Calculators owned: TI-82 Advanced Edition Python TI-84+ TI-84+CSE TI-84+CE TI-84+CEP TI-86 TI-89T cfx-9940GT fx-7400G+ fx 1.0+ fx-9750G+ fx-9860G fx-CG10 HP 49g+ HP 39g+ HP 39gs (bricked) HP 39gII HP Prime G1 HP Prime G2 Sharp EL-9600C
  • Consoles, mobile devices and vintage computers owned: Huawei P30 Lite, Moto G 5G, Nintendo 64 (broken), Playstation, Wii U

Ivoah

Quote from: DJ Omnimaga on October 30, 2015, 02:57:49 AM
I saw a topic on TI-Planet https://tiplanet.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=32&t=17473 and I thought it would be interesting to see what people here would like as a new graphing calculator, what they expect the next TI/Casio/HP calculator to be, in terms of technical specs (eg processor name, speed, RAM, flash, etc). :)

Make sure to be somewhat realistic, though, perhaps basing yourself on past TI calculator releases or smartphone attempts at dabbling into calculators (eg Lexibook).

Something like the Nspire except with a better processor and documented + larger flash chip. You know, so we can run linux easier :P Maybe add a full USB host port too.
  • Calculators owned: TI-86 (now broken), TI SR-56, TI-Nspire CX CAS, TI-84+ SE, TI-84+ SE, TI-85, TI-73 Explorer VS, ViewScreen, TI-84+ CSE, TI-83+ SE

Dream of Omnimaga

A few years ago, there were rumors about a TI-Nspire Premium coming out, but then we never heard again from it. There is probably a news about it on TI-Planet. The Nspire CX memory, while larger than previous model, is shrinking more and more with new OSes and some stuff on that calc seemed a bit slow. I think a Premium CX would be a nice addition with twice more Flash and a processor as fast as the HP Prime, because that would at least alleviate the problems resulting from blocking Ndless by making Lua faster. A TI-84+CE with an even faster processor would not hurt either, because typing in the program editor is still slow and it still takes forever to scroll through program code.

But I think TI would be stupid and greedy enough to release a TI-84 Premium CE with a 1080p HD LCD, but with fewer RAM and stick with a 48 MHz ez80 CPU. <_<
  • Calculators owned: TI-82 Advanced Edition Python TI-84+ TI-84+CSE TI-84+CE TI-84+CEP TI-86 TI-89T cfx-9940GT fx-7400G+ fx 1.0+ fx-9750G+ fx-9860G fx-CG10 HP 49g+ HP 39g+ HP 39gs (bricked) HP 39gII HP Prime G1 HP Prime G2 Sharp EL-9600C
  • Consoles, mobile devices and vintage computers owned: Huawei P30 Lite, Moto G 5G, Nintendo 64 (broken), Playstation, Wii U

Yuki

#3
My dream calculator, eh?

The hardware would definitely be on par with current phones, ARM chip clocked at around a gigahertz and a good GPU so it could support an UI as polished as Android, maybe even Android itself, with fancy 2D and 3D plotting apps, a powerful CAS allowing computation power akin to Mathematica and Maple, Lua programming maybe, but the option of making your own apps should be important. Touch screen too, to easily move through the plots.

Yeah, probably an Android phone with a calc keyboard more aimed at education. iPads and tablets are more and more used in schools for teaching, why not developing calcs with similar hardware and software? TI did iOS and Android apps for education, that's a good start, HP could definitely do something like that as well.

In short, stop making severely underpowered calcs and start doing calcs that actually have powerful computing power like the CASes sold for PC.
  • Calculators owned: TI-83+ (dead?), Casio Prizm (also dead???)
  • Consoles, mobile devices and vintage computers owned: A lot
Read Zarmina!
YUKI-CHAAAANNNN
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alexgt

I would say my dream calc would not really be a calc but for the Prime to have the community that the ti-84+  has/had.
  • Calculators owned: Ti-84+, Ti-Nspire, Hp Prime, Broken HP Prime, HP 48SX

Snektron

I would need a gpu chip. You know... so i can make a fbo particle system... :P
  • Calculators owned: TI-84+
Legends say if you spam more than DJ Omnimaga, you will become a walrus...


