First impressions of the official DM42

Discussion around the SwissMicros DM42 calculator
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Guenter
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First impressions of the official DM42

Post by Guenter »

I'm posting this here as I think these observations are beyond the theme of beta discussion HINT!

The yellow printings on the keypad are much brighter than on my beta calculator, very nice. All keys have a good response - hmm the ENTER key is somewhat mushy still on the left but has a definitive klick on the right. For me it's ok.

The back is slightly rougher than the beta calculator, less prone to fingerprints perhaps, not bad.

There is no obvious difference in the software, except for some more nice options in the setup. And there is the earlier announced help system, GREAT.

A lot of bitmaps are stored. They seem to be loaded arbitrary to the standby screen. A gimmick, but it only wastes 286KB of flash RAM. Keep them, delete them or deactivate them by renaming ../OFFIMG to something else. The latter by the way will show the sleeping owl again :)

The Help System: Available also at <https://www.swissmicros.com/help>
It is invoked with F1, starts with a short introduction and the description how you can navigate, cool.
So far I only had a glance.
[UP] and [DOWN] are described to jump to the previous or following link. That works in principle but obviously not if the next link isn't on the page just displayed, needs to be rectified. Scrolling through the pages is done with [÷] and [x]. As the help files format is HTML we see fonts in various sizes, therefore some overlapping from one page to the other is useful. For my taste it could be a little bit less.
One detail I saw: the [∑REG]and[∑RG?] are misspelled [ZREG] and [ZRG?] not a big deal, there may be more errors - just report them when you find one. These I've corrected already on my DM42. Yes it's easy - you can edit the help file yourself.

So far the help system is incomplete, it lacks for instance a detailed description how alpha input works. I'm confident that will evolve to our satisfaction over time.

The help system does not mention any procedures that are external to the operation as a calculator. E.g. software update, file handling with the PC etc. I think that's ok, but needs an external manual some time :-)

That's for now,
Günter
Günter
DM42 SN:00004 and SN:00184 -- DM41X SN:00013 and SN:00955
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Guenter
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Re: First impressions of the official DM42

Post by Guenter »

Oh, I forgot to say:

GREAT WORK

Günter
Günter
DM42 SN:00004 and SN:00184 -- DM41X SN:00013 and SN:00955
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revwillie
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Re: First impressions of the official DM42

Post by revwillie »

Guenter wrote:
Fri Dec 15, 2017 10:17 pm
I'm posting this here as I think these observations are beyond the theme of beta discussion HINT!
.........
There is no obvious difference in the software, except for some more nice options in the setup. And there is the earlier announced help system, GREAT.....
The Help System: Available also at <https://www.swissmicros.com/help>
........... These I've corrected already on my DM42. Yes it's easy - you can edit the help file yourself...............

That's for now,
Günter
Thanks, this satisfies my curiosity. So, is there another folder in the FAT drive for html help files?
DM42 SN: 00076
DM15, HP 28c, HP 12c, HP 10b, HP 20b, HP 30b, HP 17bII, HP 42s, HP 35s, WP 34s, NP-25, TI-83+, teenix multicalc
rprosperi
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Re: First impressions of the official DM42

Post by rprosperi »

Guenter wrote:
Fri Dec 15, 2017 10:17 pm
I'm posting this here as I think these observations are beyond the theme of beta discussion HINT!
Thanks for the quick review and comments on your Christmas Toy Günter! I hope to receive mine next week to have in time for Christmas as well. Thanks also for the link to the help file, this is something to review while waiting for delivery...
--bob p

DM42: β00071 & 00282, DM41X: β00071 & 00656, DM10L: 071/100
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Walter
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Re: First impressions of the official DM42

Post by Walter »

rprosperi wrote:
Fri Dec 15, 2017 11:00 pm
Guenter wrote:
Fri Dec 15, 2017 10:17 pm
I'm posting this here as I think these observations are beyond the theme of beta discussion HINT!
... Thanks also for the link to the help file, this is something to review while waiting for delivery...
1 +
WP43 SN00000, 34S, and 31S for obvious reasons; HP-35, 45, ..., 35S, 15CE, DM16L S/N# 00093, DM42β SN:00041
dlachieze
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Location: France

Re: First impressions of the official DM42

Post by dlachieze »

