DM32 review

[jonmoore]

(06-01-2023 12:40 AM)WillMarchant Wrote:  I didn’t see any bit operators like AND, OR, XOR, and bit shifting. And the fixed word size won’t let this replace my HP-16C for my day to day work. Maybe these could be added in as “expansions”? But the Hp-16C has those functions so conveniently on the main panel…

To be fair, the DM32 (and original HP32 series calculators) don't pretend to crossover in the specialist binary functionality of the HP-16C. For that, you can use the excellent emulator of the HP16C for the DM41X created by Gregory J. McClure and Ángel Martin (and all 41 series hardware). This is a 16C emulator and so much more. And it has a permanent place in my DM41X ROM Map.



By comparison, the DM32 has simple but effective binary conversion functions. The DM42 is a step-up and provides bit operators too (but it's still in no way a HP-16C alternative). And in the realm of HP calculators, the 48 series has a wealth of binary functions out of the box. The downside of the 48 series is that they don't handle 2's complement signed binary conversions properly within the default toolset. But's it's simple to resolve with some simple bespoke RPL routines. All the RPN calculators I've mentioned handle 2's complement signed binary conversion accurately with their native toolset.

Anyway, getting back to the DM32, it doesn't pretend to offer a significant computer science toolset (like the HP16C), but what it does, it does well.