Landscape DM42?

General discussion about calculators, SwissMicros or otherwise
tycho
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Re: Landscape DM42?

Post by tycho »

Walter wrote:
Thu Jan 25, 2018 5:38 pm
@tycho: What shall FCN do?
The landscape layout gives two extra keys compared to portrait. I just mapped them to SHIFT->CATALOG->FCN, and STACK ROLL UP in this free42 skin I made a few years ago, but they should be used for something else in a DM42L.
"The Answer to the Great Question... Of Life, the Universe and Everything... Is... DM42" ― Adam Douglas
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Walter
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Re: Landscape DM42?

Post by Walter »

tycho wrote:
Thu Jan 25, 2018 8:01 pm
The landscape layout gives two extra keys compared to portrait. I just mapped them to SHIFT->CATALOG->FCN, and STACK ROLL UP in this free42 skin I made a few years ago, but they should be used for something else in a DM42L.
Thanks for your response. Certainly, nice labels for the two extra keys could be found.The main pr ... ummh ... challenge, however, in your layout is that you need exactly the HP-42S LCD since you need its annunciators inevitably - you cannot build them with pixels here. Luckily, the HP-17bii+ features the same (?) LCD, and it looks like being produced still. I don't know if it's proprietory to HP though ...
WP43 SN00000, 34S, and 31S for obvious reasons; HP-35, 45, ..., 35S, 15CE, DM16L S/N# 00093, DM42β SN:00041
keithdalby
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Re: Landscape DM42?

Post by keithdalby »

I've been thinking about those annunciators. Could a bit of horizontal screen real-estate be sacrificed to make room for the tiny slither of screen needed for the annunciators. The annunciators would be vertically arranged instead of horizontally, down one side of the screen, but they'd still be there. Often for me, part of the horizontal screen real-estate is wasted anyway because of the SCI display mode I use.

With the keyboard layout suggested here, the soft keys allocations as mentioned here too and the annunciators moved to the side of the screen, I can't see why any hardware changes to the prototype DM42L would be needed. I'm probably being a bit naïve though.
Thomas Okken
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Re: Landscape DM42?

Post by Thomas Okken »

The 132x16 display used in the DM42 landscape prototype has only 16 pixels of unused space. Assuming you want the annunciators to be separated from each other by at least one pixel of empty space, that gives you 10 pixels to work with, so, three two-pixel annunciators and four one-pixel annunciators, or something along those lines... But wait, shouldn't those annunciators, those one-by-one or one-by-two pixel specks, have some horizontal separation from the main display area? Alas, no room for that, you only have that one horizontal pixel to play with.

Squeeze the main 131x16 area into fewer pixels? I would say I'm looking forward to your proposal on how to do that, but honestly, that would just be sarcasm. It can't be done.
keithdalby
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Re: Landscape DM42?

Post by keithdalby »

Thomas Okken wrote:
Sat Jan 27, 2018 10:50 pm
It can't be done.
Ah, my naivety it is then. Thanks for the information Thomas
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Walter
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Re: Landscape DM42?

Post by Walter »

keithdalby wrote:
Sat Jan 27, 2018 11:03 pm
Thomas Okken wrote:
Sat Jan 27, 2018 10:50 pm
It can't be done.
Ah, naivety it is then. Thanks for the information Thomas
Sometimes just trivial facts shoot down highflying projects. Such is life.
WP43 SN00000, 34S, and 31S for obvious reasons; HP-35, 45, ..., 35S, 15CE, DM16L S/N# 00093, DM42β SN:00041
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Mark Hardman
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Re: Landscape DM42?

Post by Mark Hardman »

Michael wrote:
Sun Jan 21, 2018 5:20 pm
However, please feel free using it and make suggestions how the buttons of a DM42L could be arranged.
Image

Could not resist the opportunity to move the 42s primary operator keys to where god intended--the left. :mrgreen:
DM42: β00043, β00065, 00357 / DM41X: β00054, 00445 / DM32: β00278
DM10L: 017/100, DM11L: 00121, DM12L: 02005, DM15L: 00523, DM16L: 00008, DM41L: 00111
Thomas Okken
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Re: Landscape DM42?

Post by Thomas Okken »

Given that Voyagers must be held with two hands anyway, this strikes me as an eminently sensible arrangement. :lol:
rprosperi
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Re: Landscape DM42?

Post by rprosperi »

Mark Hardman wrote:
Sun Jan 28, 2018 1:38 am
Could not resist the opportunity to move the 42s primary operator keys to where god intended--the left. :mrgreen:
I like it Mark, nice out-of-the-box thinking! Clearly this uses the same LCD as the current production 17BII+, which is great. Until the DM42, that's about the best LCD I've seen.

Very few things stand a chance to have Massimo like a landscape design, but... dare I say it... this could do it.

The 2 x blank keys beg some questions/comments....

1. Is your idea to keep them blank - e.g. for user-assignment of his/her particular favorite non-assigned function (done via some setup menu)?

2. The key directly above [RDN] just begs to be a corresponding [RUP]. Shift-[RUP] can be [SETUP] to access the configuration options, analogous to the DM42 SETUP.

3. Well, guess I'll stop making it up as I go...

Yes... I want one.
--bob p

DM42: β00071 & 00282, DM41X: β00071 & 00656, DM10L: 071/100
HPMike
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Re: Landscape DM42?

Post by HPMike »

Have you ever wondered why HP returned to portrait oriented calculators after introducing the landscape Voyager series ? Could it perhaps be related to the ease of using it as a handheld calculator ? Anyways, I’m so very happy that SM decided to do the initial version of the DM42 as a proper portrait layout, and enlarge the screen. If anything, I’d like to see a portrait DM41P.
DM15L, S/N 00548. DM42, SN: 00159. DM41X, SN: 00973. DM32, SN 00054.
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