I’m facing a difficult decision! The way things are going in my life right now, I have the opportunity to buy a calculator. Chances are, I may even be able to get 2 and this discussion will be for nothing, but this has been on my mind lately anyway. So...
Prizm, or CSE? I’m not a baby at programming, but I’m no expert either. On anything to do with computers. However, they do intrigue me. One of the things I’ve loved about the Ti8x series is that they have been a familiar sight and feel since I was very little, and I understand them pretty well. I’ve loved the challenge of programming on an 83+ to do even simple things, and I always love to poke around and find the most amazing things being done on a calculator (e.g. Langston’s Ant at 20000+ iterations per second on a 6 MHz processor, IRC chat capability on an 84+SE, playing high quality sound on a TI83+SE).
However, I’ve been meaning to learn C lately. I’ve found I’m not like the genius who let me play Pokémon Red on my calculator. I haven’t found any C IDE’s or C execution programs for the TI84+, and I don’t expect to ever be able to. The Prizm comes with C compatibility built in. I want to get the shiny new color screen 84, but I also wouldn’t mind having the ability to learn and do some great coding in C.

Cemetech, what do you recommend?
I would recommend the PRIZM, just because it seems to me to be more bang for my buck, but its your choice...
If you really want to program, get a Prizm - from what I've heard, it's much easier to get cool stuff to run on that than on the CSE.

That said, SDCC is a C compiler that can compile to z80 among other devices, and thus allow C programs to run on an 83 / 84 Plus and presumably on the CSE. The TIOS is bad at this (you have to deal with that 8811 byte size limit and you have to add ASM wrapper functions for all the bcalls you want to use), but AHelper's GlassOS project for Silver Edition calcs is designed to create a better C environment.
Thank you Compynerd, that helps with my decision. flyingfish, good point.
So Prizm...Very Happy
Compynerd255 wrote:
If you really want to program, get a Prizm - from what I've heard, it's much easier to get cool stuff to run on that than on the CSE.

That said, SDCC is a C compiler that can compile to z80 among other devices, and thus allow C programs to run on an 83 / 84 Plus and presumably on the CSE. The TIOS is bad at this (you have to deal with that 8811 byte size limit and you have to add ASM wrapper functions for all the bcalls you want to use), but AHelper's GlassOS project for Silver Edition calcs is designed to create a better C environment.
It runs on any calc with a TI-REF 83PL2M/TA2 CPU or higher (ti83+SE|ti84+|ti84+SE). It doesn't run on the TI84+CSE without modifications and such (for now).
AHelper, “it” being GlassOS? I’ll try it. Smile

I see that the Prizm uses an “iPod” like menu structure for add’ins or applications and utilities. Ti nSpire’s use legitimate filesystem browsers... What about nSpires? I see that both the Prizm and the nSpire CAS CX can both do a lot, but which can do more? Which is friendlier to the user, or in my case, the kid new to programming who wants to actually learn more?
I don't know. The Prizm's keyboard layout looks quite weird, but it has more programming functionality (more functionality in the built-in language and ability to run native code without exploits).
blue_bear_94 wrote:
I don't know. The Prizm's keyboard layout looks quite weird, but it has more programming functionality (more functionality in the built-in language and ability to run native code without exploits).


Just curious, what do you mean by "quite weird"?

Personally, I think the TI calcs have weird keyboards, especially nspires.
I'm not used to Casio's keyboard layout. So by "weird," I was talking mostly about my opinion.
Oh ok, I knew it was your opinion, I was just wondering what aspects of the keyboard you thought were weird. Wink
It will definitely be a "weird" transition, but I'm okay with "weird."
I've decided on a Prizm. It may be cool for me to be caught up with headlines on Cemetech about the CSE, but I can still get support from Cemetechians about the Prizm. I'll get my CSE when the time comes. Smile Ready to learn C? cus I'm kinda scared. Razz
You don't need to be afraid, even if the syscalls are a bit quirky.
It's probably going to be me flipping back and forth between these calculators until I actually have to buy one, but at least I'm doing a lot of research this way.
Dapianokid wrote:
AHelper, “it” being GlassOS? I’ll try it. Smile

I see that the Prizm uses an “iPod” like menu structure for add’ins or applications and utilities. Ti nSpire’s use legitimate filesystem browsers... What about nSpires? I see that both the Prizm and the nSpire CAS CX can both do a lot, but which can do more? Which is friendlier to the user, or in my case, the kid new to programming who wants to actually learn more?


