Swiss Micros makes HP 'act-alikes' - programmable

[Briancady413]

https://www.swissmicros.com/

I haven't purchased any, but thought others might like to hear of this company. If you are familiar with Swiss Micros, would you rate the company in the following poll: (1-5 for low-to-high quality)

Brian

[d b]

I only have one of their units, a DM15CC from the first batch. It has none of the problems I read about with the keyboard, and it still functions flawlessly. I am looking forward to buying a DM42P when they believe it is ready to market.
I'm astounded that they can make such high quality models at a fair price with such low production numbers.

[rprosperi]

(12-29-2016 05:45 PM)Briancady413 Wrote:  If you are familiar with Swiss Micros, would you rate the company in the following poll: (1-5 for low-to-high quality)

Swiss Micros is well-known and respected here on the MoHPC Forum. Their products are widely known to be high-quality, reliable and satisfying to discriminating HP Calculator fans, even if their machines aren't 100% the same in keyboard feel (some folks in fact find the SM feel to be better). In addition, even when there have been minor problems (e.g. introducing a new model) they have consistently exhibited best-in-class customer support.

There are MANY existing old and even recent threads here discussing the SM models, please read them for more details.

[Mark Hardman]

Perhaps it wasn't your intent, but I take slight umbrage at the use of the term "knockoffs." This would imply cheap or inferior copies of an expensive product. The 11 SwissMicros that I own are all well made and a joy to use. Indeed, all SwissMicros provide a substantial performance improvement over the original HP Voyagers. In the case of the DM15/DM15L, there is also a substantial increase in the available number of storage registers.

Mark Hardman

[Michael de Estrada]

Actually, SM is far superior to the current HP in terms of quality and customer support. When HP introduced the HP-15c limited edition with a multitude of serious bugs and a mediocre quality keyboard, they did nothing to remedy these issues. SM issues many firmware updates to fix problems and when the original keyboard on my DM15L was less than perfect, they shipped a new improved replacement to all owners free of charge. So, not only are they equal to the original HP products, they are better. I have no doubt that the new DM42 will be the best ever.

[Nick]

Has the DM15L hangs issue been resolved?

(08-09-2016 01:04 AM)emece67 Wrote:  ...it freezes and no longer responds to any keyboard input. It happens when using the keyboard (in the last 3 times it hanged, I was entering a number -two times- and the other recalling the elements in a matrix). It only recovers after pressing the reset button in the back.

I've also noticed that the, say, 5 or 6 times it hanged, it was running at 12 MHz. It has not hanged, for now, when running at 48 MHz...

Related: New SwissMicros Firmware

[Helix]

(12-29-2016 11:28 PM)Nick Wrote:  Has the DM15L hangs issue been resolved?

I've not seen any crash since the v22 firmware.

I'll add to the previous comments that even the credit-card sized models have a perfectly usable keyboard. There are many old posts in this forum about reliability problems with the DM-15 keyboard, but it appears it was a firmware issue, and last releases of the firmware fixed this problem.
My DM-15 works perfectly, and all key presses are flawlessly recorded.

[Dave Britten]

There is some room for improvement - the keyboard on my 41L is just a little bit stiffer than I'd like - but the quality is far above what HP is doing these days as far as hardware goes.

[DMaier]

Swiss Micros calculators are quite usable, even in the credit card format, where some sort of size/usability trade-off is clearly required. The large format calculators are good, but don't expect a classic keyboard. Generally, Swiss Micros deliver what they promise (the DM41 extended module might be an exception).

[emece67]

(12-29-2016 11:28 PM)Nick Wrote:  Has the DM15L hangs issue been resolved?

(08-09-2016 01:04 AM)emece67 Wrote:  ...it freezes and no longer responds to any keyboard input. It happens when using the keyboard (in the last 3 times it hanged, I was entering a number -two times- and the other recalling the elements in a matrix). It only recovers after pressing the reset button in the back.

