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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?"

5 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. 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.

  3. 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.

  4. 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.