The calculator of your dreams (or your fears)

[c4ooo]

Duel core AMD64 CPU by Intel @2.20 Ghz
4GB Ram
~500GB hard drive


Woops i posted my laptop stats

[Dream of Omnimaga]

One worry I have is that if TI ever decides to release an high-end ez80-based calc with much more RAM, flash and speed, will they block ASM and use the excuse that TI-BASIC is now fast enough to rival ASM and Nspire Lua?

[alexgt]

Yeah, and we be like "does it rival ASM on that calc"

[SiphonicSugar]

My dream calculator is one that is fully and intentionally hackable.

Processor: ARM 64 bit, somewhere between 768 MHz and 1 GHz
RAM: 512 MB (Guys, it's a calculator, not a computer )
Flash Memory: 4-8 GB
I/O: 1 full-sized USB port, 10 (accessible) GPIO pins (2 being serial and the other 8 being PWM-capable), and 2 analogue input pins
OS: Something along the lines of the TI-8x series' OSs, but with some basic CAS (nothing beyond symbolic algebra) and 3D graphing. 3rd party OS support as well
Programming: C and Assembly, as well as a built-in python interpreter and a built-in (beginner) language. Computer SDK and on-calc program editor included, supported, and updated
Keypad: Something like the TI-8x series or TI-89 Ti, but with a keyboard driver for the USB port

So basically a hodge-podge of the Nspire, the RPi, the TI-89 Ti, and the TI-8x series

Naw man, you gotta have Lua capabilities too!

One worry I have is that if TI ever decides to release an high-end ez80-based calc with much more RAM, flash and speed, will they block ASM and use the excuse that TI-BASIC is now fast enough to rival ASM and Nspire Lua?

Probably. I think that's there excuse with no ASM on the TI-82 Advanced and that new calculator that you can only get in like the Netherlands... a TI-84 PlusT or something with the normal TI-84 screen but it's backlit...

[Dudeman313]

My dream calc, as of now, is a TI-84+ CE with a 1TB ROM and RAM that can run any program for other calculators, those made for it, and java programs. It would also have WiFi capabilities and a touchscreen like the HP Prime.

[alexgt]

I guess I would flat out want my PC in my prime ^.^ with a higher res screen (And predictable color patterns ) then I could even control our FRC robot with my calc .

[DarkestEx]

Hey guys!

What would be your dream calculator that would still be affordable (Price under 40€)?

- What processor architecture (ARM, eZ80, AVR )
- How much RAM?
- How much storage (or SD card support)
- USB (host or/and slave)?
- What other interfaces to the outside (SPI, CAN, I2C, UART, Bluetooth, Infrared, WiFi, ...)?
- What processor speed?
- What display size, resolution and should it be grayscale, monochrome or color?
- What keys?
- What battery type (rechargeable, AAA, AA or coin cell)?
- Solar power support?

[CVSoft]

So, basically how to improve the TI-82

Z80 processor with 32K RAM, user space maximized. Ferroelectric RAM for data, program, and OS storage. I/O provided by native RS232 with +/- 5V voltage levels, USB is for the weak. If you do include a USB port, it should only be for charging the battery or providing a virtual serial port to a connected PC (USB to serial converter within the device). Z80s can go into the 20 MHz range, so >= 20 MHz clock speed. Batteries should be two 18650 batteries to output 7.2 volts, which is regulated by the calculator to either 5V or whatever voltage is needed by the ICs (RS232 may need higher voltage). It must include an integrated charging controller, accepting 5V power from a standard power jack (such as microUSB). A backlit monochrome display of 160x120 pixels, we remember the last time we put a color screen on a Z80. Grayscale if you know how to program efficiently, a slow calculator is an angry user. Double-shot injection molded keys would be dandy. Solar power would require gigantic panels to recharge 18650 cells, so heck no. Maybe a simple tone generator connected to a headphone jack. It cannot have an internal speaker, nor a touchscreen. The serial port should be able to operate at 57600 baud, and any OS running on this thing should include commands to send/receive raw data to/from the serial port.

[DarkestEx]

So, basically how to improve the TI-82

Z80 processor with 32K RAM, user space maximized. Ferroelectric RAM for data, program, and OS storage. I/O provided by native RS232 with +/- 5V voltage levels, USB is for the weak. If you do include a USB port, it should only be for charging the battery or providing a virtual serial port to a connected PC (USB to serial converter within the device). Z80s can go into the 20 MHz range, so >= 20 MHz clock speed. Batteries should be two 18650 batteries to output 7.2 volts, which is regulated by the calculator to either 5V or whatever voltage is needed by the ICs (RS232 may need higher voltage). It must include an integrated charging controller, accepting 5V power from a standard power jack (such as microUSB). A backlit monochrome display of 160x120 pixels, we remember the last time we put a color screen on a Z80. Grayscale if you know how to program efficiently, a slow calculator is an angry user. Double-shot injection molded keys would be dandy. Solar power would require gigantic panels to recharge 18650 cells, so heck no. Maybe a simple tone generator connected to a headphone jack. It cannot have an internal speaker, nor a touchscreen. The serial port should be able to operate at 57600 baud, and any OS running on this thing should include commands to send/receive raw data to/from the serial port.

Interesting.

My dream calculator would be ARMv7ME based, 120 MHz, 64 KB RAM, 256 KB flash (including area from where native programs are executed from). It'd have nice reed keys and a graphical vacuum fluorescent display with 128*64 pixels.
The battery would be a lithium polymer. It would have USB mass storage and serial support to be able to copy stuff from and to it. It might have a I2C port on the side.

Plot twist, I have a similar setup currently at home. Basically the reminants of the last Microcat prototype. Though there is no VFD nor reed keys. But I do have a 128*64 negative LCD and a lot of pushbuttons. I was thinking about finally reusing these. Maybe one could do a calculator out of them. This is just an idea of what to do with these parts.

[Araidia]

There's already a topic on this 

[DarkestEx]

There's already a topic on this 

Nope there isn't. I started this one intentionally.

[DarkestEx]

Working on some atmega based RPN calculator currently, I might build some of them if they work.

[Dream of Omnimaga]

Personally I don't see any difference in this topic with the other, so I merged both, but if you obect, I can always split it back into a standalone topic.

The problem with TI calcs is that they're overpriced for their specs. Even the 150 MHz TI-Nspire CX with 100 MB of RAM/64 MB Flash is overpriced. On the other hand, it would be hard to make a community calculator as cheap as TI calcs should be, because production costs are much higher than when they produce calculators in bulk of thousands.

[Lionel Debroux]

TI graphing calcs are indeed way overpriced for end users, and so are HP and Casio graphing calcs...

[Dream of Omnimaga]

On the other hand, the HP Prime has a 400 MHz processor and I still see phones with 2 GHz processors that cost over $800 here. If we factor in the battery costs, some other hardware like the touchscreen and production costs, then the HP Prime doesn't have as much left to be removed from the end user cost, at least not in USA. DarkestEx's goal should be to provide a calculator with a price/technical specs ratio that justifies getting it over any TI/Casio/HP alternatives. But entering the calculator market would be futile, especially if it was more open to third-party development than the other alternatives, because TI would still dominate the market and the market share that the calc would have behind HP would be negligible (or maybe non-existent if it lacks an exam mode)