 | Amazing math tool
rating: 5
I just picked up the Classpad 330 and I think its great. This calculator can do way more than the ti-83 I used in the past. I like its ability to check two sides of an equation to make sure thy are equal as well as the ability to drag and drop equations into different programs to graph them or save them. I like the touch screen operation. I find it easy to use a retractable ball point pen with the tip retracted to operate the classpad. Using this method I dont even have to put down my pen to enter data I just click the pen open and closed. The spreadsheet is also nice for analyzing data. Before purchasing the classpad I downloaded the trial version of the TInspire CAS I used it for about 20 days and found it to be great software although I did not like the interface. It uses a keyboard simulator that mimics the physical keypad of the CAS so you can see how the keypad works. I saw the classpad online and decided to give it a try, I liven in a place where its hard to demo anything (except a pair of skis) so I read the reviews and although some did not like it, it seamed to be just the thing for me. If you are not good with icons it has menu operations that do the same things as the icons, though I find that all you have to do (as with any thing this complex) is read the instruction manual and it all makes perfect sense. I received a CD with computer software and a 900 page instruction manual in four languages in the box. It also comes with a paper quick start guide that attempts to give you a high altitude overview of all the functions but to really grasp all the calculator can do its best to read the manual or at least skim over the first section, I found that after reading the first section most of the operation becomes intuitive. I will say that if you don't know what you are trying to do (as far as a mathematical operation) you may be out of luck because the instructions only describe the how, not the why where or when you should use the operations. I plan on using this calculator for years and only hope Casio continues work outside the Ti box and make calculators that are not only more powerful but do more and make it easy. I now own 3 Casio calculators a fx115 from the 80s an fx300, and now the calsspad I hope to not ever have to purchase another Ti as a requirement for a class, It makes me mad that so many schools and classes require Ti products when there are superior products out there. I think ti calculators are great I have used them ti 83, 89, CAS) through the years but this is better. I have read the reviews about the screen quality and I agree with some that the screen is not the best. Im not saying that you cant see the screen but in the age where high contrast, color, backlit screens are the norm for electronic gadgets it kind of falls short of what I have become used to. Im not sure if the contrast is better on the 330 than the 300 because i have never used the 300 but on the box for the 330 one of its primary features listed in bold on the front of the box is, "high contrast display"." The contrast is high and it is easy to read but there is just something about it that makes it look kind of dim especially when compared to something like my iphone , I think its more the amount of information displayed on the screen at once it kind of begs for a backlight or a more reflective LCD surface or something. I think the best way to say it is I dont have any problems with viewing the screen but it could be improved.
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Great pen-based calculator: Casio Classpad300 plus with OS3.0
rating: 5
I have owned numerous calculators by HP, TI, Sharp, Casio, etc., but this new Classpad 300 Plus that was just released a few weeks ago with Casio's latest operating system (OS 3.0) and Classpad Manager 3.0 is just fabulous. It is now in common use in Europe, especially in Germany and also in Australia and in New Zealand. If you purchase(d) the version with OS 2.0, you can still upgrade electronically to the newest version using the Classpad Manager Version 3.0 directly which has a number of very nice new features/functions. This calculator should also be in common use in the USA as well, but regrettably the financial dominance of TI in our marketplace (and the impending arrival of the new TI NSpire calculator) make the likelihood of its acceptance very soon quite small, unless people like myself write reviews like this to promote educators to really get involved with this new product. The real advantage of both the Classpad as well as the TI NSpire calculator (which is not a pen-based product like the Classpad) is the great software that installs on PC's so that a complete emulation of its operations is possible even without the calculator being physically available. It addition, however the Casio (OS 3.0) will do now do Dirac Delta functions, Heaviside Step functions, Fourier and Laplace Transforms (including Fast Fourier Transforms, i.e., FFT's), First order ordinary differential equations, financial analyses, and of course it already performed complex number analyses, etc.
The operating feature on the Classpad that appeals to me the most however is the pen-based drag and drop operations using the Computer Algebra System (CAS) and the interactive menu between each of the numerous types of submenus on the device. Any operation worked on in one area (Graphs and Tables for example) can readily be copied and pasted into another area (Statistics, Spreadsheets, Sequences, etc) just to name a few of the numerous possibilities. The E-activity submenu on the Casio supports presentations to an audience and is the analog for the Classpad of the TI NSpire's 4 screens of information that can all be put on to a single screen at once (analyzing a problem using a geometrical representation in the form of a drawing or a picture, a word statement of the problem, an analytic or numerical equation solution and a graph of the results). Finally, the results can all be ported back and forth and printed/stored, etc. between the Classpad Manager software/emulator and the calculator itself which is simply fantastic to use. I have had this for almost a month now and I am just begining to appreciate what it can do for me daily in my work as a scientist. If students get exposed to these devices in a late middle school curriculum and beyond (after they first master many of the basics of mathematics and science), in my opinion they will want to continue to grow into math and science in their later years and become excited leaders in science and engineering that this country has been famous for having for most of the last 60 years.
