Sharp PC-E500S or Sharp PC-G850VS?

[rprosperi]

According to the Sharp engineers that made them, the PC-E500/E500S would have the best math capabilities for engineering use, some functions were removed (or deemed less necessary) for the G850V, which was targeted at educational markets. By the time the G850V was introduced (~93), PCs were becoming mainstream and widely replacing pocket computers for technical use.

That said, the manuals for both are available (various links here) and can be readily compared to assess which functions they provide; I believe you'll find the BASIC language itself is quite similar, but not exactly the same.

The E500/E500S uses the ESR-L ("Electronic Slide Rule, version L) CPU, an 8-bit CMOS custom Sharp processor (same as used in the Wizard/IQ organizer models), while the G850V uses a Z80 clone.