Author Topic: Might seem cliche... But nSpire cx cas vs hp prime? (Read 56718 times)

Cantaloupe · « **on:** February 06, 2014, 01:01:36 am »

I am getting a new calculator for school (and possibly some programming/fun on the side). I have heard great things about both the ti nspire cx cas and the hp prime. Which one is better for what i am doing?

Thanks!

DJ Omnimaga · « **Reply #1 on:** February 06, 2014, 01:15:10 am »

Heya and welcome to the forums.

Schools in United States and France generally recommend the TI-Nspire series as higher-end calculators, but I heard that the HP Prime was allowed in some tests. If you plan to use the calculator for exams, it's best to ask your school if the HP Prime is allowed.

The TI-Nspire CX is more supported in general, but unless your calculator comes with OS 3.1, you're gonna have serious troubles getting the most of it in terms of programming and fun (although Lua has improved). If you go for that calc, you better try to get one used and make sure it comes with that OS and/or an older hardware. The HP Prime is the least locked-down calculator of the two and is cheaper in most countries, plus its on-calc language is very powerful. However, it was released after school started, so its userbase is still small, and it tends to reboot or freeze when you use the connectivity kit instead of the emulator to send files.

I personally prefer the HP Prime, though, since it has a touchscreen and it's easier to edit programs directly on-calc or play with graphs, not to mention HP isn't actively trying to lock it down like TI does. The simulator is also free, while with the TI-Nspire it's only the case if you buy the calculator brand new. On the other hand, ASM/C is still not available on it yet (although anyone is welcome to try to add support for it).

Regarding technical specs:

	TI-Nspire CX/CX CAS	HP Prime
CPU	150 MHz ARM (overclockable around 230)	400 MHz ARM (some sources say 266 MHz)
RAM	64 MB	32 MB*
Flash	100 MB*	256 MB*
Input	Keypad+Touchpad	Keypad+Touchscreen
Programmability	TI-BASIC (on-calc), Lua**, ASM, C	HP PPL (on-calc), potential future ASM/C support if community finds out how
Screen	320x240, 65536 colors	320x240, 32768 colors
US Price	$150 ($160 for CAS model)	$130-150

*Some memory is used by OS
**Can be programmed on-calc with third-party tools

If you have programmed before, which languages do you prefer?

Adriweb · « **Reply #2 on:** February 06, 2014, 02:30:52 am »

Hi,

Since he's saying it's mostly for school, the main thing to take into account is that in the current state, the Prime OS is much less stable/mature than the Nspire's.
Also, one can argue (but that's less of an objective argument) that it's also less intuitive to use etc.

More over, since the Nspire platform is a few years old already, there is quite a lot of activities/documents/programs etc. that you can download, which you likely won't find (yet, I guess) for the Prime.

For programming, though, if you'll be only doing on-calc => the Prime's Basic is way more powerful and faster than the Nspire's Basic.
Nspire's lua can be coded on-calc but it's better to code on a computer.

One more thing : the Nspire has an actual computer software with a simulator allowing you to work with the environment in a less restricted way (I mean, the speed is your computer's, basically.) (Also, there is an actual Nspire emulator, but not a Prime one so far)

BTW there is a complete review here, in case you're interested : https://tiplanet.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=12805&lang=en

And a bit more detailed comparison table between the two : http://tiplanet.org/forum/compare.php?nspirecxcas,prime

XiiDraco · « **Reply #3 on:** February 06, 2014, 02:44:34 am »

Quote from: DJ Omnimaga on February 06, 2014, 01:15:10 am

Schools in United States and France generally recommend the TI-Nspire series as higher-end calculators, but I heard that the HP Prime was allowed in some tests. If you plan to use the calculator for exams, it's best to ask your school if the HP Prime is allowed.

When I last looked, the Prime was approved for tests like PSAT's and SAT's because there is an OS option in the Prime's options to disable ANY part of the calc for either a period of time, a password input, or both.

My teachers don't even bother anyway though...

bb010g · « **Reply #4 on:** February 06, 2014, 09:35:41 am »

Quote from: adriweb on February 06, 2014, 02:30:52 am

One more thing : the Nspire has an actual computer software with a simulator allowing you to work with the environment in a less restricted way (I mean, the speed is your computer's, basically.) (Also, there is an actual Nspire emulator, but not a Prime one so far)

HP does provide an emulator for the Prime, like the Nspire software (with the same resolution as the Prime).

Quote from: XiiR3CR34T10N on February 06, 2014, 02:44:34 am

Quote from: DJ Omnimaga on February 06, 2014, 01:15:10 am
Schools in United States and France generally recommend the TI-Nspire series as higher-end calculators, but I heard that the HP Prime was allowed in some tests. If you plan to use the calculator for exams, it's best to ask your school if the HP Prime is allowed.

When I last looked, the Prime was approved for tests like PSAT's and SAT's because there is an OS option in the Prime's options to disable ANY part of the calc for either a period of time, a password input, or both.

My teachers don't even bother anyway though...

CAS is allowed on the SAT and PSAT tests. You can't use the Prime on the ACT as of right now, but I'm hoping they change it to a calculator permitted with modification (the modification being turning the CAS off).

The OS is less stable than the Nspire, but I personally like it better because HP is actively improving it (unlike TI, which is dancing around Ndless) and the CAS allows you to choose your tactics. Also, it has RPN and the programming is awesome.