In terms or programming, the Prizm is superior in ease-of-programming in a bare metal language (Not looking at Lua). I say this out of observation of TI's cat-and-mouse game of stopping people from unlocking and running native code on the nspire compared to Casio's blind-eye at programming.

In terms of math, the nspire CAS models (and maybe non-cas, but am only looking at math) outperforms, in my limited view, the Prizm as the Prizm lacks a CAS other than gCAS2 (which is lacking Sad ).
The Nspire CAS models certainly outperform a model that lacks a native CAS at CAS-based math (... Smile ), but I wouldn't call that a ding on the Prizm's scoresheet. Casio has the ClassPad models for CASes, and they do a brilliant job. The ClassPad fx-CP400 looks like it's going to be particularly spiffy, with a color touchscreen CAS that can interpret hand-written equations. That's a feature that I was planning on putting on my own imaginary calculator, so my hat is certainly off to Casio's engineering department.
Well ClassPads look like impressive devices, and thats just at a glance.
With Casio calculators, it seems the only reason that there isn't a CasioCalc.org (or am I mistaken? gonna have to check) or a Cemetech for Casios is because nobody ever bothered much to do that kind of work. I may just start looking an nSpires.. because using them for math is definitely becoming important as I zoom into Alg 2 and then precalc.
There are definitely many Casio calculator communities if that's what you mean by CasioCalc.org. Cemetech itself has a Casio section, and has promoted a great deal of software development for the Prizm, so I would say you're a bit uninformed Smile
I suppose I was! Nobody left Casio behind. Smile IMHO Casio calculators are all around better devices, and have better software. The developers at Casio know their stuff, it looks like. They function much better than TI calcs, which is why its such a challenge to make games for TI calcs. Razz
I'll have decide between an nSpire or a CSE when the time comes. Smile
Oi, I can play games on my casio? Very Happy hehehe who needs scientific calcs?
Dapianokid wrote:
What about nSpires? I see that both the Prizm and the nSpire CAS CX can both do a lot, but which can do more? Which is friendlier to the user, or in my case, the kid new to programming who wants to actually learn more?

The Nspire CX CAS can obviously do more than the Prizm, just watch videos of them running Doom and you'll see that only the CX CAS runs it for real while the Prizm lags horribly (not saying anything about MPoupe's work, it is the calculator's fault, not his).
The Nspire CX CAS also has a CAS, as its name suggests it, so it also has more math capabilities.
You can also run Linux on it if you are interested.

However, the jailbreak for the Nspire CX CAS is regularly blocked by TI. The last OS (3.2) still allowed users to downgrade to an Ndlessed OS (3.1) but no one knows if this will last long.
Dapianokid wrote:
Well ClassPads look like impressive devices, and thats just at a glance.
With Casio calculators, it seems the only reason that there isn't a CasioCalc.org (or am I mistaken? gonna have to check) or a Cemetech for Casios is because nobody ever bothered much to do that kind of work. I may just start looking an nSpires.. because using them for math is definitely becoming important as I zoom into Alg 2 and then precalc.


Indeed ther is a casiocalc.org, been around since 2002. I am a moderator there. It is also known as UCF Wink

Dapianokid wrote:

Oi, I can play games on my casio? Very Happy hehehe who needs scientific calcs?


Definitely. I just released aspirin, and I would recommend tetrizm and minesweeper as well. Smile
  
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