Review: Swiss Micros DM41X

[Eddie W. Shore]

For my final blog entry of 2020, this my review of the Swiss Micros DM41X calculator:

http://edspi31415.blogspot.com/2020/12/r...dm41x.html

[Gilles]

Thank you for the review Eddy!
My hope is to have in the future, newrpl on such hardware

[Leonid]

(12-20-2020 05:31 PM)Eddie W. Shore Wrote:  https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-KqKK0KVWoOc/X...01319a.jpg

FYI, wallpaper in the first photo from the sci-fi story for calculators "Kon-Tiki: A Path to the Earth" (Путь к Земле «Кон-Тики»)

[HP67]

I didn't read the review yet but I notice the keyboard lettering is pretty sharp. Very nice work.

[Hlib]

I read the review, specifically this one: <<Memory:  319 registers (at default) - calculator; 32 MB external flash ... Cost:  229 CHF, about $257.34 according to currency converter on December 12, 2020>>. For this price, you can buy a couple of good cellphoness with half a dozen emulators, or 8 pieces of hp-39gii trash toys (80 MB flash, as hp said), or 4 pieces of ti-85 in perfect condition (real calcs with a lot of math and programming). Or, a single DM-41X with questionable hardware and design quality. A plastic sticker on the display is somehow not too modern. And the design and technology of the inscriptions on the front panel, it seems, was handled by the sales manager`s secretary. The chemical composition of the plastic housing is very similar to recycling.

[rawi]

Hlib wrote:

Quote: or 4 pieces of ti-85 in perfect condition (real calcs with a lot of math and programming)

TI 85? Really? If you want an TI the TI 89 titanium and TI N'spire are much more modern options. The TI 85 was dicontinued a long time ago.

Hlib wrote:

Quote:The chemical composition of the plastic housing is very similar to recycling.

Well, most of the housing is metal and I cannot realize that the plastics of the front is by any aspects worse than what I found with other calculators.

Finally: What you get toether with the DM 41 X is a wealth of software, all the modules from HP, access to tons of programs. Questionable hardware and design quality? I did not find points of bad quality. And if there is a problem, Swiss Micros reacts quickly.

[Craig Bladow]

Eddie, I enjoyed the review. I'm also enjoying my DM41X.

[Hlib]

(12-24-2020 08:41 PM)rawi Wrote:  Hlib wrote:

Quote: or 4 pieces of ti-85 in perfect condition (real calcs with a lot of math and programming)

TI 85? Really? If you want an TI the TI 89 titanium and TI N'spire are much more modern options. The TI 85 was dicontinued a long time ago.

Hlib wrote:

Quote:The chemical composition of the plastic housing is very similar to recycling.

Well, most of the housing is metal and I cannot realize that the plastics of the front is by any aspects worse than what I found with other calculators.

Finally: What you get toether with the DM 41 X is a wealth of software, all the modules from HP, access to tons of programs. Questionable hardware and design quality? I did not find points of bad quality. And if there is a problem, Swiss Micros reacts quickly.

I gave the example of the TI-85, which is a sample of the classic calculator for engineers in comparison with the DM-41X, and surpasses it in mathematical functions. TI-85 I can buy today in any quantities at a price 8 times lower than the specified price for the DM-41X.

[Peet]

(12-24-2020 09:59 PM)Hlib Wrote:  TI-85, which is a sample of the classic calculator for engineers in comparison with the DM-41X

The DM-41X is a homage to the 41 year old HP41 Calculator-Series ... oh wow, an anniversary ... which was in the 70th an groundbreaking device in many ways. The TI85 was an avarage calculator from the 90th.
I can't see how a TI-85 could be an alternative for someone who liked RPN calculators or especially the HP41.

[Dave Britten]

(12-25-2020 01:24 PM)Peet Wrote:  

(12-24-2020 09:59 PM)Hlib Wrote:  TI-85, which is a sample of the classic calculator for engineers in comparison with the DM-41X

The DM-41X is a homage to the 41 year old HP41 Calculator-Series ... oh wow, an anniversary ... which was in the 70th an groundbreaking device in many ways. The TI85 was an avarage calculator from the 90th.
I can't see how a TI-85 could be an alternative for someone who liked RPN calculators or especially the HP41.

Honestly, I think the TI-85 is one of the best calculators TI ever made. If the 42S didn't exist, there's a good chance the 85 would be my daily driver.

[Peet]

(12-26-2020 04:28 PM)Dave Britten Wrote:  Honestly, I think the TI-85 is one of the best calculators TI ever made. If the 42S didn't exist, there's a good chance the 85 would be my daily driver.

There is a huge software base for the HP-41, in addition to numerous modules there was the Users Library and countless programs from countless users. If you want these benefits, then 229 EUR for a DM41X is a good investment and 50 EUR for a TI is money burned.

P.S. I own a DM41X and DM42. My daily driver is a HP35S

[Raymond Del Tondo]

(12-26-2020 04:28 PM)Dave Britten Wrote:  Honestly, I think the TI-85 is one of the best calculators TI ever made. If the 42S didn't exist, there's a good chance the 85 would be my daily driver.

Thankfully, the 42S exists:-)
Or, if you need graphics features, why not just take an HP 48SX or GX?

