WP43 News

This area is for discussion about these families of custom high-end Scientific Calculator applications for SwissMicros devices.
redglyph
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Re: 43S News

Post by redglyph »

I must have missed the debate but I find it funny that people would argue on a division sign symbol. What matters is a clear keyboard that people feel at ease with from their past experience.

÷ has been used on calculators for a long time because it's very distinctive and recognizable (and probably because of the past), but / is on all PC keyboards - along with arithmetic keys on the right (which I suspect was one motive to do the same with HP calculators since the PC era). So there is nothing alien to it.

It seems that, like the left / right arithmetic debate, it's only a matter of religion and nostalgia. :)

The solution is obvious, the divide can be put into a menu instead (like other important operators), where the symbol is configurable by the user. ;)
gmac42
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Re: 43S News

Post by gmac42 »

Walter wrote:
Sat Sep 10, 2022 11:00 pm
keyboard_TN.JPG
I really like the overall look of this (and I don't really care about which symbol to use for division, tbh).
Only thing I would like to suggest is to make the colored bars next to the display half as wide (or even narrower). They would still serve their purpose just as well but look much more elegant, imho.
DM41X #542, DM42 #650, DM41L #801, HP 41CX, HP 41CV, HP 50G, HP11C, TI 89
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Walter
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Re: 43S News

Post by Walter »

gmac42 wrote:
Sat Sep 17, 2022 12:59 pm
Only thing I would like to suggest is to make the colored bars next to the display half as wide (or even narrower). They would still serve their purpose just as well but look much more elegant, imho.
The width of these bars is to make production easier, I think: the color limits are the part limits. 8-)
WP43 SN00000, 34S, and 31S for obvious reasons; HP-35, 45, ..., 35S, 15CE, DM16L S/N# 00093, DM42β SN:00041
gmac42
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Re: 43S News

Post by gmac42 »

Walter wrote:
Sat Sep 17, 2022 4:25 pm
gmac42 wrote:
Sat Sep 17, 2022 12:59 pm
Only thing I would like to suggest is to make the colored bars next to the display half as wide (or even narrower). They would still serve their purpose just as well but look much more elegant, imho.
The width of these bars is to make production easier, I think: the color limits are the part limits. 8-)
I wouldn't have thought that easier production would be a sufficient argument for a perfectionist like you. ;) How much easier are we talking here? Would a change rise the price significantly? (Or cause more problems in quality control, or some other negative impact that I am not aware of?)
Do you personally have a preference w.r.t. the aesthetics of the color bars?

PS: Personally I would prefer small color bars (like in the emulator or even narrower) over no color bars at all (it's not that hard to memorize, after all) over the wide ones. That being said, this is obviously all about personal preference and highly subjective. If it's an easy fix, that's great, but if not, it's not worth making too much of a fuss about, imho.
DM41X #542, DM42 #650, DM41L #801, HP 41CX, HP 41CV, HP 50G, HP11C, TI 89
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Walter
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Re: 43S News

Post by Walter »

gmac42 wrote:
Sat Sep 17, 2022 8:12 pm
Walter wrote:
Sat Sep 17, 2022 4:25 pm
gmac42 wrote:
Sat Sep 17, 2022 12:59 pm
Only thing I would like to suggest is to make the colored bars next to the display half as wide (or even narrower). They would still serve their purpose just as well but look much more elegant, imho.
The width of these bars is to make production easier, I think: the color limits are the part limits. 8-)
I wouldn't have thought that easier production would be a sufficient argument for a perfectionist like you. ;) How much easier are we talking here? Would a change rise the price significantly? (Or cause more problems in quality control, or some other negative impact that I am not aware of?)
Do you personally have a preference w.r.t. the aesthetics of the color bars?

PS: Personally I would prefer small color bars (like in the emulator or even narrower) over no color bars at all (it's not that hard to memorize, after all) over the wide ones. That being said, this is obviously all about personal preference and highly subjective. If it's an easy fix, that's great, but if not, it's not worth making too much of a fuss about, imho.
I've worked long enough with and in industrial production and quality control to assess this being not an easy fix. HTH 8-)
WP43 SN00000, 34S, and 31S for obvious reasons; HP-35, 45, ..., 35S, 15CE, DM16L S/N# 00093, DM42β SN:00041
gmac42
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Re: 43S News

Post by gmac42 »

Walter wrote:
Sat Sep 17, 2022 11:54 pm
I've worked long enough with and in industrial production and quality control to assess this being not an easy fix. HTH 8-)
Ah, too bad. Probably not worth the pain, then.
DM41X #542, DM42 #650, DM41L #801, HP 41CX, HP 41CV, HP 50G, HP11C, TI 89
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RJvM
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Re: 43S News

Post by RJvM »

Walter wrote:
Sat Sep 10, 2022 11:00 pm
Not yet there but almost (spoke Achilles to the turtle):
.
keyboard_TN.JPG
I just noticed a number of cosmetic irregularities: the X in EXP protrudes slighly above the top of the E and P (the anti-aliasing may be to blame).
Also, STO, RCL, ENTER, XEQ, R/S, EXIT don't look right, same effect.
Robbert Jan, MSEE, RPN user since 1976 and a collector for many years I now own all the important ones: HP-35, 45, 55, 65, 97, 19, 21, 25, 34, 10-16, 41, 42, 71, 48, 50, Prime, DM41, DM42, WP43, C47, R47; Project 47 team member https://47calc.com
Required
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Re: 43S News

Post by Required »

As some previously already noted the K and L on the yellow and blue shift are duplicated.
Removing them would leave F as a lonesome letter in the right margin.

Perhaps let F take the position on STO, shifting the others one step to the right.
The J would end up on Yellow Shift but at least it would look better than having F outside in the margin.
Right?
I’m the Required one.

42S: 3117S03858 | DM42: 08455 | DM32: 00166 | 15C CE: 00085
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Walter
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Re: 43S News

Post by Walter »

Required wrote:
Sun Sep 18, 2022 9:46 pm
As some previously already noted the K and L on the yellow and blue shift are duplicated.
Removing them would leave F as a lonesome letter in the right margin.

Perhaps let F take the position on STO, shifting the others one step to the right.
The J would end up on Yellow Shift but at least it would look better than having F outside in the margin.
Right?
Brave little F will stand firm and won't move. 8-)
WP43 SN00000, 34S, and 31S for obvious reasons; HP-35, 45, ..., 35S, 15CE, DM16L S/N# 00093, DM42β SN:00041
Required
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Re: 43S News

Post by Required »

Now that’s pride at it finest.
🙏
I’m the Required one.

42S: 3117S03858 | DM42: 08455 | DM32: 00166 | 15C CE: 00085
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