42s or 41x? Or wait for 43S

General discussion about calculators, SwissMicros or otherwise
jtucker
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42s or 41x? Or wait for 43S

Post by jtucker »

Which would you choose and why? I once owned an original HP 42S and owned an original DM 42s which I sold due to the poor keyboard. Any idea if/when the 43s will be released?
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rexbinary
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Re: 42s or 41x? Or wait for 43S

Post by rexbinary »

All three? That's what I'm doing. :D
DM32, DM41X, DM42, HP-35S, HP-32SII, HP-42S, HP-41CV, HP 95LX - EDIT: I seldom post without an edit.
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Walter
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Re: 42s or 41x? Or wait for 43S

Post by Walter »

I'm confident the 43S will be released. It's a hobbyist's project though so I can't tell you when. Please follow its development in the thread viewtopic.php?f=2&t=1816.
WP43 SN00000, 34S, and 31S for obvious reasons; HP-35, 45, ..., 35S, 15CE, DM16L S/N# 00093, DM42β SN:00041
Peet
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Re: 42s or 41x? Or wait for 43S

Post by Peet »

The best choice depends heavily on the area of application ...

- in daily use (e.g. as desktop calculator)
- to play with or experiencing contemporary history
- professional users (The field is also interesting here, architects has other preferenzes then electrical engineers)

... and so-called K.O. Criteria (things thas makes on objekt unbearable if you don't like them) e.g.

- Key-Layout
- haptics
- build quality
- display

For me the DM41x is the best choice because
- it is the only existing pocket calculator for friends of the classic HP key layout.
- I like the UI/operating concept more than the one of the 42 in many areas because it was more consistent.
- I can relive the time of the HP41CV with all my programs at the time and also have the opportunity to play with almost all existing modules.
- in my opinion, the 41-display and font are among the best that a calculator has ever seen.

I also bought a DM42 to see HP41 programs run on a different platform with an other user interface. For me it would hardly be better than an HP35s without the possibility to transfer HP41 programs, but for former HP42S owners it would be the more interesting choice.

The 43s seems to be a complete different concept and is not necessarily of interest to me, so I do not particularly follow the progress.
My programmable calculators - former: CBM PR100, HP41CV, HP28S, HP11C - current: HP48G(256kB), HP35S, Prime, DM41X, DM42
Boub65
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Re: 42s or 41x? Or wait for 43S

Post by Boub65 »

Hello,
my advice for any one asking this question is "if you are asking then go for the DM42, otherwise you wouldn't be asking!"
Why?
Because if someone did know enough about the HP41CX they wouldn't be asking.
DM41X is so specific to the HP41CX that it is only made for people having had a HP41CX or always waiting to have one, there is not room (in my opinion) for pure new players. These people, want to reuse existing modules or old programs.

On the other hand, DM42 is a real player in the field of new people wanting to try a good RPN programming platform : good UI, fast, well balanced instructions, no "you have to now the internals to use it" etc..
DM42 is definitely the platform for people wanting to key in new programs from scratch.

Just my honest 0.02 cents :D
Sincèrement, Sincerely, 73,
Boubker

DM15L, DM41L, DM42 #00855 (domes upgraded), DM41X #00707
HP48SX (with dark screen), HP42s, HP32SII (1990 with fraction bug), HP41C/CV
TI-89 titanium, CASIO fx-cg50 and Numworks (to play with micropython)
jtucker
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Re: 42s or 41x? Or wait for 43S

Post by jtucker »

Thank you for your replies. Somehow or other I never had any of the original HP41 variants. I went from HP21 to HP25C then HP42S, HP15C, HP48GX, HP50G, HP35S, and HP Prime. I still have 2 each of the HP35S and HP Prime, one for office and one for home use. Don't tell anyone but the office was at TI :lol: Don't really need duplicates as I am now retired. I really liked the HP Prime Solver App. I had custom apps with all my most used dc/dc converter equations. Unfortunately, the Prime version of RPN leaves something to be desired and store and recall is tedious.

So tell me about the new keyboard hardware? Will I be impressed compared to the above mentioned HPs?

Thanks,
Gnimelf
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Re: 42s or 41x? Or wait for 43S

Post by Gnimelf »

I have used an HP41 since their introduction. Can't really justify a 41CL so was very interested in the SwissMicros products. Got the DM41L because I like the Voyager style for a "grab when I need it" calculator and thought it would be a good combination of size a capability. Several things make it less so - the top of which are limited memory (should be min. of 4 ROM worth), prefer real Voyager layout, and software interface a pain.

Anyway - I use i41CX+ on my iOS devices and was thinking a DM41X would work well...would really like to see the availability of blank overlays to really make it great.

On the other hand I love the Solver and soft keys of the DM42 - with or without overlays - easy custom menus kinda make up for it. Would really like the DM42L that they beta demo'd several years ago but I guess it is an idea set aside...

So at the end of all this I am ordering a DM42 and will drive my favorite programs from the i41CX+.

Cheers
Cheers - Bill Fleming
Thomas Okken
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Re: 42s or 41x? Or wait for 43S

Post by Thomas Okken »

Gnimelf wrote:
Wed Oct 06, 2021 11:56 pm
Would really like the DM42L that they beta demo'd several years ago but I guess it is an idea set aside...
That looked like a proof of concept, just something to verify that their low-power ARM platform was capable of running Free42 with acceptable performance. They used what looked like the same hardware as what they use for the DM1xL and DM41, so they could perform the test on existing hardware.

That hardware platform was never suitable for a real product, though, having two serious problems (which have been mentioned here before): the display isn't suitable because it has no room for the status annunciators, and the landscape layout doesn't work with the 42S soft keys, at least not without moving the display to the left so the soft keys don't get in the way of the number keys.

Since they couldn't use their existing platform for the DM42, it made sense to design something new, and once they were doing that, it was only logical to go all in with the big screen, and once you're doing that, the landscape layout makes even less sense than it already did.
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Walter
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Re: 42s or 41x? Or wait for 43S

Post by Walter »

Perfect reasoning!
WP43 SN00000, 34S, and 31S for obvious reasons; HP-35, 45, ..., 35S, 15CE, DM16L S/N# 00093, DM42β SN:00041
Gnimelf
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Re: 42s or 41x? Or wait for 43S

Post by Gnimelf »

Very good points. In my opinion the DM41L is also more of a demonstration project with nice but limited HP41 functionality.
Cheers - Bill Fleming
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