Well the ones he would make by hand would be $300-400 but I'm not sure what sale price he's aiming for for the factory-produced ones, if any. I hope it's not too expensive either, but I am certain for the hardware and software the price will be much more reasonable than TI's.

HOLY SHIIIIITTTT I SUPPORT THIS ALL THE WAY!!!!

This looks so insanely awesome...  Have yuo gotten any hardware working yet?  Today, computers are getting easier and easier to build, so...  I speculate it shouldn't be a tremendous job to do.  More of the coordination and the mass production actually....

Though if this ever goes far I'll definitely make multiple apps for it

EDIT: need a killer presentation?  I can help with that if you need

Just to show that I'm not slacking off, here's some pics of the first working prototype showing the calculator's desktop, going on the internet and playing Doom in color: http://uberspire.com/gallery/index.php?twg_album=1st+Prototype

I wish I had a better camera (with video) because these pics don't do it justice and I really want to show you guys a video demonstrating the power of this calculator. All the software runs very smoothly. This calculator can run VLC, playing video at 320x240 @ 30 FPS with no lag and has great audio output. Screen contrast is also great and is very viewable even in bright light.

I'll use this prototype to show to the judges for the contest. After playing around with the prototype, I'm now making upgrades to the hardware which will not only make it more powerful, cheaper but also at the same time more energy efficient: https://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=0Ak__vzlDSwNadHdRQ0tFUllTX2ZlbUZVN3VnUXk5d1E&hl=en&authkey=CLmF0NgB. The parts I was using were old, so they tended to be power hungry and were not really efficient. Upgrades are now a 533MHz processor, 128MB of RAM, 1GB of flash and the inclusion of a USB standard port which will allow you connect USB flash drives, hard drives, keyboards and mouses to your calculator. I'm pretty confident that this will be the final specs.

As for how much it's gonna sell, it's too early too tell. The more people are interested and want to buy it, the cheaper it'll get. Building them one by one currently will cost between $300-$400 each. If built in batches, they will get considerably cheaper. I plan to get a batch developer boards manufactured by June so people can actually start programming for this thing. We'll see how much they cost. Whatever the price will be, I'll try to make sure it will be priced reasonably.

This is amazing. If you can manage to get the cost below $200 I'll definitely buy it(I might buy it anyways, It looks awesome). My offer for help with any python programming still stands.

WOAH THIS LOOKS AWESOME!!!!!!!!

Is the internet connection wired to a PC or Wi-Fi/Etc.?

EDIT: I'm waiting for a video

I would totally get this, if the price is right. I think my teacher would freak though (not take-it-away freak, but holy crap that's awesome freak)

Wow, this is gonna be long.

This is awesome For the contest you are also planning to have the outside case too, right?

Well, I'll just probably place it in temporary plastic case. I'm broke as of now and cannot have a case manufactured.

Also I love the specs. Will the calculator be useable as a mass storage device like the Prizm?

Yes, I think that will be the best and easiest way for the user to transfer his/her files. Making the user install a driver and then some software would just be a hassle. That would also save me the trouble of having to develop the link software and driver.

This is amazing. If you can manage to get the cost below $200 I'll definitely buy it(I might buy it anyways, It looks awesome). My offer for help with any python programming still stands.

What's the cheapest you think you can get it?

Looking at the quote from my manufacturer, if I can have at least 50 made, they'll very likely be under $200. My best estimate for if everything is going incredibly great, is maybe as low as ~$140. Those are rough estimates and that's assuming that I've got the money to stock up the parts for production (which I don't have as of now). But to reiterate it'll highly be under $200. I guarantee that I'll try my hardest to make this calculator not only technologically competitive, but also price wise. I don't believe it will be fair for me to place ridiculously price markups like TI. I was kind of hoping that when I finalize the hardware and can get some of these made, you guys who have the calculator could then help patch up the Linux distro (operating system, software, etc.) The total price of the calculator will cover just the cost to make it and the funding I placed in to develop the hardware.

Will the final product be fully touchscreen? If so, you should make it iPod Touch like, sans restrictions and only for educational purposes.
(Teachers hate everything, typically.)

I was thinking of making two different versions of Project Paradise, one that's compatible with College Board testing standards, then one hardcore version for the ultra nerds (WiFi, touchscreen).

I suggest getting familiar with Clutter (http://www.clutter-project.org/). It's a very decent UI framework (note I say UI, not GUI/toolkits).
Key to having success in this field is a good GUI, and Clutter can do that for you.

I'll take note of that. When I finish the hardware, we can decide to put whatever software we want onto it.

- Same or even better battery life compared to a TI-83/84 is a must!

Eh... that's gonna be really hard (maybe impossible) to accomplish. My prototype currently runs on 4AAA rechargeable batteries rated at 850mAh and it's getting about 20 hours before needing recharge. However, my final design will utilize a newer processor manufactured on a smaller die, thus it's more energy efficient. I had a couple of extra stuff on my prototype, so factoring in new faster hardware and removing the extra stuff, you might at best get 40 hours. Hopefully that's good enough. The hardware in Project Paradise is just way too powerful compared to a TI-84 to have the same amount of battery life.

- Pricing should be under $160 due to competition prices.

Well, my best estimate I gave above should be some good news.

- Do not merely toss software onto the device (I'm sure you won't, but just as a reminder). You will need to find a way to wrap around the libraries with some seriously productive (and pretty) GUI.
- Desktop clicking != touchscreen tapping. Be careful!

I just plan to make sure I can get the hardware working. I was hoping that when enough people have the calculator, we can develop all the software and beef it up together.

- It should be AA/AAA battery powered to keep with current standards (and habits, per say)

It can run on AAA batteries. However, I was thinking of placing a Lithium Ion battery pack (with a high energy capacity rating) inside the calculator. That way, it'll have a longer battery life than typical batteries (thus lessening the battery life problem above) and can allow the calculator to be recharged over USB.

This is a very decent idea and hardware! If this becomes successful, we will back it up (and maybe make it OTARM?)!
And speaking of that... you must be an expert at this stuff, as you've developed hardware all by yourself!
Could you please assist us in the summer for OTZ80 and OTARM? (Obviously, 2 calculators - one powered by Z80s, another by ARMs!)

If my project takes off, I can use the resources to fund your projects. If I have the time, I can help you build prototypes, and manage the testing and production if you want.

Finally - is this project for educational purposes (a project a school?) or just for fun?

Both: for the community (fun) and an engineering project. I've been in the calc community for years and haven't really seen much progress on how calcs evolved. I thought it would be cool to build an ubercalculator and maybe other people would want one too. I'm also college student majoring in computer engineering, so even if the market doesn't have a place for this calculator, it make an awesome senior project (a requirement here at my university to get your degree).  It works both ways, so I don't really have anything to lose working on this project.

Is the internet connection wired to a PC or Wi-Fi/Etc.?

EDIT: I'm waiting for a video

Hopefully wifi.

It's WiFi. Again, the WiFi is probably reserved for the more high end.

Another idea I had, if I can make some prototypes of the final design and make sure they work, would anyone feel safe pre-ordering with a 2-3 week waiting time (for manufacturing)? I was thinking that if at least 50 people preorder, it'll be considerably cheaper than having each one built one by one. Would you guys just want the board (with LCD and keypad of course) or would also like an enclosure with it? I'm confident I can at least get some prototypes of the final hardware working by June.