DM-15L Review

[dm319]

(11-12-2024 01:03 PM)AnnoyedOne Wrote:  I'm not sure that the population is being "dumbed down" but that seems to be the case. Have your calculator/phone/AI/whatever solve your problems for you. No need for you to think.

It's a common misconception over the last few thousand years we've become more intelligent. We probably haven't, even if we've had much better access to information.

(11-12-2024 01:21 PM)Commie Wrote:  Because emulation is utilised, such as the hp15ce, the calculator offers nothing new over the original except some speed increase and extra ram and as I have said before, the original hp's software or firmware are getting old when compared to say the ti30x pro at 1/5th the price.

I agree with you in the sense that the world of RPN hasn't moved on that much. I picked the DM-15L quite specifically for my son because it looked like it would meet almost all the requirements for GCSE and A-level maths, while not looking obviously too sophisticated. It may still fail on both of these counts though!

Some people have taken RPN in new and modern directions. Thomas Okken took HP-42s and gave it quad precision, augmenting it with formulae and directories in the form of Plus42. The WP43 and C47 teams have really pushed the boat out with precision, user interface and a metric f ton of functions. HP have also had newer machines - the HP35s for example, but not to mention all the RPL series and Prime.

Personally, I have my own ideas of a modern take on these calculators. I'd love to see extensibility of something like the HP-42s to using modern programming languages, so we can drag and drop new functions onto the device, and use as much memory as we like to make complex and accurate algorithms for all sorts of things. Another thing I'd like to see are cheap RPN scientifics for school children.

The example with the complex functionality of the DM-15L is more to say 'the DM-15L/HP-15c can still stand proud on some things'. I'm not saying it is better.

Maybe I should have given a bit more balanced context. The answer to cos(1.57079632) is a tricky one.

fx-6300G: 6.8e-9
fx-115W: 6.795e-9
fx-992s: 6.7949e-9
fx-85gtcw: 6.794896619e-9 (all digits accurate and more available)

DM-15L: 6.795e-9

There has been a lot of progress with Casios!

On the other hand, the fx-992s, which was the advanced version of the top-of-the-range Casio scientific (fx-991s) and 3rd generation to handle complex numbers can't solve:

sqrt(-1)
(1+i)^(anything)
trig(1+i)
it will do squares though

Another thing I don't approve of is the fakery with making the calculators appear more accurate than they really are, by rounding at some times and not others, and trying to give results as surds and fractions of pi, and occasionally failing badly at it.

(11-12-2024 01:54 PM)Eddie W. Shore Wrote:  Excellent review, dm31.

Cheers to the family.

Thank you Eddie! Lets see how it goes...
My other son has requested I engrave his fx-85gt cw this saturday.