Guenter wrote:
Fri Dec 15, 2017 10:17 pm
The Help System: Available also at <https://www.swissmicros.com/help>
It is invoked with F1, starts with a short introduction and the description how you can navigate, cool.
So far I only had a glance.
[UP] and [DOWN] are described to jump to the previous or following link. That works in principle but obviously not if the next link isn't on the page just displayed, needs to be rectified. Scrolling through the pages is done with [÷] and [x]. As the help files format is HTML we see fonts in various sizes, therefore some overlapping from one page to the other is useful. For my taste it could be a little bit less.
One detail I saw: the [∑REG]and[∑RG?] are misspelled [ZREG] and [ZRG?] not a big deal, there may be more errors - just report them when you find one. These I've corrected already on my DM42. Yes it's easy - you can edit the help file yourself.
Thanks Guenter, I have edited the help file to fix the ZRxx mispelling but I've noticed something strange at the beginning of the help, for Navigation the file content is:

Image

but on my DM42 the ÷ and × symbols are reversed:

Image
DM42: 00425 - DM41X: β00066 - WP43: 00042
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Walter
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Re: First impressions of the official DM42

Post by Walter »

Here's a quick review of the QRG:

First, thanks to the team for providing it! The colors chosen look more reasonable than those within the manual.
I came across the following:
  1. Why is this QRG not (also) available as printable PDF?
  2. "Unlike Application menus, a Function menu closes as soon as you have used one of the functions that it contains ..." I must admit I frowned when reading that. I'd suggest using either "Application Menus" or "application menus" but not a mix. Same for function menus, please.
  3. I don't see "physical buttons" called [BASE] or [CUSTOM] etc. Please think about the format definitions you made. Maybe you need a third format for shifted labels ...
  4. You write about "Real numbers" and "Complex numbers". It simply feels wrong. Same with rectangular and polar etc. I'd suggest using lower case consistently in line with the HP-42S Owner's Manual.
  5. "If need be you can reduce its size with the SIZE command from the MODES menu." I'd suggest "If necessary you can ...".
  6. "Real numbers are whole or decimal numbers, positive or negative. The range of numbers that the DM42 can handle is approximately 10^-6143 to 10^6144 with an accuracy of 34 digits." I'd suggest instead "Real numbers cover integer and decimal numbers, positive or negative. The range of numbers that the DM42 can handle is approximately 10^-6143 to 10^6144 with a precision of 34 digits."
  7. ... to be continued.
WP43 SN00000, 34S, and 31S for obvious reasons; HP-35, 45, ..., 35S, 15CE, DM16L S/N# 00093, DM42β SN:00041
grsbanks
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Re: First impressions of the official DM42

Post by grsbanks »

dlachieze wrote:
Sat Dec 16, 2017 3:35 pm
Thanks Guenter, I have edited the help file to fix the ZRxx mispelling but I've noticed something strange at the beginning of the help, for Navigation the file content is:

Image

but on my DM42 the ÷ and × symbols are reversed:

Image
Merci Didier, on va jeter un coup d'oeil là-dedans. J'ai apporté quelques modifs à ce niveau-là et c'est bien possible que j'ai raté un truc dans ce style.
There are only 10 kinds of people in the world: those who understand binary and those who do not.
Olaf
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Location: France

Re: First impressions of the official DM42

Post by Olaf »

grsbanks wrote:
Sat Dec 16, 2017 5:21 pm
dlachieze wrote:
Sat Dec 16, 2017 3:35 pm
Thanks Guenter, I have edited the help file to fix the ZRxx mispelling but I've noticed something strange at the beginning of the help, for Navigation the file content is:

Image

but on my DM42 the ÷ and × symbols are reversed:

Image
Merci Didier, on va jeter un coup d'oeil là-dedans. J'ai apporté quelques modifs à ce niveau-là et c'est bien possible que j'ai raté un truc dans ce style.

Merci pour le souci apporté aux petits détails :) DM42 n'est pas qu'une calculatrice, c'est aussi tout ce qui va autour, et une bonne documentation !

Thanks to all of you, who build up the platform and related documentation !
-----------------------------------------------------------------
HP48G, DM42 (# 276), a slide rule and a C compiler :-)
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ijabbott
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Re: First impressions of the official DM42

Post by ijabbott »

It seems that the calculator's glyphs for the ÷ and × character codes are transposed throughout the Help browser, not just in the Navigation section. E.g. STO÷ is shown as STO× and vice versa.
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