51 replies to this topic

[kucalc]

Um, you should be talking about that kind of stuff on a TI forum, not here.

[Kilburn]

Pff, who cares, ClassPad 300 definitely beats it, actually, if the CAS wasn't half rushed, and if there was more support for it, it would have been the best calculator around here. Never seen anything as easy to use as this.

[ZweiLynx]

So far the TI Nspire (CAS) has proven to be the most overrated calc TI has put on the market.

And people are paying for it...

[kucalc]

Well, I don't know if you guys know, but a couple of months ago the TI-Nspire was cracked and now programming is possible through Ndless. They got a GameBoy emulator and a ray tracer already written for the TI-Nspire.

[DJ Omnimaga]

Raycaster video:

Also the GB emulator runs Game Boy COLOR ROMs too. Just converted to grayscale.

However, Installing the required stuff to run ASM stuff on the TI-Nspire is a MAJOR pain.

-First, you need to downgrade to OS 1.1 (the first TI-Nspire/CAS OS), because it is the only OS that contains an exploit that allows installing the Ndless software (which enables third party ASM program execution on the TI-Nspire).
-Secondly, due to an hardware change on TI-Nspires made in 2008 or later, the LCD won't turn ON when turning the calc ON with OS 1.1 installed. To turn it ON, you must remove the keypad and a battery everytime, which eventually cause the keypad connectors to be loose. (Fortunately, there's a little program to get around that, but it's still a pain to run if you forget to select it before letting the calc turn OFF. )
-Third, Texas Instruments is trying to do everything to prevent third-party ASM stuff to be installable on the TI-Nspire series. When Ndless came out, they responded with a new serie of TI-Nspire calcs that won't allow downgrading below OS 2.x.
-Fourth, TI-BANK was also asked via a cease and desist letter to take down their copy of OS 1.1 from their site. That site had every TI calc OSes present on the site, yet TI only asked for OS 1.1 removal. Conspiracy, much? Result: TI forums are no longer allowed to provide links to OS 1.1. Result 2: People have to search Google for it, in vain (because Google appears to filter such file). Spreading copies of the OS is done in private, pretty much.

And finally, Ndless 2.0, which is supposed to run on OS 1.7, 2.0 and 2.0.1, is not being released yet due to legal issues: the exploit it uses would allow the installing of a CAS OS on a non-CAS TI-Nspire. That could lead anyone distributing Ndless 2.0 in deep legal troubles since a CAS calculator is more expensive than a non-CAS one. Rigth now, they are trying to find a way to prevent a CAS OS from being installed on a non-CAS model, but judging by the lack of news from the project, it migth be mission impossible. That said, there could be cheap workaround being released legally, and the authors wouldn't hold responsible about people using Ndless 2.0 for things that the authors did not intend Ndless to be used for (in that case, installing a CAS OS on a non-CAS). But then TI could still try to fight, like they did with the key factoring last Summer. Fortunately, the EFF could help us the TI community countering the DMCA notices and we would win, but then there are small chances that TI retaliates by dropping out of the calculator market if they fear it will hurt their sales, leading to the slow TI community demise.

Also, I personally find the Nspire to be much harder to use than the TI-89 (which isn't too easy either), the TI-85/86, TI-83/84 and Casio FX-9860G, including its programming language. I cannot judge about the Classpad 300, though, because I never got the chance to try one.

[pan.gejt]

I agree, at least for me the TI-89 Titanium is easier to use than the TI-Nspire. I am disappointed with the Classpad 330 because this calc cannot handle physical units like TI-89 Titanium (the touchscreen is great, the assistant is great. the computational capabilities are great but the missing units are unacceptable). Being chemical engineer I prefer to use TI-89 titanium.