Wow this is fun to think about! Seriously, no more are calculators just for helping u out on calculus tests, now its to the point where we have our own simple pocket computers without any complexities... its the holy grail of tinkerers... we can overclock, add lights, sound, and now the software has caught up: we can play movies, songs, games, the list grows every day almost. this is a major step. this is truely amazing.

Good luck trying to sneak a flash drive and cable into a calc test though :)

The next step of course is to make a power pack which can drive a USB LAN chip; and then Z80 all the neccesary internet protocols, which opens up a whole new complex of possibilities-- wifi gaming, messaging, web surfing (assuming a 15MHz processor can parse all that)... Oh yeah and cheating on calc tests. I mean learning. Assisted learning.

Web browsing might be slow on a Z80 calc (getting it to handle TCP/IP, DHCP, etc.), but you could always add an external coprocessor.

*cough* CALCnet2 *cough*

Yeah but an external coprocessor would be slower (how much bandwidth can an I/O or USB port on a calculator handle?) You may as well flip out your web-enabled cell phone.

lim (TI-84+ series) = [Processing power]
calc -> cool

Theres an equation for it. Or something of one.

>Yeah but an external coprocessor would be slower

Uh, why? There are chips with dedicated TCP/IP stacks, and with one of those or even just another microcontroller running at a decent clock speed, it could be more powerful than the calc's internal Z80. The external circuitry could fetch the webpage, then send it to the calc for rendering. Adding a coprocessor is almost never going to make it *slower*.

but seriously on a calculator how much bw can you get even from a USB port? it certainly doesnt run at even 1.1 standards. Just porting things to and from the RAM/flash drive take a bit, especially if they are more than a few KB

The actual HTML of a page isn't going to be that big most of the time, and obviously it wouldn't download images, so it should work out fine.

hmmm maybe you're right; just a text browser or a WAP equivalent usually isnt too hard. Especially now that you mention no pics (though that would make things cooler).

So an external battery pack + a TCP/IP WiFi-enabled web browsing coprocessor = new Godpack.

Super bonus points to the first person to do it!

perhapes an USB IrDA driver?

Then you could "Beam" as the say in PalmOS the files from calc to calc or computer or other stuff...it could replace the graphlinks completely!

I remember reading the source code to making an 83+ (or was it an 84?) a universal remote control awhile back; but i've never seen the hardware it needed.
IR would be awesome. Imagine wireless messaging across a classroom?

and USB-IrDA adapters are about the size of the drives and they only cost about $20USA

Besides, I'd think the protocols would be easier than wifi/bluetooth -- think of the possibilities...PalmOS, AlphaSmarts, PocketPC, smartphones, computers, calculators, tv, and more

yeah, but line of sight sucks for something as off hand as messaging. RF would be good for something like that. Though IR could be good for linking and for a TV remote....

-W-

somebody please stop me if I'm wrong, couldn't you just make a battery pack with 4 NiMH AA/AAA batteries and connect it to the corrisponding +/- power pins on a USB cable?

I have a cooling fan that draws from the +/- so it seems possible...

You'd have to add a regulator to drop the 6V to 5V, but with that, it should work AFAIK. Just make sure the battery ground is connected to the calc's ground.

no, NiMH would be 1.25x4=5; maximum 1.28x4=1.12

edit: maximum 1.28x4=5.12

1x4 (!=) 1, sorry, bad math

Ok, then I guess you wouldn't need a regulator.

does USB have a ground? You're probably right (idk much about cables) and all but when i spliced my cable together there were only four little cables inside-- +/- DC, +/- data. unless the outer housing (which was metal wire) is the ground?

If I am thinking of the same thing as others, I call the "ground" the "shielding" because that's all it is (to my knowlege)

as for pinouts:
I'd check wikipedia or google but I think it's something like this:

[1234]

[ ]=ground
1 4 =power
23 =data

oh, re-reading, the metal case/foil wrap/etc. would be a ground/shielding (for RF interference?)

hmm does that shielding connect to a fifth pin? looking into a USB A/B thing there are five pin thingies.

hmmm, sounds like a multimeter project...

I don't know much about how USB works but I thought I read once that one of the pins is an open/closed to tell if it's a host or client for USB-OTG

I know the normal size USB-A and USB-B (the one for computer and the square one) have only 4 pins and a outer casing but I'm afraid to disect one because I'd probably kill it

If you're really interested, this tells all about USB cables/connectors and the pinouts

http://en.wikipedia.org
/wiki/Universal_Serial_Bus