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Classpad 300 PLUS
rating: 3
The Bad
first of all i have no complaints about the screens contrast but but my gripe is that the screen seems low on qaulity, why has the fx series at £60 got colour when this doesnt - this would help to make the overcrowded screen become more approachable.
While using a stylus may be fun, the novlety wears of and you find yourself doing basic calculations in your head as doing it on the calculator takes longer. In fact most of the functions with vague icons you learn about in the instructions not by intuition.
i dont think its worth £150, the only thing i can see being worth a lot is the operating system, everything else, the screen, bulid quality, stylus, software, plastic cover are below par. i know a palmtop with good software while losing a few features is the same price but better quality
The Good
Once you learn to use its interface, you have an extremely flexible machine. powerful and useful for most mathmaticians or engineers. i have found even very advanced expressions are catered for in the softkeyboard. 3d graphing is still simple to use and is one application where the classpad shows its uniqueness, while complex functions are graphed much quicker than lesser models. i see it as a small extension to my pc, allowing me to check processes that may take longer to implicate in more detail on the computer itself. microsoft derived toolbars are easier to use and provide convienient functions such as cut/paste,save,select all etc, therefore although you get confused occasionaly you are rarely lost in its interface.
conclusion
As a student i find this calculator useful and i know it will have greater use once i graduate, but its probably too much for an average student or smalltime number cruncher. Either for somebody who is on a very steep maths learning curve or a professional- ie not me.
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New "Classpad 300 PLUS" has enhanced screen
rating: 5
The major drawback of the Casio classpad 300 was its screen. The constrast was so poor that it was hardly usable at all.
Now Casio have replaced the Casio Classpad 300 by the Casio Classpad 300 PLUS, with a dramatically enhanced screen. The constrast is now very good under most lighting conditions. The operating system has also been enhanced, offering amongst other things a choice between the standard characters set and a bold characters set.
All in all, this makes the Casio Classpad 300 PLUS one of the most powerful, integrated and easy-to-use graphing calculator ever.
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Bad screen, poor documentation, lopsided CAS
rating: 2
First off, I bought this calculator more out of excitement and curiosity than need. I thought a touch screen interface would be a wonderful thing for a calculator, and the descriptions leading up to the ClassPad's release were tantalizing and exciting. To sum up, what I feel I actually have is a strange mixture of poor planning and deep insensitivity to users' needs.
The display contrast is terrible. And if you try to remedy this with a strong light source, you trade horrible contrast for double images caused by shadows. The 'screen protector' Casio provides is no help, either. It adds a reflection problem to the mix.
The huge amount of screen real estate seems like it would be a wonderful thing. Unfortunately, it is used by the calculator's OS with stunning inefficientcy. Even performing basic calculations can be frustrating. As soon as you bring up the soft keyboard, a full half of your screen is lost. Answers or problems that exceed one line are simply truncated, followed by an ellipsis and a tiny, tiny triangle you must tap to see the rest of the line. There is no way to display the whole line at the same time.
The touch screen interface, the most intriguing aspect of this calculator for me (before purchase), is very poorly implimented. The calculator has a very basic keypad for entering numbers and basic functions. It also has dedicated keys for three variables, x, y and z. Oddly, they have no keys for storing anything in these variables. The only way to do it is using the 'soft keyboard', a touch screen keyboard with several panels of keys, all of which are quite tiny and very difficult to see due to the poor display. Imagine being in an engineering or technical environment and having to pull out a stylus every time you wish to do anything but the basic four functions. You cannot lay this calculator on a table and use it with one hand effectively, unless you wish to try to balance the stylus in your remaining fingers as you enter numbers, then flip it about to use it on the soft keyboards. And yes, you must use the stylus. All the soft keys are far too tiny to be used with a fingertip.
The documentation is bewildering. Individual commands and functions are often explained in relation to other commands and functins, and examples are given with no remarks or explainations. The upshot is that when you need to understand a function, you often have to make several trips to various indexes, back to pages that explain other functions, only to be driven back to the indexes again. To top it off, many functions have bewildering, counterintuitive names. What might be a self-contained 'if' command in another calculator or in a spreadsheet, for instance, is called 'piecewise' in the ClassPad.
The CAS is odd. As a matter of fact, the entire operating system is confusing at times. Menus are arranged in strange ways, icons on toolbars give few clues as to what function they perform. The built-in applications are not even loosly tied together, save by obscure system variables whose names are all but meaningless to humans. There's a plethora of functions and commands, but there is odd and glaring omissions as well. Who has seen a recent scientific calculator, for instance, that has no engineering format for the display? Only the ClassPad.
Programmability of this calculator is weak. It is especially difficult to prompt users for input, as there are odd limitations on things like input and output commands. And, of course, the poor, difficult to use documentation does not help.
This is a machine with tremendous potential that is marred by poor implimentation, and after having one for some years now, I see no signs of improvement. I would strongly advise anyone considering this calculator to visit the Universal Calculator Forum's ClassPad area. Read it carefully before investing in this expensive but frustrating machine. In my book, it is not a practical calculator for anyone, though some students seem to like it. Use this URL- http://www.casiocalc.org/ and click on the ClassPad forum.
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