CASIO fx-9860G Series

The fx-9860G series are CASIO manufactured graphing calculators. Some of the improvements compared to older models are a USB port, flash memory, upgradeable OS (through ROM updates) and a high contrast display LCD.

Variants

There are several versions of the fx-9860G; the standard fx-9860G, often referred to as the 'vanilla' flavor, and the SD, AU and Slim versions.
*The AU version limits the amount of internal flash memory available to 800 KiB to meet Australian school regulations.
*The SD variant comes with an SD expansion card slot, allowing read and write access to up to 1GiB of memory on a SD memory card.
*The Slim version, the latest variant in the fx-9860G series, has a backlit display, on-board help, and is designed as a clamshell to minimize its size.

The usual fx-9860G and fx-9860G SD are marketed in France as "Graph85" and "Graph85 SD".

Programming

The calculators can be programmed through a couple of ways. The fx-9860G's come with a built-in BASIC-like interpreter, allowing the user to create simple programs, using built-in functionality.

The other method is to create an add-in. Add-ins are binary programs, executing directly on the calculators CPU. CASIO has released two official add-ins, GEOMETRY and PHYSIUM. An SDK was released by CASIO in 2006, allowing users to create their own add-ins, though no support is provided for this by CASIO. The add-ins and the SDK are available for registered users at CASIO's website.

Add-ins and the SDK allowed more powerful applications to be developed, and has been used to create an interpreter for the popular Multi-Platform Language for Calculators.

Critical Reception

When released, the CASIO fx-9860G received good reviews. [http://www.casiocalc.org/?s=&showtopic=2258&view=findpost&p=30050] [http://www.casiocalc.org/?s=&showtopic=2568&view=findpost&p=33759] The only disappointment to a couple of users is that the fx-9860G didn't come with a Computer Algebra System (CAS), although on CASIO's website they indicate there is no CAS. Fans and CASIO enthusiasts have however made attempts in developing a CAS. One example is [http://www.casiocalc.org/?showtopic=3632 SYMBOLIX] . Other than that, the fx-9860G has been regarded by some as the best non-CAS graphing calculator suiting many needs. [http://www.casiocalc.org/?s=&showtopic=2568&view=findpost&p=33296] The high contrast display, fast CPU, Natural Textbook display and it's greater ratio of features/price compared to other non-CAS graphic calculators have been highlights of the fx-9860G series.

External links

* [http://www.casio.com/products/Calculators_%26_Dictionaries/Graphing/FX-9860G/ CASIO fx-9860G Product page]
* [http://www.casio.com/products/Calculators_%26_Dictionaries/Graphing/FX-9860GSlim/ CASIO fx-9860G Slim Product page]

Fansites

* [http://www.casiocalc.org Universal CASIO Forum]
* [http://www.casiokingdom.org Casio Kingdom]