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What is a PDA?
When it comes to PDA, everyone must be familiar with it. After all, from the “Business Connect” launched by Henderson in 1998 to the industrial-grade “handheld terminals” active in logistics warehouses today, PDAs are still active in our lives, but today’s product forms and application scenarios are different.
However, PDA is actually a very broad term. If we distinguish from system ecology and product positioning, they actually belong to different camps:
The first category is the closed system camp represented by the early “Business Connect” and some Lenovo “Dimensional” series. They often run closed systems developed by the manufacturers themselves, and their hardware performance is not strong. Their functions mainly focus on address books, schedules and memos. This type of device is the purest “personal digital assistant”, focusing on lightweight personal information management (PIM). It was the standard equipment for business people back then.
The second category is the open camp equipped with Palm OS or Microsoft Windows CE. This type of device has strong scalability, good hardware performance, and can install a variety of third-party software. They are often collectively referred to as “handheld computers.”
The third category is “handheld terminals” that are separated from the mass consumer market and exclusively for the enterprise industry. For example, the code scanning guns you see in supermarkets and the guns used by couriers. They often have different industrial designs from PDAs in the consumer market, and some of them still run the Windows CE system at the bottom.
The difference between H/PC and PPC
Among them, PDAs based on Microsoft Windows CE are divided into two types of products based on appearance and system interaction logic.
“Pocket PC” (PPC) is a PDA that is mainly compact, easy to carry, and has touch-screen interaction logic.
“Handheld PC” (H/PC) is a PDA that comes with a full keyboard, emphasizes mobile office work, and is more like a traditional notebook (clamshell type). The interaction logic uses physical buttons and a touch screen.
However, the name Pocket PC actually only officially appeared in 2000. Prior to this, Microsoft referred to this type of Windows CE handheld devices that were mainly touch-screen operations and did not have a complete physical keyboard as Palm-size PCs.
Around the turn of the millennium (2000), handheld computers and PDAs were deeply loved by consumers due to their diverse forms, rich configurations, and strong scalability. A number of mainstream manufacturers, led by Compaq, have launched their own handheld computers.
For example, Compaq’s iPAQ series is the classic Pocket PC. As for HP’s Jornada series, the most well-known models are Handheld PCs. They are positioned for business offices and are also more expensive.
Telios HC-VJ1C: an unusual handheld computer
However, this issue of “Nostalgia Notes” will bring you a handheld PDA that is more niche but has a very advanced design: Sharp Telios HC-VJ1C. Its form is what we call Handheld PC (H/PC).
Before introducing the machine, let me first introduce you to the Sharp Telios series.
In March 1999, Sharp officially launched the first Telios model in the Japanese market: HC-AJ1. Sharp’s positioning of the Telios series is very clear: “Email/Internet terminal”. Based on the traditional H/PC as the “second PC machine”, it focuses on enhancing the convenient experience of sending and receiving emails and surfing the Internet.
What I want to share this time is the HC-VJ1C launched by Sharp in March 2000. The biggest difference between it and the H/PC of the same period is that it retains the traditional form and full keyboard of the H/PC, and the screen can also be folded backwards; after folding, the machine will switch to another form of use that is mainly touch screen. There is a 350,000-pixel lens built into the hinge, which supports 180° rotation and is equipped with a shooting button.
machine appearance
In appearance, the HC-VJ1C is not particularly compact. The overall shape is more like an electronic dictionary. The front of the machine is very simple. In addition to Sharp’s LOGO, there are two symmetrical lines.
Turn to the back and you can see a removable bezel. Under the bezel are two button batteries, model number CR2032. These two batteries serve as backup batteries for the machine, providing emergency power supply for the machine and storing the set time, date, etc.
When you open the machine, the first thing you see is a 7.1-inch color TFT LCD screen. The size and display effect of this screen are also outstanding among H/PCs of the same period. On the right side of the screen, there is also a row of touchable shortcut keys, similar to the FN shortcut key on a notebook, used to adjust screen brightness and other functions.
Next, below is a complete QWERTY keyboard. Although the size is small, the typing feel is acceptable and not as squishy as the keyboard on a mini notebook of the same size.
The overall machine is very light, only about 860g. It is light enough to be used hand-held without discomfort.
Coming to the side, you can see an extremely rich interface: on the left, IrDA infrared window, Sharp’s dedicated mobile phone/PHS communication terminal. On the right side, PC‑Card Type‑II slot, CF Card Type‑II slot, and 3.5mm stereo headphone jack. On the back, there is a large dedicated base interface; there is also an RJ‑11 (56k Modem phone line port).