Dream of Omnimaga

Quote from: alexgt on November 01, 2015, 06:28:25 AM
I would say my dream calc would not really be a calc but for the Prime to have the community that the ti-84+  has/had.
Actually I kinda wish that TI had released a TI-Nspire calc with a TI-BASIC language similar to HP PPL and programmable on-calc by default. Sadly, it would most likely be as locked-down as the Nspire, though.

Quote from: Cumred_Snektron on November 01, 2015, 10:06:51 AM
I would need a gpu chip. You know... so i can make a fbo particle system... :P
The HP Prime has hardware acceleration IIRC. I wonder if that would be enough?


Quote from: Juju on October 30, 2015, 05:20:32 AM
My dream calculator, eh?

The hardware would definitely be on par with current phones, ARM chip clocked at around a gigahertz and a good GPU so it could support an UI as polished as Android, maybe even Android itself, with fancy 2D and 3D plotting apps, a powerful CAS allowing computation power akin to Mathematica and Maple, Lua programming maybe, but the option of making your own apps should be important. Touch screen too, to easily move through the plots.

Yeah, probably an Android phone with a calc keyboard more aimed at education. iPads and tablets are more and more used in schools for teaching, why not developing calcs with similar hardware and software? TI did iOS and Android apps for education, that's a good start, HP could definitely do something like that as well.

In short, stop making severely underpowered calcs and start doing calcs that actually have powerful computing power like the CASes sold for PC.
That already exists IIRC. It's called Lexibook tablets, but the problem is that it's not a real calculator and more an actual tablet falsely advertised as an exam-compliant device. It would need to be a school tablet that contains an exam mode and clearly looks like a school thing (eg yellow color?) so students won't try to pass their iPads off as the device. The exam mode would disable any possibility of enabling wi-fi/3G/connectivity (other than charging) until a certain hour.

But then when those devices come out this means we have to branch out from calc programming >.<
  • Calculators owned: TI-82 Advanced Edition Python TI-84+ TI-84+CSE TI-84+CE TI-84+CEP TI-86 TI-89T cfx-9940GT fx-7400G+ fx 1.0+ fx-9750G+ fx-9860G fx-CG10 HP 49g+ HP 39g+ HP 39gs (bricked) HP 39gII HP Prime G1 HP Prime G2 Sharp EL-9600C
  • Consoles, mobile devices and vintage computers owned: Huawei P30 Lite, Moto G 5G, Nintendo 64 (broken), Playstation, Wii U

Araidia

I would love a TI84+ with the power of a TI nspire...
Or maybe the power of a computer
  • Calculators owned: TI84+ CE

Also Known as: Soul | Enguard

alexgt

I want a shrinking device

* alexgt builds skyscraper in shape of calculator filled with supper computers and a electronic billboard on the front

* alexgt quietly whispers "world control fall of phones rise of calculators..."
  • Calculators owned: Ti-84+, Ti-Nspire, Hp Prime, Broken HP Prime, HP 48SX

Dream of Omnimaga

Quote from: Araidia on November 03, 2015, 07:28:53 PM
I would love a TI84+ with the power of a TI nspire...
Or maybe the power of a computer
I remember when the 84+CE was first announced. Since thr Nspire used to have a 84+ emu, we thought that with the CE TI went the lazy route of making it an ARM calculator with a Z80 emulator on it, with speed throttling removed, just like the HP 50g. That would have been a waste of power.
  • Calculators owned: TI-82 Advanced Edition Python TI-84+ TI-84+CSE TI-84+CE TI-84+CEP TI-86 TI-89T cfx-9940GT fx-7400G+ fx 1.0+ fx-9750G+ fx-9860G fx-CG10 HP 49g+ HP 39g+ HP 39gs (bricked) HP 39gII HP Prime G1 HP Prime G2 Sharp EL-9600C
  • Consoles, mobile devices and vintage computers owned: Huawei P30 Lite, Moto G 5G, Nintendo 64 (broken), Playstation, Wii U

