Tell me about the DM42

[revwillie]

It's a great reimagining of the 42S. You might see some reports of graphing capability, but it's not a new built-in feature. The 42S always had PIXEL and AGRAPH commands which could make rudimentary plots in the 131x61 display. What's changed is that a 400x240 pixel display can be addressed with the same RPN programs that used to be limited to 131x61. Swissmicros left a program called "DJPLOT" in the included set of loadable programs so you can easily play with the new real estate. I'd say the display is the best part of the package. You really have to see it in person. There are new options for displaying the whole stack and the LastX (or alpha) register. You can play with font size and type too.

Thomas Okken's Free42 reproduces 99.999% of what the 42S does but much faster. I would have said 100%, but a few obscure differences have been found. Look up Free42's user manual as well as the original 42S user manual. External to Free42, the DM42 has an OS that controls features of the display and access to a 6MB FAT flash drive. The user manual for that stuff is apparently built in to the calculator (I haven't seen it myself in my beta unit). But look here: Online Manual

You get IR printing like the 42S, but you also get the much welcome USB file transfer ability. The USB port can also power the DM42 to save on battery consumption and allows for firmware updates. You get new alpha-input modes while retaining the classic menu alpha entry.

The build quality is outstanding where it really counts: looking inside for the first time at the PCB was a delight. The internals are rock solid. Some issues were identified with the beta hardware that I think are mostly fixed in the production units: bezel looseness, key feel and registering, USB port alignment. Those kinds of issues are less worrisome, however when Swissmicros offers suggestions for us to fix them ourselves or offers replacements. I don't feel nervous about taking the DM42 apart because it's clearly built to be opened up. It's not at all like a 42S that is heat welded shut and risky to open.