42s new owner questions

[Thomas Okken]

(09-25-2021 02:38 AM)rexbinary Wrote:  1. Is it normal for the screen to have a small viewing angle? I can adjust the contrast and that in turn adjusts the view angle, but if I tilt the calculator just a bit it's unreadable. I am comparing this to my HP-41CV which is nice and clear at pretty much any angle.

Yes, it's widely acknowledged that the display, with its not-great contrast and small viewing angle, is a weak point of the HP-42S, and of other Pioneer-series calculators with the same 131x16 dot matrix display.

(09-25-2021 02:38 AM)rexbinary Wrote:  2. The EXIT key seems to be much flatter than the other keys. All the other keys have angled key caps. The EXIT key seems only slightly angled. Is this normal, or is that just a symptom of wear?

It is normal, and other Pioneer-series calculators have a flatter bottom-left key as well. I think the idea is that this makes it less likely that the calculator is turned on by accident when it's in its case.