I've also noticed that the, say, 5 or 6 times it hanged, it was running at 12 MHz. It has not hanged, for now, when running at 48 MHz...

Related: New SwissMicros Firmware

The V22 firmware was aimed to solve such issue. And it did, I've experienced no more hangs in the nine weeks passed since I installed it on my two DM15L machines, now my EDC calculators.

Incidentally, I find the DMxxL series keyboards quite useable, in fact I do like a lot them being stiffer than the classic HP ones. Definitely, they are way better than modern HP ones.

[Dave Britten]

(12-30-2016 10:44 AM)emece67 Wrote:  The V22 firmware was aimed to solve such issue. And it did, I've experienced no more hangs in the nine weeks passed since I installed it on my two DM15L machines, now my EDC calculators.

Incidentally, I find the DMxxL series keyboards quite useable, in fact I do like a lot them being stiffer than the classic HP ones. Definitely, they are way better than modern HP ones.

Yes, I should probably clarify that while I would prefer a slightly softer keyboard feel, I've never had any problems with responsiveness or missed keystrokes.

[Thomas Radtke]

I have a DM15CC. The keyboard is ok, but some contacts need a firm pressure. Unlike the 15C LE, the keys do not bounce, and the emulator is excellent. I would love to have the DM-firmware inside the 15C LE hardware (and would pay for it!)

[Vtile]

(12-30-2016 04:19 PM)Thomas Radtke Wrote:  I have a DM15CC. The keyboard is ok, but some contacts need a firm pressure. Unlike the 15C LE, the keys do not bounce, and the emulator is excellent. I would love to have the DM-firmware inside the 15C LE hardware (and would pay for it!)

Take DM internals and hack them to LE case and keyboard?? Could it works?

[Briancady413]

(12-29-2016 08:34 PM)Mark Hardman Wrote:  Perhaps it wasn't your intent, but I take slight umbrage at the use of the term "knockoffs."...

Mark Hardman

HI Mark,

My apologies to Swiss Micros and to all for casually calling 'knockoffs' what is clearly a reputable company's product. Congratulations to Swiss Micros for the high poll results they've earned from among us.

Brian

[Thomas Radtke]

(12-30-2016 04:22 PM)Vtile Wrote:  Take DM internals and hack them to LE case and keyboard?? Could it works?

You would need a way to translate the LCD driver signals or use the ugly 15CC LCD (if it fits in the first place). I'm out .

[grsbanks]

Perhaps a bit late to the party here but I've just hit the "order" button for a DM-16L.

Once I get it I'll review it and add some comments here.

Given the contents of this thread my expectations are high!

[Dave Britten]

(03-19-2017 04:16 PM)grsbanks Wrote:  Perhaps a bit late to the party here but I've just hit the "order" button for a DM-16L.

Once I get it I'll review it and add some comments here.

Given the contents of this thread my expectations are high!

And rightly so; I have a 41L and 16L, and both are very nice. I have to admit that the programming capability of the 16 is a bit disappointing for a computer scientists' calc, but for bitwise math and logic, it's hard to beat. Eagerly awaiting the 42, which will have the best of both, plus lots more.

[grsbanks]

Depending on the final cost of the 42 I might get one myself. I already own an original 42S so it would be good to compare.

[nsg]

I've got DM41 and I like it. Keyboard was too loud initially, but it seems to be getting worked in. For often used keys, anyway.

Now I want full size (DMxxL) version with (as people say) much nicer keyboard, but cannot decide between DM15L and DM41L. On one hand, 15 has a solver and an integrator, on the other hand 41 seems to be more powerful.

[grsbanks]

(03-20-2017 12:37 AM)nsg Wrote:  Now I want full size (DMxxL) version with (as people say) much nicer keyboard, but cannot decide between DM15L and DM41L. On one hand, 15 has a solver and an integrator, on the other hand 41 seems to be more powerful.

Maybe wait for the 42 in that case?

The boys in Zürich certainly have a quick turn-around. I placed the order yesterday afternoon and the calculator was already in the post this morning