Portal

Today let's discover the Casio ClassPad II fx-CP400 hardware together.

The calculator is quite easy to open once you get the trick. After removing all 6 screws on the back (including 4 inside the battery compartement), the entire front plate (screen and keyboard included) must be detached from the case by forcing on one of the corners




And now, you get the ClassPad II fx-CP400 hardware:


The hardware consists of two distinct PCBs :

• the power supply board RJA527047-001V01 (LY777-E4W)
• the motherboard RJA527046-001V02 (LY777-1)

It seems that is the second version of the motherboard, but of the first version of the power supply board.
We can take that with two distinct boards, a future version powered by a rechargeable battery would be quite easy, and the system already supports it.




The motherboard seems to have a setup close to the ones found on most recent Casio graphic calculators USB (Casio fx-9750Gii/fx-9860Gii, Casio Prizm fx-CG10/20).

It's built around 3 integrated chipsets:

• at position U101, a processor chip on which we can't get more information for now, as it's been drowned in a solid epoxy drop (which is usual with Casio)
• at position U231, a huge SDRAM memory chip - M12L128168A from ESMT - 2Mbits x 16-bits x 4 banks, which results in a 2 MB RAM
• at position U221, a NAND Flash memory chip - S99 50338 from Spansion - however its datasheet is not public

About the RAM, the RAM chip was also 2MB on the Casio Prizm, but only 64KB were available for the user. And here in a similar way, we've only got 512 KB available for the user!


About the NAND Flash ROM, if the informations found on the official website are accurate, the chip should have a capacity of 32MB, but only 5.5MB would remain available for the end user.



About the connectivity, a huge surprise awaits us. We've got:

• at positions HS401 et CN501, the connections to the power supply board
• at position CN401, the mini-Jack connector to transfer data between calcuators
• at position CN102, the mini-USB connector for a computer
• at position CN703, an unsoldered connector!

This CN703 connector with its pinout of 9 contacts and one lateral contact, and by its shape that gives an empty space on the board is clearly a connector for an SD memory card reader!
Unlike older Casio Classpad models, it is possible to add a SD card memory reader to the ClassPad II!




We're not sure if Casio has a future project for this since it would be a forbidden module by exam regulations of some countries (including France).
Traces of SD memory card reader support were already found on TI-Nspire and even on Casio Prizm fx-CG10/20 operating systems, although they were clearly missing from the hardware.
In fact, it seems those readers are used during hardware development where they give a way to reprogram or emulate easily the content of the ROM memory during tests - and so avoid permanently bricking the calculator prototypes with bad code: you just need to switch the SD card.

However, the community could clearly wonder if there wouldn't be some possibility for us to add a working SD card reader ourselves



Source:
http://tiplanet.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=12716&lang=en

Casio Classpad fx-cp400 (aka Classpad II) announced in late November is the latest addition to the Classpad line of calculators, after the introduction of the refreshed Classpad 330 Plus in 2012.

Featuring a high resolution 4.8 inch large touch-panel LCD, the fx-CP400 provides clearer images of mathematical data for students, as well as a better way to comprehend the relationships between their equations and graphs since the calculator can display both at the same time. Also, with the touch of a button, the fx-CP400 can switch from a vertical view to a horizontal view (Landscape mode), which is convenient for displaying long mathematical formulas/expressions on a single line. Definitely the new LCD is the strong point of the calculator.




When compared to previous Classpad models the first point that strikes one is the new LCD. There is also a new physical button, SHIFT. It can be configured in the settings to do small tasks faster (like copy, paste, cut, undo). The novelty is in the existence of the physical SHIFT button, because in older CP 300/330 (Plus) was possible to have a "shift" button also configurable but using the (-) key instead.
Although fx-CP400 has almost all the functions of its predecessor there is still no 3d graphics. Another difference that I noticed during my tests was the absence of portuguese language and the addition of a new language, "suomi".

The Casio classpad currently is banned from tests like SAT, ACT, and the AP Calculus test in USA. For this reason, the calculator is more popular in Europe, Australia, Latin America and middle east than USA.

