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Author Topic: Which nSpire model to get for programming?  (Read 5973 times)

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Offline hunter

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Which nSpire model to get for programming?
« on: October 21, 2012, 10:57:23 pm »
Hi,
I am planning to buy an nSpire and intend to try my hand at programming it. I've had experience with TI-BASIC programming for the 84 and have dabbled in C programming for the 89 (using TIGCC) and as such have developed software with C, Java, and Python on computers.

1. It seems that there is a CX and regular version, with the former having considerably more memory - so clearly, the CX is the superior choice for programming. However, I really hate the CX's keyboard (
Spoiler For Spoiler:
) and was hoping if I could get a CX nSpire with the keyboard of the original nSpire (
Spoiler For Spoiler:
) (I'd be happy with pretty much any other keyboard to be honest)

2. I want to be able to code in both Lua and C (using ndless). Which operating system of the nSpire do I want so that I can do both? I've snooped a bit and discovered that ndless doesn't work for 3.0+ but Lua only works for 3.0+. Is there an OS that supports both? Ideally I would want to be able to use both languages to code by, say, programming in Lua and calling C methods.

3. Before I get the calculator I want to play around with it. So I looked up nspire_emu but in order to run it I need a boot2 file. What exactly is this file, a copy of the operating system and memory? Is there a way for me to get a fresh boot2 off the web?

4. What exactly is the full story about not being able to downgrade your nSpire OS? Does it mean that if my newly-bought nSpire CX comes with 3.0, I can never downgrade to 2.0 and use ndless?
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Offline DJ Omnimaga

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Re: Which nSpire model to get for programming?
« Reply #1 on: October 21, 2012, 10:59:28 pm »
Heya and welcome here :). My favorite is the regular CX, but it's more expensive than the Touchpad/Clickpad and lacks 84+ emulation. I'Ll try to write my personal pros and cons for each model in a few minutes (in this post I'll edit). I personally prefer the black keypad because my fingers are kinda big so I have troubles pressing the letter keys between other clickpad keys without accidentally pressing those too. I hate the touchpad thing, though, because it's not responsive unless playing ASM/C games. However it's a matter of personal preferences.

Spoiler For Spoiler:
Nspire Clickpad Pros
-84+ emulation support (although the keypad might not be included by default)
-Cheapest model
-Your favorite keypad
Cons
-No CAS
-Hard to find in retail stores
-Only 32 MB of memory, around 13 left after installing the OS
-Extremely horrible screen for gaming (too blurry so you can't even see anything in Mario)

Nspire CAS Clickpad Pros
-CAS included
-Your favorite keypad
Cons
-Banned in some US tests
-Hard to find in retail stores
-Expensive
-No 84+ emulation
-Only 32 MB of memory, around 13 left after installing the OS
-Extremely horrible screen for gaming (too blurry so you can't even see anything in Mario)

Nspire Touchpad Pros
-84+ emulation support (although the keypad might not be included by default)
-Cheap by Nspire standards
Cons
-No CAS
-Hard to find in stores, but not as much as the Clickpad
-Only 32 MB of memory, around 13 left after installing the OS
-Extremely horrible screen for gaming (too blurry so you can't even see anything in Mario)
-Horrible d-pad except in ASM/C games

Nspire CAS Touchpad Pros
-CAS included
Cons
-Banned in some US tests
-Hard to find in retail stores
-Expensive
-No 84+ emulation
-Only 32 MB of memory, around 13 left after installing the OS
-Extremely horrible screen for gaming (too blurry so you can't even see anything in Mario)
-Horrible d-pad except in ASM/C games

Nspire CX Pros
-Cheap by Nspire standards
-Color screen, with no motion blur!
-64 MB of memory
-Less bulky design, so it can fit in your pockets.
Cons
-No 84+ emulation
-No CAS
-Slightly more expensive
-Horrible d-pad except in ASM/C games

Nspire CAS CX Pros
-CAS included
-Color screen, with no motion blur!
-64 MB of memory
-Less bulky design, so it can fit in your pockets.
Cons
-Banned in some US tests
-The most expensive
-No 84+ emulation
-Horrible d-pad except in ASM/C games
« Last Edit: October 21, 2012, 11:13:58 pm by DJ_O »
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Offline calc84maniac

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Re: Which nSpire model to get for programming?
« Reply #2 on: October 21, 2012, 11:03:38 pm »
Quote from: hunter on October 21, 2012, 10:57:23 pm
4. What exactly is the full story about not being able to downgrade your nSpire OS? Does it mean that if my newly-bought nSpire CX comes with 3.0, I can never downgrade to 2.0 and use ndless?
OS 2.0 does not exist for the CX. There is still a downgrade limit in effect, but you can still downgrade from OS 3.2 to OS 3.1 which is the currently supported OS for Ndless.
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Offline jwalker

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Re: Which nSpire model to get for programming?
« Reply #3 on: October 21, 2012, 11:11:49 pm »
I have both a CX CAS and the old blue clickpad that you showed in the picture.
I like the trackpad keypad/keyboard better because the chars are in one spot while almost everything else is in another.
Use 3.1 for Lua and C/ASM.
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Offline Darl181

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Re: Which nSpire model to get for programming?
« Reply #4 on: October 21, 2012, 11:12:18 pm »
Responding to the questions from the stuff I know without looking around too much:

1. It's not possible to switch out the CX's keypads, that's only possible with the grayscale ones :/

2. OS 3.1 has lua and Ndless 3.1 works on it. This works on the CX.

3. Technically it isn't legal to distribute the boots and such because they're copyrighted by TI.  Google is your friend for this.