[twoweims]

It is kind of silly to criticize something for not being what it is not. The DM41X was meant to be a faithful recreation of the HP-41CX with a few modern enhancements. Nobody ever claimed it was a graphing calculator with algebraic entry, etc. Comparing the DM41X as such is just as ridiculous as saying a hammer is "better" than a pair of pliers.

SwissMicros and everyone who worked on this did a fantastic job. The DM41X is a joy to use for the purpose for which it was intended.

[grsbanks]

(12-26-2020 04:28 PM)Dave Britten Wrote:  Honestly, I think the TI-85 is one of the best calculators TI ever made. If the 42S didn't exist, there's a good chance the 85 would be my daily driver.

Except for the poor contrast LCD. TI put that right with the TI-86, which is kind of what the TI-85 should have been.

[Steve Simpkin]

(12-27-2020 08:26 AM)grsbanks Wrote:  

(12-26-2020 04:28 PM)Dave Britten Wrote:  Honestly, I think the TI-85 is one of the best calculators TI ever made. If the 42S didn't exist, there's a good chance the 85 would be my daily driver.

Except for the poor contrast LCD. TI put that right with the TI-86, which is kind of what the TI-85 should have been.

   

[Massimo Gnerucci]

(12-27-2020 09:08 AM)Steve Simpkin Wrote:  

(12-27-2020 08:26 AM)grsbanks Wrote:  Except for the poor contrast LCD. TI put that right with the TI-86, which is kind of what the TI-85 should have been.

So they forgot about implied multiplication in favour of higher contrast? :)

[Steve Simpkin]

(12-27-2020 11:44 AM)Massimo Gnerucci Wrote:  

(12-27-2020 09:08 AM)Steve Simpkin Wrote:  

So they forgot about implied multiplication in favour of higher contrast?

Yes.

https://epsstore.ti.com/OA_HTML/csksxvm....tId=103110

[Dave Britten]

(12-27-2020 08:26 AM)grsbanks Wrote:  

(12-26-2020 04:28 PM)Dave Britten Wrote:  Honestly, I think the TI-85 is one of the best calculators TI ever made. If the 42S didn't exist, there's a good chance the 85 would be my daily driver.

Except for the poor contrast LCD. TI put that right with the TI-86, which is kind of what the TI-85 should have been.

86 vs. 85 generally comes down to a matter of preference. The 86 has a better screen, lots more memory, and some added features from the 82/83, but it's also much slower, the list editor is clumsier, and the keyboard isn't quite as good.

[bkg2018]

(12-24-2020 07:30 PM)Hlib Wrote:  ... For this price, you can buy a couple of good cellphoness with half a dozen emulators, or 8 pieces of hp-39gii trash toys (80 MB flash, as hp said), or 4 pieces of ti-85 in perfect condition (real calcs with a lot of math and programming). Or, a single DM-41X with questionable hardware and design quality. A plastic sticker on the display is somehow not too modern. And the design and technology of the inscriptions on the front panel, it seems, was handled by the sales manager`s secretary. The chemical composition of the plastic housing is very similar to recycling.

I feel you're missing the point in DM41X. It's not about having a better calculator than the TI-85 - which I find difficult to think of as a dream machine anyway - it's about getting a perfect HP-41. The 41 has been and still is mythical, you cannot avoid the fact that the TI-85 never will.

I'm really happy I bought the DM41X. I find it's a remarkable mix of old tech and modern stuff, of course a few details could be tuned but this is a wonderful fan-service machine. The display is fantastic, although I'd like it backlit. The frank and clear click of each key is what I expected, although the two switches on the Enter key can be disturbing and I fear the relatively large opened space around keys will cause dust problems in the long term. I don't like the "Swiss Micros DM41X" font, it's certainly too big and less classy than the machine.

Maybe the price is a little too high compared to possibilities... A WP34C for example has a lot more functions. If you think of it, it matches what the 63-registers basic HP-41C was in 1979, that is: less power than competitors (even a TI-58C had more) with an incredibly higher price and an ugly display. That HP choose a 12 segs display for a high-end machine at the same time Sharp choose the beautiful dot-matrix display for its low-end PC-1211 is still unexplainable 40 years later. But it wouldn't be the 41 without it, and as unbelievable as it seems, I'm somehow happy to find these ugly characters on the DM41X display bottom lines.

The modules installed for free are a nice bonus - although I discovered them without knowing. The technical documentation is what it says, a technical doc. Too precise and not enough at the same time, you'll have to refer to the HP-41CX old manuals to use this machine.

A big plus in the DM41X is also the weight: you can feel the strong metal when the HP-41 really felt fragile plastic - and often, proved it was exactly that.

The blue for alpha letters labels is not blue enough to me, and a few keyboard overlays would have been nice. The delivery packaging was solid carboard but absolutely nothing else to protect the machine than plastic around it and a 'FRAGILE' label on package, which I think is a little optimistic. I would have expected an anti-moisture bag and some bubble or foam protection.

All in all I think the DM41 is very close to what a perfect HP-41 could have been, which certainly was what to achieve at Swiss Micros.

[Massimo Gnerucci]

(12-28-2020 06:54 PM)bkg2018 Wrote:  That HP choose a 12 segs display for a high-end machine at the same time Sharp choose the beautiful dot-matrix display for its low-end PC-1211 is still unexplainable 40 years later. But it wouldn't be the 41 without it, and as unbelievable as it seems, I'm somehow happy to find these ugly characters on the DM41X display bottom lines.

Those segments actually were 14.