5 ms·

Thanks for the kind words. Regarding the build quality - we strongly believe in buy-it-for-life philosophy, and the chassis is designed with repairability in mi

Thanks for the kind words. Regarding the build quality - we strongly believe in buy-it-for-life philosophy, and the chassis is designed with repairability in mind [1]. Battery life is also one of the top concerns for us and we don't want our users to take the calculator out of the drawer after a long period only to find that the battery is dead. We've had suggestions to add a color screen or OLED display, but that would eat into the battery budget by a few orders of magnitude. We are also launching DM41X[2], about 100 units have been sent out for beta testing and should be in production later this year. We appreciate feedback and would love to hear from you: neil[@]swissmicros.com [1] Teardown: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ong91Ji3iDk https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ong91Ji3iDk [2] DM41X: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UrU4sGWt45M https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UrU4sGWt45M

stephc_int13 6y ago
Do you ever plan to do the same thing for the HP-48 series?
- neilpanchal 6y ago
  Definitely, we have intentions and there are significant challenges, but certainly on the horizon.
  - stephc_int13 6y ago
    Great! I'll buy one without hesitation. I still have my beloved HP-48 GX on my desk, I created a multitasking kernel and a few apps for this hardware while I was a student (1998) https://www.hpcalc.org/details/79 https://www.hpcalc.org/details/79 If you want some input or beta testers, I'm in :)
    - killjoywashere 6y ago
      HP-48G sitting on my desk right now. Onza sticker on the back and my childhood 7 digit phone number on the original nameplate, scratched in with, I'm pretty sure, a Pentel Quicker Clicker.
  - na85 6y ago
    Oooh, colour me interested. Is there a mailing list or something I can subscribe to for development updates on an HP 48-alike?
    - neilpanchal 6y ago
      Not yet, but we will be launching a new store/branding shortly, there will be a place to sign up for newsletters.
  - Blackthorn 6y ago
    Wow, that would be an instant buy from me on release. Good luck!
- tonyarkles 6y ago
  As soon as I saw this, my first thought was "where did my HP-49G+ end up?" Looking at the DM42, it'd probably be good enough for the "not going to use Matlab for this" day-to-day math, but man did that '49 save my bacon a lot of times. Nothing like being able to readily invert a big system of linear equations and take integrals during an exam!
kgwxd 6y ago
I have very little need for a calculator of any caliber, but this narrative makes me want one on my desk. I wish that mindset was financially rewarded more often.
pengaru 6y ago
> Teardown: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ong91Ji3iDk https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ong91Ji3iDk That video doesn't strike me as particularly flattering. I'm no calculator aficionado, but just watching it already had me experiencing pangs of buyer's remorse and no money had even left my pocket. Echoes of the clamshell sharp zaurus; a well built piece of hardware with very poor software support relegating it to dust collector status.
- onli 6y ago
  The reviewer is very enthusiastic about the calculator and loves that thing. How can a teardown be more positive and flattering?
  - pengaru 6y ago
    Their enthusiasm more or less ends where the hardware ends and the software starts. Some demonstrated flaws from memory: - Inexplicable help file error right out of the hole - No way to actually display values using the exceptional precision because of the software - Basically no included graphing capabilities despite having a pixel-addressable e-ink display the buyer is no doubt paying extra for - Weird font rendering bug and seemingly pointless font scaling - No modal alphabetic keyboard entry when attempting to do some rudimentary programming
    - neilpanchal 6y ago
      Just to shed some thoughts around not adding features - keep in mind that DM42 is a "homage" to the original HP42. If we go ahead and make major changes to the UI (besides what we have already made to take advantage of the screen), it is no longer a true to the aforementioned spirit. Graphing capabilities were rudimentary on HP42S and you need a printer to plot. Similarly, DM42 has an IR sensor and complete backwards compatibility with HP42S printer. There is a deliberate attempt to not add features, and to keep DM42 compatible with HP42S "interface". We've received strong feedback from our users to not make major changes to the HP42S spec. One can just use HP42S manual and everything should just work. It is the same with the key layout. If you want to add features or mess around with the firmware, it is open source. There is also an SDK that you can use to write your own firmware if you wish. Furthermore, there are some exciting projects to build a new RPN platform all together - WP43 is one. That said, all feedback is welcome and appreciated. Thank you.
hyperdimension 6y ago
Hi Neil, I just wanted to echo the other comments and strongly endorse their products. I have a DM15L, a recently-bought DM15, (just so I can carry it with me everywhere I go!) a DM16, a DM41L, and a DM42, and will absolutely get a DM41X when it's released! You might call me a bit of a fan. If you are a fan of HP calculators, but can't stand how expensive they are on eBay, do yourself a favor and pick one up. They're wonderfully constructed and from what I can tell, extremely faithful to the originals (that are out of my reach, unfortunately.) Also, Neil--I emailed you a question I had about my DM42, in case you can clear something up for me.
m-p-3 6y ago
I really hope we'll see the day sooner than later for color eInk displays to make it to mainstream devices.
- metrokoi 6y ago
  I just want an eInk monitor that isn't obscenely expensive to write code on and read books and articles, I don't even care if it's black and white. I know many people would use it if created, it's so much more pleasurable to stare at for hours.
deleted 6y ago
[deleted]
IgniteTheSun 6y ago
I only discovered the existence of this company from this thread - thank you so much for making these. I wish there was a true clone of the HP 48G calculator. HP stopped making the 48G series years ago, and I now handle mine with kids gloves to keep it functional as long as possible. Almost every undergraduate in my engineering department had a 48G as well as about half the graduate students. I soon became a convert. (I used the HP 32S and then, later, the HP 48G extensively over the decades.) Over the last few years, as I read calculator related threads here and elsewhere, I became discouraged in hoping to ever see the HP calculator designs I loved so much long ago from ever being available again. I haven't yet read through this thread yet, but the comments in the other threads always seemed to be dominated by people that don't understand the needs of scientists and engineers working in the physical world (not in software development), people that don't themselves need such a calculator and can't see a use for one, and/or people that are extremely negative towards well proven designs of yesteryear without understanding their utility.

