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In Calculator Arms Race, Casio Fires Back: Color Touchscreen ClassPad

Posted by samzenpus on from the all-colors dept.

KermMartian writes "In what seems to be an accelerating arms race for graphing calculator supremacy between Texas Instruments and Casio, the underdog Casio has fired a return salvo to the recently-announced TI-84 Plus C Silver Edition. The new ClassPad fx-CP400 has a massive color touchscreen and a Matlab-esque CAS. Though not accepted on the SAT/ACT, will such a powerful device gain a strong following among engineers and professionals?"

14 of 170 comments (clear)

  1. Let me be the first to say... by Jojoba86 · · Score: 5, Funny

    Welcome to 2012 graphical calculators, nice of you to finally join us!

    1. Re:Let me be the first to say... by ipquickly · · Score: 5, Informative

      Welcome to 2012 graphical calculators, nice of you to finally join us!

      The first Casio graphing calculator with color came out in 1996. CFX-9850
      I still have one somewhere.

      "500KB RAM to users; appears to have at least a 2-4MB RAM chip"

      I think this development puts the new calculators on par with PDA's from 2001. Just before the Treo hit the shelves.

      It's like re-living history.

    2. Re:Let me be the first to say... by menno_h · · Score: 4, Funny

      Being born in 1996, I missed out on most of computer history. Thank you, Casio and TI for allowing me to experience the growth of the computer -again.

      --
      AccountKiller
  2. No, it won't gain a strong following. by tstrunk · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Why does one need a graphing calculator?
    a) because it's actually required in an exam (didn't happen to me in my life).
    b) because it makes life easier during an exam.

    There's no math field work, where you need immediate mobility anymore. There's no need for a graphing calculator, which must not be used during exams.

    1. Re:No, it won't gain a strong following. by Kurast · · Score: 3, Insightful

      This!
      People only use these things for examinations. Nobody that I know uses these to do Real Work® . If you are in the field, you use a laptop with Matlab and/or Mathematica, and for surprise stuff, there are very good apps you can carry in your phone.

    2. Re: No, it won't gain a strong following. by TheRaven64 · · Score: 3, Informative

      I still do like the hp stack method though, especially for adding bills together quickly

      If you want a calculator that does RPN, type dc into the terminal on any UNIX system...

      --
      I am TheRaven on Soylent News
  3. No. by elvum · · Score: 4, Insightful

    What do these devices have that couldn't be implemented as an app on a general purpose smartphone or tablet?

    1. Re:No. by marcovje · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Do 1 year with a battery.

  4. Third world by Kupfernigk · · Score: 4, Interesting
    Long battery life and run on batteries you can buy from street vendors?

    An awful lot of people live in the 3rd world. Why does Blackberry still sell well in Nigeria? Long battery life and easily replaceable batteries, along with low use of wireless data. These things are still major issues for an awful lot of people. North Americans have to get over the idea that everything has to be useful to them to have a point.

    --
    From scarped cliff or quarried stone she cries "A thousand types are gone, I care for nothing, no not one."
    1. Re:Third world by gtirloni · · Score: 4, Funny

      Graphing calculators are so expensive and their price have been stable for so much time that some people are proposing they should be the new gold standard.

      --
      none
  5. Re:MATLAB by ikaruga · · Score: 5, Informative

    Or at least Octave. MATLab is too expensive to put on a calculator and if you only want the programing language then Octave is more then enough.

  6. Its like 2 steam car manufacturers... by Viol8 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    ...trying to outcompete each other without noticing that a 3rd party has created internal combustion engine.

  7. Re:Massive? by DiamondGeezer · · Score: 3, Insightful

    It has more mass.

    --
    Tubby or not tubby. Fat is the question
  8. I don't get the point of color screen calculators by Lord+Lode · · Score: 4, Insightful

    The thing that defines a calculator useful, imho, is that you don't really need to care about its battery life and it starts up fast.

    If you want something with a color touch screen, can't you just install a calculator app on your phone? What's the difference? Why do you need a specialized device for that?