Math capabilities
As a CAS calculator, it comes with advanced calculus capabilities like Ti Nspire CX Cas, Ti-89 or hp 50g and future hp Prime. It can work with variables, solve limits or even systems of equations, derive, calculate vectors/complex/matrices... There is also built in options for calculate Laplace-Transformation and Fourier-Transformation.
Taking advantage of the larger touch panel, is possible drag and drop equations directly to graph it or use the calculator in landscape mode to input/display larger mathematical formulas/expressions (images 2 and 3).




In Graph&Table is possible use real images as graphics background. These images use a proprietary format (*.c2p) and still there is no software to convert. Contrary to Casio Prizm, there is no "Picture-Plot" function.
Below is a screenshot of Graph&Table drawing a "butterfly" just with equations:




There are also other functions like Spreedsheet, Statistics, Diff-Eq Graph, Num-Solver, Conics, Geometry and Financial making the fx-CP400 not only a calculator indicated to algebra learners but also for financial students or to help learn geometry, statistics... In mathematics, everything is connected .

eActivities that appeared original in Classpad 300 and after arrived in fx9860g/prizm are also present. They allow teachers create documents for students learn in a more dynamic way, with exemples, notes and links to other classpad functions/menus previously mentioned.

Programming
The calculator comes with a built in easy to learn basic language, similar to the Classpad 300/330 (Plus). Were added a few new commands mainly related with color and obviously the max coordinates of the screen are now different.
Although it is not very fast, it is possible to create games and programs with it. I myself have created some basic programs and games, available for download in fx-cp400 downloads section. Free feel to upload also your future cp400 projects in our downloads section and share it with us in released projects sub-forum.




Bottom line
Definitely the fx-CP400 is a great educational tool. Although I have only begun to test the calculator recently, my feedback is very positive. The high resolution 4.8 inch large touch-panel LCD is the hallmark of the calculator.
For those who are accustomed to using touch screens without stylus in smartphones/tablets (like me), will find that the stylus is even more practical and elegant way to use the calculator combined with her keyboard. Stylus allows writing faster formulas/equations.
Another good aspect is that the calculator works as usb storage device when connected with the computer. Is possible connect the calculator to pc anywhere (home, school, library...) without any extra software in all systems (Windows, Linux, Mac...).
Comparing this calculator with other market alternatives, the strong competitor is still the Nspire CX Cas. But HP is not out of the race, and the proof is the newly announced HP Prime, a multitouch graphing calculator with CAS.

Casio has released two new OS updates for Classpad calculators:
-Classpad 300, 300 plus and 330 received the version 3.06.2000 (the previous version was 3.06.1000)
-Classpad 330 Plus received the version 3.10.2000 (the previous version was 3.10.1000)

Although there is no official changelog possibly this OS only fixes bugs... It is available for download at edu.casio.com as usual.

If you discover something new, share!

Today was released a new version of the add-in Algy 2 (previously tested here) for Classpad II.

For those who still do not know, Algy2 is an application that is able to pinpoint any line of working (in resolution of equations, inequalities...) that contains an error. This application encourages experimentation and perseverance with symbolic manipulation (algebra).

It isn't free but it is inexpensive - $8 for a single copy, $120 for a school license and $150 for a school extended license which permits the software to be installed on all school and home computers of students and teachers.

There is a free trial version, but it doesn't have all of the features of the full version.

Below is a screenshot of the new version for classpad 400 and other of the version for classpad 300/300:


Even if you do not have a classpad 400 you can test the new version on classpad II emulator. You just need copy the .C2A program to Classpad Manager Home Folder. Is something like:

C:\Users\USERNAME\Documents\CASIO\ClassPad Manager for ClassPad II

⇓ Download trial version (from Steps in Logic site): http://www.stepsinlogic.com/try.php

The trial version of the Casio Classpad II (fx-cp400) emulator was released to the public giving opportunity to start exploring this new calculator.

The menu of the calculator consists of 14 icons: Main, eActivity, Statistics, Spread-sheet, Graph&Table, Geometry, Conics, DiffEq-Graph, NumSolve, Sequence, Financial,Program, Communication and System:



There is compatibility with eActivities and Basic Programs from previous classpad models.
Was introduced a new casio custom image format, .c2p, to use as custom shutdown image or as graphs background.

⇓ Download https://edu.casio.com/freetrial/freetrial_form.php

Source: http://tiplanet.org/forum/viewtopic.php?p=140128