Author Topic: TI-nSpire CX CAS , noob user questions + rants  (Read 5441 times)

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Offline Nanamar

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TI-nSpire CX CAS , noob user questions + rants
« on: February 09, 2014, 10:06:16 pm »
So I got the CX CAS recently, and I've been using it a bit.

Questions:
* Handheld Setup->Font Size : It doesn't seem to change the font size of the "stack"? What does it change? And did it change the "stack" font size before I upgraded the firmware to the latest?

* Can I "wash away" math print and get an expression in full "programming style" syntax?

* Marking / selecting text. MAN, how did they ever choose such a stupid colour for showing selected text? It's practically invisible against the white background! It is clearly visible if I rotate my CX 180 degrees (yaw), or roll it a bit...  I went as far as thinking that my display was mounted wrong. Is there a way to change this selected text colour?


Rants (please feel free to comment)
* WHY have they made the access and viewing of variables and functions (when you plot) so hard? What's wrong with a list on which you can select, delete and preview variables and functions? This is SO stupid! It took me long to figure out how to delete a function!

* I found myself feeling "strained" using the CX CAS. At first I thought it was the CX CAS that was "stupid", but probably it is my brain that is slow to learn. I finally did a timed trial entering a long math expresion. The CX CAS was quicker than the rest! (330, 48GX, 89)

« Last Edit: February 09, 2014, 10:06:30 pm by Nanamar »

Offline bb010g

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Re: TI-nSpire CX CAS , noob user questions
« Reply #1 on: February 09, 2014, 10:15:07 pm »
So I got the CX CAS recently, and I've been using it a bit.

Questions:
* Handheld Setup->Font Size : It doesn't seem to change the font size of the "stack"? What does it change? And did it change the "stack" font size before I upgraded the firmware to the latest?
If you mean the history, it does on 3.1 (don't know what you're running). (Or it looks like it; I may be wrong.)
* Can I "wash away" math print and get an expression in full "programming style" syntax?
Yes, if you want to wrap everything in expr("<stuff>").
* Marking / selecting text. MAN, how did they ever choose such a stupid colour for showing selected text? It's practically invisible against the white background! It is clearly visible if I rotate my CX 180 degrees (yaw), or roll it a bit...  I went as far as thinking that my display was mounted wrong. Is there a way to change this selected text colour?
The blue they use on 3.1 is nice; they may have changed the color since then.

Rants (please feel free to comment)
* WHY have they made the access and viewing of variables and functions (when you plot) so hard? What's wrong with a list on which you can select, delete and preview variables and functions? This is SO stupid! It took me long to figure out how to delete a function!
Access isn't that hard, as you can always access your globals with the var key and even see your functions. Deleting graph functions is annoying, however, since even if you DelVar f<whatever> it makes it a magical y= thing; you're forced to delete it by hand with backspace in the graph area. Ergh.
* I found myself feeling "strained" using the CX CAS. At first I thought it was the CX CAS that was "stupid", but probably it is my brain that is slow to learn. I finally did a timed trial entering a long math expresion. The CX CAS was quicker than the rest! (330, 48GX, 89)
You get used to it. I find myself personally about as fast on both my Nspire and my Prime; it's a matter of usage. I would recommend using the keyboard for function names, as it makes it nicer when you code on-calc and when you want to use something a few menu-levels deep.
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Calculators: HP 50g, HP 35s, Casio Prizm, TI-Nspire CX CAS, HP 28s, HP Prime, Mathematica 9 (if that counts)
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Offline Nanamar

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Re: TI-nSpire CX CAS , noob user questions + rants
« Reply #2 on: February 10, 2014, 10:51:37 pm »
...

Thank you for your detailed answer!

« Last Edit: February 11, 2014, 07:09:53 pm by Nanamar »