DJ Omnimaga · « **Reply #5 on:** February 06, 2014, 01:32:24 pm »

Actually I think adriweb meant a real emulator (which emulates the hardware, not the OS). The HP Prime has a simulator, but no emulator. The TI-Nspire has both. However the Nspire simulator requires a license and if you lose it (for example, if you get a new computer), you need to beg for one at TI-"Cares".

Cantaloupe · « **Reply #6 on:** February 06, 2014, 08:47:04 pm »

Okay so is HP planning on adding 3D graphing in the future? Right now I am only doing simple things like trig but my teacher said to invest in a nice calculator now (he recommended the cx cas) as it will most likely last me through college. Which one is the most "future proof"?

DJ Omnimaga · « **Reply #7 on:** February 06, 2014, 08:52:45 pm »

I don't know if they do, but someone already created his own 3D graph application, which looks very good. http://www.hpmuseum.org/forum/thread-95-page-2.html

On the first page of that topic, there is a faster version, but it doesn't support transparency and doesn't show any axes.

As for the HP Prime, it has a CAS, which can be disabled by the teacher. You can use the calc in both regular or CAS mode and the regular mode.

bb010g · « **Reply #8 on:** February 07, 2014, 09:50:36 am »

Quote from: Cantaloupe on February 06, 2014, 08:47:04 pm

Okay so is HP planning on adding 3D graphing in the future? Right now I am only doing simple things like trig but my teacher said to invest in a nice calculator now (he recommended the cx cas) as it will most likely last me through college. Which one is the most "future proof"?

I would recommend the Prime; I trust HP to stabilize the OS and they tend to be for doing what you want, which means a better calc and tools at the end.

Cantaloupe · « **Reply #9 on:** February 09, 2014, 01:34:22 pm »

Ok so is there anything that the nspire cx cas has that the prime doesn't?

blue_bear_94 · « **Reply #10 on:** February 09, 2014, 03:41:33 pm »

Quote from: Cantaloupe on February 09, 2014, 01:34:22 pm

Ok so is there anything that the nspire cx cas has that the prime doesn't?

To start, Lua support

DJ Omnimaga · « **Reply #11 on:** February 09, 2014, 05:49:40 pm »

Regarding Lua, in OS 3.2 or higher, there are certain graphical commands that are faster than the HP Prime, but there are others that are slower. I don't think Lua has translucent shapes support, but shapes and lines are anti-aliased and supports rotation (although you can implement it in HP PPL too). I am unsure if the Nspire can rotate images 360° in Lua, but the HP Prime can't (although you can simply use the polygon or triangle commands). Also, if you accidentally update to OS 3.2.4 or higher, you permanently lose the ability to use Ndless. It's recommended to stay with OS 3.1 and use nLaunchy to launch OS 3.6 from there. Lua also has a physics engine. As for HP PPL, you can code it on-calc by default, while Nspire Lua requires a third-party software to do so (else you're stuck programming it on a computer.

Forget about TI-Nspire BASIC for games, though. That language is so limited that even the TI-81 from 1990 can do more interactive games.

bb010g · « **Reply #12 on:** February 09, 2014, 05:51:49 pm »

Complex stuff in TI-Nspire BASIC is...fun.

DJ Omnimaga · « **Reply #13 on:** February 09, 2014, 06:48:20 pm »

Do you mean pushing the language to its limits or rather complex/non-real maths? I tend to like pushing a language to its limits sometimes, such as Illusiat TI-81 remake, but sometimes the limits are so extreme that it isn't as fun

bb010g · « **Reply #14 on:** February 09, 2014, 07:43:17 pm »

Complex as in pushing. I'm working on string heavy stuff, and that's always a pain. Also, the data structures in there aren't the best. I figure that the best way to get past it is to extend the language, but you have to work with strings and data structures that aren't the best first. (For example: Nested lists are great for parsers. The Nspire doesn't have them (except in a weird workaround that isn't really efficient for normal use; I plan to make them easier to use in my preprocessor I'm building).)

Author Topic: Might seem cliche... But nSpire cx cas vs hp prime? (Read 56718 times)

Cantaloupe

Might seem cliche... But nSpire cx cas vs hp prime?

DJ Omnimaga

Re: Might seem cliche... But nSpire cx cas vs hp prime?

Adriweb

Re: Might seem cliche... But nSpire cx cas vs hp prime?

XiiDraco

Re: Might seem cliche... But nSpire cx cas vs hp prime?

bb010g

Re: Might seem cliche... But nSpire cx cas vs hp prime?

DJ Omnimaga

Re: Re: Might seem cliche... But nSpire cx cas vs hp prime?

Cantaloupe

Re: Might seem cliche... But nSpire cx cas vs hp prime?

DJ Omnimaga

Re: Might seem cliche... But nSpire cx cas vs hp prime?

bb010g

Re: Might seem cliche... But nSpire cx cas vs hp prime?

Cantaloupe

Re: Might seem cliche... But nSpire cx cas vs hp prime?

blue_bear_94

Re: Might seem cliche... But nSpire cx cas vs hp prime?

DJ Omnimaga

Re: Might seem cliche... But nSpire cx cas vs hp prime?

bb010g

Re: Might seem cliche... But nSpire cx cas vs hp prime?

DJ Omnimaga

Re: Might seem cliche... But nSpire cx cas vs hp prime?

bb010g

Re: Might seem cliche... But nSpire cx cas vs hp prime?