stephc_int13 6y ago

Do you ever plan to do the same thing for the HP-48 series?

neilpanchal 6y ago
Definitely, we have intentions and there are significant challenges, but certainly on the horizon.
- stephc_int13 6y ago
  Great! I'll buy one without hesitation. I still have my beloved HP-48 GX on my desk, I created a multitasking kernel and a few apps for this hardware while I was a student (1998) https://www.hpcalc.org/details/79 https://www.hpcalc.org/details/79 If you want some input or beta testers, I'm in :)
  - killjoywashere 6y ago
    HP-48G sitting on my desk right now. Onza sticker on the back and my childhood 7 digit phone number on the original nameplate, scratched in with, I'm pretty sure, a Pentel Quicker Clicker.
- na85 6y ago
  Oooh, colour me interested. Is there a mailing list or something I can subscribe to for development updates on an HP 48-alike?
  - neilpanchal 6y ago
    Not yet, but we will be launching a new store/branding shortly, there will be a place to sign up for newsletters.
- Blackthorn 6y ago
  Wow, that would be an instant buy from me on release. Good luck!
tonyarkles 6y ago
As soon as I saw this, my first thought was "where did my HP-49G+ end up?" Looking at the DM42, it'd probably be good enough for the "not going to use Matlab for this" day-to-day math, but man did that '49 save my bacon a lot of times. Nothing like being able to readily invert a big system of linear equations and take integrals during an exam!

kgwxd 6y ago

I have very little need for a calculator of any caliber, but this narrative makes me want one on my desk. I wish that mindset was financially rewarded more often.

pengaru 6y ago

> Teardown: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ong91Ji3iDk https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ong91Ji3iDk That video doesn't strike me as particularly flattering. I'm no calculator aficionado, but just watching it already had me experiencing pangs of buyer's remorse and no money had even left my pocket. Echoes of the clamshell sharp zaurus; a well built piece of hardware with very poor software support relegating it to dust collector status.

onli 6y ago
The reviewer is very enthusiastic about the calculator and loves that thing. How can a teardown be more positive and flattering?
- pengaru 6y ago
  Their enthusiasm more or less ends where the hardware ends and the software starts. Some demonstrated flaws from memory: - Inexplicable help file error right out of the hole - No way to actually display values using the exceptional precision because of the software - Basically no included graphing capabilities despite having a pixel-addressable e-ink display the buyer is no doubt paying extra for - Weird font rendering bug and seemingly pointless font scaling - No modal alphabetic keyboard entry when attempting to do some rudimentary programming
  - neilpanchal 6y ago
    Just to shed some thoughts around not adding features - keep in mind that DM42 is a "homage" to the original HP42. If we go ahead and make major changes to the UI (besides what we have already made to take advantage of the screen), it is no longer a true to the aforementioned spirit. Graphing capabilities were rudimentary on HP42S and you need a printer to plot. Similarly, DM42 has an IR sensor and complete backwards compatibility with HP42S printer. There is a deliberate attempt to not add features, and to keep DM42 compatible with HP42S "interface". We've received strong feedback from our users to not make major changes to the HP42S spec. One can just use HP42S manual and everything should just work. It is the same with the key layout. If you want to add features or mess around with the firmware, it is open source. There is also an SDK that you can use to write your own firmware if you wish. Furthermore, there are some exciting projects to build a new RPN platform all together - WP43 is one. That said, all feedback is welcome and appreciated. Thank you.

hyperdimension 6y ago

Hi Neil, I just wanted to echo the other comments and strongly endorse their products. I have a DM15L, a recently-bought DM15, (just so I can carry it with me everywhere I go!) a DM16, a DM41L, and a DM42, and will absolutely get a DM41X when it's released! You might call me a bit of a fan. If you are a fan of HP calculators, but can't stand how expensive they are on eBay, do yourself a favor and pick one up. They're wonderfully constructed and from what I can tell, extremely faithful to the originals (that are out of my reach, unfortunately.) Also, Neil--I emailed you a question I had about my DM42, in case you can clear something up for me.

m-p-3 6y ago

I really hope we'll see the day sooner than later for color eInk displays to make it to mainstream devices.

metrokoi 6y ago
I just want an eInk monitor that isn't obscenely expensive to write code on and read books and articles, I don't even care if it's black and white. I know many people would use it if created, it's so much more pleasurable to stare at for hours.

deleted 6y ago

[deleted]

IgniteTheSun 6y ago

I only discovered the existence of this company from this thread - thank you so much for making these. I wish there was a true clone of the HP 48G calculator. HP stopped making the 48G series years ago, and I now handle mine with kids gloves to keep it functional as long as possible. Almost every undergraduate in my engineering department had a 48G as well as about half the graduate students. I soon became a convert. (I used the HP 32S and then, later, the HP 48G extensively over the decades.) Over the last few years, as I read calculator related threads here and elsewhere, I became discouraged in hoping to ever see the HP calculator designs I loved so much long ago from ever being available again. I haven't yet read through this thread yet, but the comments in the other threads always seemed to be dominated by people that don't understand the needs of scientists and engineers working in the physical world (not in software development), people that don't themselves need such a calculator and can't see a use for one, and/or people that are extremely negative towards well proven designs of yesteryear without understanding their utility.