calculator questions

[designer noob]

First, has anyone tried to add LED to a calculator to light up the screen

Second, is there any possible way to add sound because there is gameboy emulators for it and sound would be kind of nice.

 

[XCVG]

First, has anyone tried to add LED to a calculator to light up the screen

Eh? The benefit being.....
(calculators have enough lighting, if they get dim it's either the display failing or the batteries not got enough voltage (draining).

Second, is there any possible way to add sound because there is gameboy emulators for it and sound would be kind of nice.

GameBoy emulators for calculators?

I think he's talking about fancy graphing calculators. Yes, you can get gameboy emulators, and Doom too!

 

[βeta]

It's not a full emulator. There is no sound. A speaker won't save you. Don't use a frontlight, use one of those light sheets for black and white screens.

 

[βeta]

Interesting, not seen these calculators before - pics?

 

[icarus]

I have that calculator, except mine is orange! A NES emulator would be sweet during math.

 

[designer noob]

The gameboy emulator on the calculator has sound, but I believe it comes out of thedata port so, you have to buy a special type of crod that fits in the data port and then has a connection for your headphones.

 

[Basement_Modder]

Just put a gameboy in the calculator. I put an SP in a ti-84, and it made 7th grade math much more enjoyable.

 

[XCVG]

Why would you need a TI-84 in 7th grade?

 

[jleemero]

Why would you need a TI-84 in 7th grade?

I used an 83+ for ages, and, ironically, got my 84+ in 7th grade.

Love the thing.

 

[eurddrue]

Why would you need a TI-84 in 7th grade?

Our school started providing TI-83's in fourth grade We had to find ways to spend all of our money, otherwise we would've had to fork it over to people who needed it like Helena.

 

[XCVG]

Where I live I don't know where the money goes. We don't even get new textbooks anymore, yet maintainance seems to be cut back more and more. Some people say they're wasting it on bureaucrats.

Also, I want a graphing calculator, but I probably won't get one till 11th grade. I think the TI-Nspire is cool but I'll probably end up with a TI-84+. Or, maybe either me or my parents will cheap out and I'll end up with a TI-83, or a Casio cheapy. For that matter, why are TI calculators so expensive? I wish they had free samples of those too...

 

[icarus]

Not all kids rely on calculators. In my school we have tests where we can't use calculators at all.

 

[XCVG]

At my school you pretty much need a calculator (scientific is better but not necessary) but a lot of people don't have one, and the school is too cheap to purchase loaners. Oh, and they just slashed out maintainance budget. Makes you wonder where the money goes...

 

[J.D]

*old git speaking here*

In my day, we didn't use calculators, just pencil and paper to work out sums. Good skill though, because even now, using a calculator it is easy to press a wrong button and get a wrong result, or when the batteries start to fail and you get wrong answers - mental maths will confirm if the answer is "about right". Kids these days just rely on calculators so don't have that skill. I just use really basic ones, single line LCD display, just the +-/x and % : it's all I need!

In younger grades, like 6th grade and stuff like that, it's used for learning purposes more then anything.

 

[βeta]

Learning math without a calculator is like being an architect without AutoCAD. It can be done, it's just harder, slower, and more expensive.

 

[Basement_Modder]

@XCVG-I was taking a 9th grade honors class for math in 7th grade.

 

[grossaffe]

Learning math without a calculator is like being an architect without AutoCAD. It can be done, it's just harder, slower, and more expensive.

I went through my entire sophomore year (Algebra II) without a ti-83 while everyone else had one, and I was still better/faster than everyone else. Finished all my homework in class the day it was assigned, got a perfect score on the SOLs, etc.

Graphing calculators are nice for showing you what a function looks like, but when it comes to actually learning how to do math, pen and paper is the best tool.