Created: 9 August 2026

In January 1997, Sharp launched a new series of handheld PCs, the Mobilon. The first generation Mobilon included three devices, the HC-4000, the HC-4100, released just four months later, and the HC-4200, rolling out a year after the first version.

Both Mobilons have a 6.5-inch 640 x 240 px touchscreen monochrome display with passive stylus input and a 64-key QWERTY keyboard with a 4-way directional pad. The display utilises the DFSTN (Double-layer Film Super Twisted Nematic) technology where two layers of compensating film are used to improve contrast and viewing characteristics over conventional STN displays.

They are powered by a 73.728 MHz Philips PR31700 processor and vary only in the amount of operating memory and storage.

In terms of connectivity, the Mobilon series offers IrDA, a modem, a faxmodem, and a serial connector. It also has an optional attachable (PCMCIA) VGA camera.

These handheld PCs are powered by two size-AA batteries, which ensured up to 25 hours of operation. Alternatively, one could swap them for a Ni-MH rechargeable battery.

The first Mobilon series measures 186 x 93.6 x 26.4 mm (W x H x D) and weighs the whooping (by today's standards) 410 grams.