4. Usually, with new OS versions, the OS upgrade process or something makes it impossible to downgrade to the OS below. However 3.2 (with more lua stuff but no ndless) allows you to downgrade to 3.1 (both ndless and lua).  (iirc there's a way to patch the OS to remove this protection tho)
The oldest OS the CX can run, downgrade blocks and otherwise, is 3.0. You can upgrade from 3.0 to 3.1 and use the ndless that works with that, tho ;)
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Offline Rhombicuboctahedron

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Re: Which nSpire model to get for programming?
« Reply #5 on: October 21, 2012, 11:22:50 pm »
All TI calculators are allowed on every test that calculators are allowed on.
However the CAS, cx and grayscale, are not allowed on the ACT and IB exams.
Also the cx has around 112.5 MB memory, and 64 MB RAM, I think
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Offline jwalker

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Re: Which nSpire model to get for programming?
« Reply #6 on: October 21, 2012, 11:24:57 pm »
That is very incorrect, The versions with a CAS, Nspire or not, arnt alowed on ACT and IB exams.
I should know I have to take the ACT this weekend.
nvm, missread the post
sorry
« Last Edit: October 21, 2012, 11:42:37 pm by jwalker »
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Offline Rhombicuboctahedron

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Re: Which nSpire model to get for programming?
« Reply #7 on: October 21, 2012, 11:37:58 pm »
What did I just post?
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Offline jwalker

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Re: Which nSpire model to get for programming?
« Reply #8 on: October 21, 2012, 11:41:56 pm »
nope nevermind, it just looked for a second like you said NO nspires were alowed on tests, I reread it and got it.
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Offline DJ Omnimaga

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Re: Which nSpire model to get for programming?
« Reply #9 on: October 22, 2012, 03:25:53 am »
That also happens when both people's posts are almost at the same time sometimes XD (although it's possible to enable the "Warn of new replies" option in our profile to solve that issue)

And yeah my post already mentionned in the spoiler that CAS models were banned in some tests, although did not specify which ones. Also it appears that such bans only exists in USA.
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Offline lkj

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Re: Which nSpire model to get for programming?
« Reply #10 on: October 22, 2012, 07:33:20 am »
Quote from: hunter on October 21, 2012, 10:57:23 pm
Hi,
I am planning to buy an nSpire and intend to try my hand at programming it. I've had experience with TI-BASIC programming for the 84 and have dabbled in C programming for the 89 (using TIGCC) and as such have developed software with C, Java, and Python on computers.

1. It seems that there is a CX and regular version, with the former having considerably more memory - so clearly, the CX is the superior choice for programming. However, I really hate the CX's keyboard (
Spoiler For Spoiler:
) and was hoping if I could get a CX nSpire with the keyboard of the original nSpire (
Spoiler For Spoiler:
) (I'd be happy with pretty much any other keyboard to be honest)

2. I want to be able to code in both Lua and C (using ndless). Which operating system of the nSpire do I want so that I can do both? I've snooped a bit and discovered that ndless doesn't work for 3.0+ but Lua only works for 3.0+. Is there an OS that supports both? Ideally I would want to be able to use both languages to code by, say, programming in Lua and calling C methods.

3. Before I get the calculator I want to play around with it. So I looked up nspire_emu but in order to run it I need a boot2 file. What exactly is this file, a copy of the operating system and memory? Is there a way for me to get a fresh boot2 off the web?

4. What exactly is the full story about not being able to downgrade your nSpire OS? Does it mean that if my newly-bought nSpire CX comes with 3.0, I can never downgrade to 2.0 and use ndless?

1. The first picture isn't a CX, if you think that. It has the same keyboard, though. But because of the color screen the CX is much better than the old Nspires, and the memory is also better.

2. OS 3.1 has Ndless (so C and ASM) and Lua, that's the OS you'll want.

3. You can extract the Boot2 from an OS upgrade file by unzipping it (it's just a zip file with other extension), but for cx emulation you also need boot1, which you don't get legally if you don't have one yourself. Maybe you can find one by googling.

4. You can't downgrade from 3.1 to anything lower, but you'll never want to (Ndless is only up-to-date for OS 3.1). From 3.2 you can downgrade to 3.1. Most likely the next OS update will block downgrading once again, so never update without asking us before.
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Offline Adriweb

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Re: Which nSpire model to get for programming?
« Reply #11 on: October 22, 2012, 09:50:21 am »
I can't say much more than what everybody said already, maybe one more thing :
3.1 is indeed the OS you want for Lua+C/ASM, but 3.2 has some nices lua updates (physics engine etc.)

By the way, for Lua (especially), you can safely upgrade your *computer* software to 3.2, since it features an SDK.
« Last Edit: October 22, 2012, 09:50:58 am by adriweb »
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