What are the differences between a Computer and a calculator?
None! While many people will differentiate what they are based on their capabilities, this is very misleading. A calculator, given enough time, can perform many of the same capabilities as a desktop computer! However calculator processors are FAR simpler and dedicated for math and low power consumption, and typically contain only one processor. Whereas your desktop computer is designed to perform many billions of times faster, and may have dozens or even hundreds of processors in it. For example, a moderm computer may have four cores in the CPU, each an effective processor, operating at 2+ GHz (2,000,000,000 instructions per second frequency), a memory controller processor, a northbridge processor, a southbridge processor, one or more video processors, digital signal processors, video memory controller processors, NIC processors, soundcard processors, harddrive logic controller processors, optical drive processors, USB control hub processors, and many more! Each ranging from 8 to 512 bit, and having onboard dedicated memory ranging from KB, MB, or GB in the case of RAM.A calculator typically operates at only a few dozen to hundred kilohertz (1 MHz = 1,000 KHz) and contain only a single, very simple 16 or 32 bit processor with little or no cache at all.Most modern graphing calculators are comparable to Atari 2600’s for their capability. The atari 2600 had a processor that ran at 1.19 MHz for general-purpose, or 3.58 MHz for graphics, and had only 128 bytes of RAM!