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First week with - Nihotte(lma) - 10-03-2024 07:46 PM
Hello everyone,
I ordered a DM41L from the SwissMicros team.
I received it about two weeks after my order was processed.
It truly is a very beautiful object!
The shipment was made in a sturdy cardboard box, in calculator format.
The packaging was neat, a little precious with a crossed kraft paper covering, as I have already seen for a book that the bookseller
- its sender - wanted to protect it during its postal transit.
The feeling of weight, without excess, appeals. And a good impression of solidity emerges.
I quickly entered a first program, one of my usual ones, to check how my new “little one” behaved.
The ON button is barely flush and, as a 'Voyagers' regular, we notice it straight away!
The screen is very readable and clear.
Entering the first program may still be a little confusing: the keyboard seems to be "proof".
Key springs that are barely less flexible than we would like, perhaps?!
In any case, we tell ourselves that the electronics will fail before the keyboard shows signs of weakness. It's a keyboard that suits him well.
What is remarkable is that I enter my program lines quite naturally even if, ultimately, I have a machine that I do not yet know.
At first, I am a little confused when I systematically look for the letters K, L, M or N in the second line of the right part, in line with the second line of the left part of the keyboard which corresponds to the sequence F, G up to I and J. But you have to look at the first line of the right part of the keyboard as you do if you were reading a book by going from the end of the left page to restart by the beginning of the right page! I'll get the hang of it quickly.
Something else to mention that seems trivial but is actually very pleasant on the DM41L, when entering program lines, is its speed of handing over when finishing the entry of a CAT 3 function with a XEQ by typing all the letters on the keyboard. I often found myself having to redo a keystroke (STO, RCL, etc...) behind a MOD or a PSE because the 41CX was not ready! Here, the 41L is ready again immediately after exiting ALPHA mode!
When executing the program, at first glance, the little duck is a little surprising: it has well-extended wings and proportionally larger than its body.
Good ! It will not be sensitive to drafts!
The speed of execution is pleasant. I had seen criticism for respecting PSE breaks and display times. I have nothing to complain about.
Accustomed to 'Voyagers', as I mentioned, there is however a specificity of the organization of the keyboard which oppresses me a little. I'll have a harder time getting rid of it!
This is the arrangement of numbers and operators that are reversed.
I ended up with a value 4 instead of 5 in a biorhythms calculation program:
accustomed to my HP15C doing so, I naturally looked for the 5 where my fingers remembered where it was, of course.
And for the operators, I look twice too.
I don't remember so much hesitation when returning to my 41CX, even after a long period of use of my 11, 12, 15 or 16 which have a common layout of the keys!
Surely I need to “learn” (practice) it a bit, my 41L!!
I must also tell you, after several hundred program lines entered, and multiple XEQs without ASN, I also wondered about the durability of my index finger.
But it's already forgotten, I no longer pay attention to it!
On one of my programs, I also had to make some adaptations to the use of the GETKEY function.
The codes for the 'O' and 'N' keys (understand 'Y' and 'N') were no longer the same.
It was done quickly.
Then, I wanted to try to enter the Byte Grabber dedicated to synthetic programming.
I launched Memory Lost without difficulty (I thought I had read the opposite about it) by following my usual procedure on my 41CX.
The rest of the process also went smoothly and everything looked as usual.
In the end, I'm really happy with my purchase: I put my 41CX away and took out its batteries. I feel good with the 41L and it is really very practical to transport: it does not take up space.
Some of you may be wondering why I didn't directly choose a DM41X rather than a simple DM41L.
In fact, there was no real debate for me.
The format to which I am very attached is that of 'Voyagers'.
The memory of the 41L is sufficient for my use. And my 'Advantage' module is not essential to me on a daily basis.
My choice naturally fell on the DM41L.
(I'll see if I end up getting used to its numeric keypad and the location of its operators!
There will always be time to look at the 41X if I miss the SOLVE and other INTEGRATEs too much.
And then, I wouldn't want disinherit my HP15C or my 35S too quickly!!)
In all sincerity, if the HP41CX already suits you as it is, you will not be disappointed by the DM41L: it will live up to your expectations.
It will certainly be a discreet tool, truly functional on a daily basis and practically unrivaled in its format.
In the meantime, I still have a lot to try on this beautiful calculator which is a real success!
Do you remember your first week with a new calculator?
Keep yourself healthy
Laurent
EDIT 10-05-2024 to add precisions (DM41L immediately ready after an XEQ in PRGM mode, for example)
RE: First week with - rprosperi - 10-03-2024 11:08 PM
Thanks for this honest and useful review, it likely will help reader here decide to get a DM41L, or not, and both decisions would be informed, so correct for that person, so as I said, useful.
The (long) decision process of how to allocate the portrait keys on a landscape layout was not simple, nor was the result perfect; some love it, some hate it, some just get used to it.
IMHO, the appeal of the DM41X over the DM41L is more about the extensions, like large LCD and easier and more intuitive access to loading modules, etc, but if you're not a user of modules, and haven't wanted for decades to try out some of the 'special ones' (CCD, HEPAX, PANAME, etc.) then it's appeal would be less important and your 'Voyager hands preference' make sense.
Thanks again.