DM32 review

[Vincent Weber]

Hi all,

I have received today my brand-new DM32.

This is my very first Swissmicro product. Why this one? Well, I didn't want the 42 since I can't leave without the Plus42 extentions and since Free42 isn't even up to date of the last DM42 firmware; I had read that the DM41X had had unfixed bugs for 2 years; and I have ordered the 15C CE already, so I didn't want to buy it twice... On the contrary, the 32 intrigued me: what a brave attempt to completely recreate a calculator from scratch!

So, here are my first impressions.

Overall, I really like it! The hardware is small, cute, yet solid, powerful, reliable. The screen is very readable, great. Classy! The simulation software seems really good. Save for a very minor point (see below) I could not fail the normal 32SII operation so far. The fractions feature passes all the tests that are on Craig Finseth page, exact same results as my (latest ROM) real 32SII; the state-switching feature is awesome and really makes up for the lack of labels (if not of registers). Same as an HP-67 with lots of cards!

For a first version, this is really satisfactory. I have also some (small) regrets and suggestions for improvements:

-The keys are a bit too stiff;
-The key labels do not show a distinct sign for menus (the real 32SII kind of underlines them) ;
-The big screen is completely wasted in program mode: only one step is shown, where 4 (or more with a different font?) could be shown;
-It is even more wasted in equation mode, where not even the stack is shown - just blank! Why not showing the equation list?
-A very minor point: on the original machine, trying INPUT or LBL in direct mode briefly shows a warning (the exclamation mark annunciator). No such thing on the DM32. I suspect it is because it is so fast that you don't have time to see it anyway. Cases where the annunciator is sticky (like the conditionals in direct mode) are correctly handled on the DM32.

A question I have that is not answered in the manual: it seems you can't OFF the machine completely, there is always a random picture on screen. This must consume some battery? Anyway to change the pictures and their order?

All in all, a very solid job for a first version, congrats Swissmicro! What's next? A "35S done right" would be great!

Cheers