Connect the power supply and turn on the side power button.
machine system
On the system, HC-VJ1C is equipped with a Windows CE 2.11 core and runs Handheld PC Edition 3.01 (Handheld PC Professional platform).
The system was built-in with a complete set of mobile office software at that time: Pocket Word, Pocket Excel, and Pocket PowerPoint. And software designed for use in Japan: ATOK Pocket Japanese input method.
At the same time, there were practical software, Sharp’s customized “1-minute video mail” camera program, and the then-famous PostPet (mail pet).
I will show you some specific software in the second half of the article.
Machine configuration
In terms of configuration, the highlight of HC-VJ1C is that it is equipped with Toshiba TX3922 (MIPS R3000 architecture, 129MHz), with 16KB instruction + 8KB data cache
- CPU: Toshiba TX3922 (MIPS R3000 architecture, 129MHz)
- RAM: 32 MB SDRAM; of which approximately 16 MB is available to the user
- ROM：24 MB EPROM
- Screen: 7.1-inch widescreen TFT color LCD, 800×480, 65536 colors (64K colors), with touch panel and backlight
- Built-in camera: 350,000-pixel CMOS, lens can be rotated 180°; video MPEG‑4 (320×240)
- Dimensions: 213 × 140 × 28.3 mm
During the test of the machine in my hand, I accidentally discovered that the two expansion cards left in the machine by the previous seller matched the two expansion ports of this machine.
They are Apacer 64MB CompactFlash (CF) memory card and Kingston EtheRx IC PC Card wired network card.
It can be seen in the system that both expansion cards can be recognized normally. Among them, the CF card provides 64MB of storage space, which was a mainstream capacity among Windows CE devices at the time. Through another Kingston PC network card, you can also connect an RJ45 network cable to the Internet, but this card also needs an adapter to connect to the network cable.
Software experience
Back to the machine itself, here are some of the system’s built-in software that I have experienced.
The Pocket Word, Pocket Excel, and Pocket PowerPoint functions that come with the system are relatively basic, but there is no problem in using them when working on the go.
IE browser can access the Internet through dial-up or network cable, and also supports displaying pictures of websites.
At the same time, Sharp also provides users with many customized software such as: MP3 playback, MPEG-4 shooting, Sharp EVA format picture browsing, wallpaper switching, etc.
What I want to share most about my personal experience is actually Sharp’s customized camera software: Sharp MPEG‑4 Camera. The triggering method of this software is very simple. There is a purple button on the left side of the screen. Press it when the machine is turned on.
The system will quickly launch the MPEG-4 Camera software, and the viewfinder image will appear immediately.
Another way to open it is to double-click it on the system desktop. It will also enter the viewfinder frame. At this time, you can move the lens with your hands to adjust the angle. The maximum angle is 180 degrees. At the same time, the software also supports video recording. However, due to the small storage capacity, it cannot record long videos.
Interestingly, through the introduction of this machine on Sharp’s official website, we can learn that it supports shooting 1 minute of audio video or still photos at a time. After the shooting is completed, the video can be easily sent via email as an attachment, realizing a convenient 1-minute video email.
Of course, the official website also introduces other shooting methods, such as a dedicated accessory for the machine itself. The start and end of video recording can be controlled through accessories. At the same time, when shooting, you can also flip the machine screen backwards into an inverted triangle shape and stand on the table for shooting.
As for the various forms of the machine displayed on the official website: when opened in the normal state, it is an H/PC; when the screen is flipped back to a certain angle, it can become an inverted triangle shape; when the screen is flipped to the bottom, the machine can be used in a form similar to a touch-screen handheld computer, and the machine can be controlled with the built-in stylus.
However, when I got this machine, due to the violent transportation of express delivery, cracks and relatively large gaps had appeared on the rotating shaft of the machine. Slight opening and closing will not be affected, but it is a pity that there is no way to fold the screen backwards as shown on the official website.
When I saw the introduction on the official website, I was reminded of the S230u (Twist) released by ThinkPad in 2012. That machine featured “360-degree flip” and “one machine with four functions”, which everyone is familiar with today. Its official positioning was not a traditional Tablet PC, but an Ultrabook (Ultrabook) promoted by Intel at the time.
Let’s push the time back to 2000, and you will find that Sharp has already implemented a similar concept on a Handheld PC: when opened normally, it is an H/PC with a full keyboard; when the screen is folded back and stood up, it achieves a “tent mode” similar to that promoted by the S230u today; when it is flipped to the bottom, it becomes a pure touch-screen handheld computer. These two machines, which spanned 12 years, echoed in the logic of form transformation.