profrd

Actually the " Calculator " of my dreams has now been finally provided, by affordably priced [ Windows ] 8 inch [ Tablets ] like ThinkPad8, with Hardware well above the specs of a mere Calculator, allowing not only the full advantage of a very broad range of Calculator [ Emulators ], but also the installation of [ Powerful ] Computer Algebra Systems, like Maple and Mathematica ( just to name a few ), and any kind of Math/Science/Engineering related software packages.

Being a Heavy User since the late 70's of both HP and TI Calculators, and still owning milestone [ Jewels ] ( of their time ) like HP-67, TI-59, HP-41C, HP-34C, HP-15C and actual models like TI-89 Titanium, Voyage 200, HP 50g, TI-Nspire CX CAS and HP Prime, it seems clear to me that to still stay competitive on the Portable Computation market, all Calculator manufacturers must "evolve" to actual time, were Tablets, which were originally just Android/IOS Based " Smartphones " with Bigger screens, have now evolved to Complete PCs with hardware comparable to low end " Netbooks " ( missing only internal DVD-ROM or Magnetic Hard Disk drives ).

With the advent of now [ Windows ] based [ Tablets ], at HandHoldable sizes like 7 or 8 inch models it seems clear that today Calculators, even Top Notch models like TI-Nspire CX CAS or HP Prime, are still miles and miles from what actual Portable technology can produce ( and now at an reasonably affordable price ).

For Texas Instruments TI-Nspire CX line of products, the early adoption of a TouchPad ( instead of a Touch Screen ), is unacceptable for today standards, and surely future models are expected to come with Touch Screen capabilities, and a reasonably Larger screen ( fully occupying the touchpad area ).

Another blatant lack of Hardware resources from actual Calculators ( and more than Desirable on Future lines of "Dream" Calculators ) are missing MicroHDMI output, Bluetooth and Full Wireless Capabilities, and more than one USB port connection, and USB 3.0 support of external devices, at least Flash ones like MicroSD cards or Pendrives, and the ability to handle Mouse/External Keyboards by any of actual comunnication standards like USB, Bluetooth or Wireless.

Surelly All such " Dream " features are available on Today [ Windows ] based [ Tablets ] like Lenovo Thinkpad8, and many similar models, and comparatively priced options from other manufacturers.

For the actual newest Calculator from Hewlett Packard, the HP Prime ( at least with Touch Screen capability ), the addition of a few of the Desirable resources listed above, like MicroSD card or USB Pendrive support, allowing the extension of external calculator storage or quick Backup of its contentes, and internal ( onCalc ) wireless capabilities ( without the need of external dongles ), and Bluetooth support allowing the adoption of external Keyboard/Mouse combos, and MicroHDMI output would surelly be Dream features of potential new HP Prime successors.

One point of notice, is that Legendary ( Programmable ) Calculators from the past, in their strict sense, were Top of Notch ( Handheld ) Portable Computational resources at their time, and not niched towards just only Educational purposes, but used Mostly by Technical Professionals like Engineers or any other career with Numerical/Mathematical needs, and of course students and professors of all Math related areas.

It seems clear by now that the [ actual ] " Calculator " models are Hardware limited due to being specifically niched toward [ Educational ] environments, and were the real " plague " is the infinite "cheating" abilities which would be open if more powerful devices were released for such Educational markets.

Its the same problem faced up by modern society, were thieves freely walk trough the streets, and the tax paying citizens stays behing closed bars, at their securely monitored offices, buildings, and (fire)wall protected "castles" ...

