After wishing that I had a perfect calculator, I decided to make this topic. TI calculators are already ''perfect'', but everyone wants more; huh? Well, I will start out with the specs for the TI calc of my dreams and hope everyone continues after me. Maybe TI will look at this topic sometime in the future and put our dreams to reality. Here are the specs for my dream calculator

Name: TI-84 Plus Ultra
CPU: 2 overclocked ez80 CPUs at 54mhz
RAM: 512kb (256 per CPU), all of it user accessible
Display: 480x360 with best possible LCD controller, 15 milion colors (65k minimum if 15m isn't possible)
Camera: 0.3mpx main with xenon flash, 0.2mpx selfie
Flash: 40MB hi-speed flash memory and microSD slot (up to 32gb)
Battery: 4x aa; compatible with alkaline, lithium and NIMH batteries
Speakers: stereo, up to 65db volume per speaker
OS: Overhauled 84+ce os; full compatibility with every z80/ez80 based ti8x based calculator; mp3,wav,flac,m4a,etc... music playing capability, and more features
Microphone: Condenser microphone
Connectivity:
GSM 4-band with gprs (sms, call, globalcalcnet,etc...)
Wifi ieee802.11 b/g/n/a/ac (gcn, calcnet,etc...)
USB port
Bluetooth 2.1
2x DBUS 9.6kb/s link ports
Ethernet port for all networking stuff
3.55mm jacks for microphone and speakers
USB otg port with 500ma power output

This thing totally will pass all of the strict testing regulations too, right? Neat ideas though; I would definitely appreciate any more flash/ram improvements.

Oh, yeah... This would be the perfect (read as: puuuuurrrrrrrfect) calculator! Imagine Wifi internet with pics and everything! This type of a calc could let me cheat in school without any limits (even though i hate cheating).

...So, pretty much a smartphone or a tablet?


Hate to break it to ya, but they aren't gonna do all that.


Yeeeeeah... about that... Go ahead and think that if you want to.

So... we have calculators. We have computers and smartphones.
There should be a difference. One of the best things about being able to program calculators is the ability to take a simple math tool and do amazing things with it.
But producing a calculator with the specs of a small computer... it would be no fun if they produced a calculator like that.
If you want specs like this, by a smartphone and code on that. plenty of IDE's and applications to make coding worthwhile on a smartphone or tablet.
Another fun thing about calculators is taking what is included in the hardware and software, and pushing it to its max. Simple calculators are fun because they can be made AWESOME, and it is super fun to do so.
If they made a calculator like this, its price would probably be double that of what calculators are now, and to no purpose. There isn't much need for a camera (much less 2...) on a calculator. Calculators are educational devices. Pushing them to their 'educational' extent is fun.

But it is a fun idea. Have fun dreaming about calculators with computer specs.

To contribute to this topic, I have always wanted a backlit calculator. programming in the dark (I get in that situation more often than you might think) is never fun when you have to rely on your muscle memory to hit every button correctly without being able to read them. I have heard about some mods where people have done this, but it would probably be pretty challenging with the new CE, because of its exceedingly thin body.

I agree with Caleb and Gtemples, the whole point of programming and modding calculators is that they suck (hehe), but I do think that slightly better hardware could be interesting, like the did with the CE even though they didn't really have a choice because you know... the CSE... but definitely not built in microphone, speakers, wifi/bluetooth chips and cameras, I have a phone for that and if that's what you want, buy a SBC which often either come with those features, or expansion boards provide them. Also, Ti most definitely won't be doing this to calculators. Might I remind you that they want to remain an educational standard in america, so they need to be pretty cheat proof (although some teachers are very bad at dealing with this) I think 2.5mm jacks used to be pretty standard back in the 90s or something, which would explain why they have that, but I honestly think 3.5mm jacks would be a good idea simply because it's the standard nowadays. Either way, there exists calculators that are more powerful, but those are massively unpopular and overpriced (*cough**cough**cough*). The Casio fx-CP400 has a bloody touchscreen, the ti-Nspire CX CAS has an attachable WiFi module, all three calcs have a CAS and the possibility to add scientific sensors, all three have much better hardware specs than regular ol' ti-84+, yet still they are WAYYY less popular...

I'm not sure why nspires aren't a thing on this website. Sure, I hated them once I saw them too, but that was only because they were different. They had a different GUI than the 84's, their whole system was different. But once I got over that and saw their improvements (wireless connectivity in classrooms, graphing different types of functions at the same time, improved speed, full scientific doc suite), I started respecting the nspires (only the CX models though).
Their ABC keyboard is trash, the TI-BASIC is different, and the touchpad is annoying, but you can't ignore the fact that TI is going places (at least educationally) with the nspires.
Back to my original statement, it's odd why there is no section for nspires. Luckily, http://tiplanet.org has us covered there.

Wanna know my dream calculator specs?

-The HP Prime with a Qualcomm SnapDragon 830 and 8GB of RAM, along with 32GB of expandable storage. Oh, and a full USB port and Wacom stylus that can be locked inside the calculator by a teacher during a test.

I want a calculator powered by fairy dust, 'cause I imagine it'd have better battery life.

More seriously, I'd be a fan of backlights on more calculators in general, as has been mentioned. I mean, I can see why they're not a standard feature, but it's still a bit lame.

My brain.

No, seriously. It has full integration. No button fiddling, no chronic slowness. The only reason we have calculators is because we can't already do this stuff in our heads. But I assure you one day we'll be able to change that.