Although in 2000, limited by the craftsmanship and technology at the time, Telios could not be as perfect as the S230u, its multi-form “very few” design was perfectly confirmed by modern convertibles many years later. This can be regarded as making up for the regret of the damaged shaft of my machine.
Selling price of Telios HC-VJ1C
Regarding the price of this machine, there is no detailed official pricing on the official website. The machine belongs to the オープン価 price (open price).
The so-called open price was a very popular pricing strategy among Japanese digital products at the time. The manufacturer of the machine does not mandate the final retail price. The price of the machine is set by the electrical store where the machine is sold.
According to online information, the media reported that the retail price of Sharp Telios HC-VJ1C was around 146,000-149,000 yen, and there were also reports of 148,000 yen (excluding tax). This price was considered expensive for HPC at the time.
In order to feel its premium more intuitively, we can compare it horizontally with competing products of the same period: the DoCoMo Sigmarion (NEC OEM), which focuses on low-price and practicality, is priced at only 59,800 yen; while the HP Jornada 690 (Japanese version), which was released before it, is priced at 138,000 yen.
As for today, more than 20 years later, the current second-hand market price of Sharp Telios is even more mysterious. The reason is simple: after my actual investigation, the mainstream overseas second-hand trading platforms: eBay, Yahoo Auctions (Japanese Yahoo Auctions), and Mercari (coal stove) almost all have no machines for sale.
What can be searched on the Buyee purchasing website is a brand new HC-VJ2C. The second-hand price was once as high as 98,000 yen (about 4,100 yuan).
In contrast, the number of second-hand products used for comparison of DoCoMo Sigmarion and HP Jornada 690 is more considerable, and the price is relatively cheaper.
Sharp Zaurus
In 2001, Sharp not only launched PDA handheld computers equipped with Windows CE, but also the Zaurus series.
The Zaurus series was launched as early as 1993 and became one of the mainstream PDAs in the Japanese market throughout the 1990s.
What’s special about Zaurus is that the operating system it carries has gone from Sharp’s self-development to open source Linux. Because it runs Linux system in the later stage, the playability of the Zaurus series is much higher than that of Sharp Telios. The life cycle of the series and the number of products launched are more impressive than Sharp Telios.
Why is H/PC not popular anymore?
Looking back at Telios itself, from the HC-AJ1 in 1999 to the HC-VJ2C (a subsequent upgrade of the VJ1C) and another AJ-3 in 2000, the life cycle of the domestic series in Japan was only less than 3 years.
I think the reason for this result, in addition to product positioning and price itself, also has something to do with the Windows CE system that the Telios series was running at the time.
The product categories of Sharp’s Telios series machines are all H/PC. As we said earlier, H/PC runs Windows CE and Pocket PC (PPC) which are not exactly the same. The two have different interaction logic.
If you pay attention to the life cycle of machines such as H/PC, you will find that after 2001, there are very few mainstream brand H/PCs on the market.
The reason may have to be found in the product itself. The positioning of H/PC at the time was actually rather awkward. The form was biased towards traditional notebooks but the performance was not as good as traditional notebooks.
H/PC emphasizes mobile office portability, but in 2001 there were already many true X86 mini notebooks on the market, such as the Toshiba libretto and Sony Picturebook I shared before. The characteristics of HPC were diluted in the face of these products.
Furthermore, Microsoft itself also began to shift its strategy. After Microsoft launched the Pocket PC platform in April 2000, the living space of H/PC was further compressed. By early 2002, Microsoft was no longer moving forward with subsequent specifications for the Handheld PC. Resources shifted to Pocket PCs and Smartphones.
So you can see that the Windows CE system itself has not disappeared, and there is still a market for Pocket PCs (PPCs) running it. Windows Mobile, which was launched later, is no longer just a system specially designed for PDA handheld computers, but these are things for another time.
Back to the article itself, the Sharp Telios HC-VJ1C is undoubtedly ahead of its time in some aspects of its design. Its emphasis on portability, mobile office, and “entertainment sharing” based on rotating cameras made it a “minority” of that era.
But these concepts were continued on the UMPC (Ultra Portable Mobile Personal Computer) and Tablet PC (tablet computer) a few years later, and even more than ten years later, they were verified in another way by smartphones.
Copywriting: Whatever, part of the historical data in this article was retrieved and verified by DeepSeek and ChatGPT.
Pictures: Whatever you want, some of the pictures in this article are from the Internet, and the copyright belongs to the original author; if there is any infringement, please contact us to delete it.
References:
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