42s new owner questions

[Steve Simpkin]

(09-25-2021 07:37 PM)rexbinary Wrote:  ...
If I am holding it in my hands at an angle using it and then say sit it down on my desk it becomes unreadable unless I change the contrast. Really anytime you change angels even slightly you have to change the contrast as well.

My 35s is pretty good at most angles, and my 41cv really doesn't have a bad angle at all. If either of these calculators even have a contrast adjustment I have never used it.

The display is really disappointing. At least I have a DM42 on the way from the Netherlands.

Yes, dot-matrix display technology came a long way in the 18 years between the HP-42S and HP 35S. HP considered a dot-matrix display for the HP-41C but the segmented display they chose had a much better viewing angle and contrast than the dot-matrix displays at the time.
I love my HP-48SX but its display is pretty poor when it comes to contrast and viewing angle.