For such, if future calculators were still limited by such deviation of behavior ( of a few some ), like "cheating", its clear that Approved Models for SAT or any other kind of Standart Test, should simply do Not provide any Programming capability at all, being just plain and Dumb ( numerical ) "calculators" ( just considerably Faster than their Legendary predecessor from past ).

It seems clear that ( handheld ) Calculators with Capital [C] ( and without " " ) are a dying species, due mostly to the Limitations imposed from the Educational niche, wich even with [ Test ] mode features now fully adopted and implemented by most major manufacturer, still dictates the very slow course of potential future improvements, even on the Top Notch models, which could still be adopted by some Technical areas, if some of the limitations were released from future models.

Its also very hard to notice that more and more with time, Calculators are inevitably faded to become "Calculators", then calculators, until only "calculators", and hopefully not just ( handheld ) Toys ..., if compared to similar sized Portable devices of today ( and expected to "survive" in the near future ), like Android/IOS Smartphones or Handhold(able) [Windows] Tablets.

Dream of Omnimaga

#11
Heya and welcome to the forums. :) The main issue with tablets and smartphones is that students can enable wi-fi/3G at will during exams and they lack an exam mode. As long as this is the case, then smartphones will never be allowed in exams. What TI, HP and Casio might need to do are tablets that can do stuff normal tablets can do, but more restricted, such as an exam mode that disables everything including SMS. But will students want to replace their smartphone or tablet with one that is cheating-proof?

Another reason why smartphones will not replace calculators as fast as they normally should is that many students are idiots and their parents are to blame. Will teachers be willing to spend 60 minutes per class disciplining unruly students who spend the entire class texting or on Internet? Some schools even banned smartphones and tablets outright for that reason. Tablets would fix the SMS/ringtone going off issue, but not the Internet/games one.
  • Calculators owned: TI-82 Advanced Edition Python TI-84+ TI-84+CSE TI-84+CE TI-84+CEP TI-86 TI-89T cfx-9940GT fx-7400G+ fx 1.0+ fx-9750G+ fx-9860G fx-CG10 HP 49g+ HP 39g+ HP 39gs (bricked) HP 39gII HP Prime G1 HP Prime G2 Sharp EL-9600C
  • Consoles, mobile devices and vintage computers owned: Huawei P30 Lite, Moto G 5G, Nintendo 64 (broken), Playstation, Wii U

GalacticPirate

Perhaps an Nspire with the built-in Wolfram/Alpha CAS engine and an Skylake Intel Core i7 chip with 32 GB RAM ? :trollface:
* STV runs far, far away
  • Calculators owned: TI-Nspire CX CAS (4.4.0), TI-83 Premium CE (5.2.1), TI-83 Plus.fr USB (2.55MP), Casio fx-92 Collège 2D+, Casio fx-92 Collège 2D
  • Consoles, mobile devices and vintage computers owned: Nintendo Wii U (NSMBU+NSLU premium pack, 5.5.1E), New Nintendo 3DS XL (Monster Hunter Generations, Sys 11.5.0-38E)

Araidia

Quote from: STV on January 18, 2016, 11:53:00 AM
Perhaps an Nspire with the built-in Wolfram/Alpha CAS engine and an Skylake Intel Core i7 chip with 32 GB RAM ? :trollface:
* STV runs far, far away
And a Terabyte of SSD
And a nvidia gtx 980
At this rate, the calculator would be pc sized  ;D
  • Calculators owned: TI84+ CE

Also Known as: Soul | Enguard

Unicorn

Perhaps of you got rid of the gpu.... You would only need the intergrated graphics on the i7 :P
  • Calculators owned: I own all of them: PICKACHUP TI 84+ CSE TI 83+ SE TI something something ??? ??? ??? ??? ???
  • Consoles, mobile devices and vintage computers owned: PICKACHUP ??? ??? ??? ??? ???



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