What is the best BASIC Pocket Computer

[Bill (Smithville NJ)]

Hi Namir,

With the exception of the display, I'm sure Valentin would rightfully say the HP-71B meets and exceeds your requirements.

So I'll give you my favorite pocket computer: Sharp PC-1600.

Has four line display.
Can expand memory to about 77kb free for basic programs.
You can have memory file systems for storing programs.
Has RS-232C port,
Has Analog input port.
Best Feature: Z80 processor.
Well written Technical Manual that details all the machine routines that can either be called from Basic or used in Z80 programs.

Now for the downside:
All numeric variables are reals - there is no DEFINT command.
Variable names are two characters or less.
No support for separately defined functions.
Subroutines are the standard Basic GOSUB type.

For me, the downsides pale compared with the ability to program in Z80 machine code, save programs to memory modules as files, and ability to easily transfer files to/from the PC using the RS-232.

I do some Z80 programming (just for fun), using a cross compiler on the desktop PC and then transferring to the PC-1600. A lot of fun.

Bill