Initially I thought it referred to the Japanese (Casio/Sharp/Panasonic) single line calculator/coomputer bridges I have a collection of and the Radio Shack/Tandy versions that came out (I have every one from RS).

I did as well (scw.us still has a page) but I called them Pocket PCs back then.

Old joke:

A pair of mathematicians are sitting in a park chatting. There’s a snack shack near by, and while they’re talking, three people walk into the building. Some time later, four people walk out, and another couple walks in. A bit after that, two more people walk out. One of the mathematicians notices this and comments to the other, “you know, if one more person walks into that building, it’ll be empty.”

The UI wasn't doing multitasking correctly. The [X] button was [_] button for no good reason, and users tended to leave bunch of apps burning battery not knowing how to close them(e.g. through a third party quick task switcher-killer).

The OS kernel wasn't so stable relative to anything else at that time including embedded Linux, had 32MB/process hard RAM limit that ruled out WebKit, and also the scheduler was badly designed that the UI frequently stuttered or locked up. The UI also did not utilize GPU for general UI rendering(common at the time; made an obsolete idea by Apple), tasking CPU and its bus for everything.

The device I had came with a stylus shaped like a handstrap charm that doubled as the reset button pick. Isn't that inexcusable by modern standards? Everything back then did have a recessed reset button hole, but not everything came with a carry-on tool to poke it. The WM device I had did. Which I didn't use as lifting and reseating the battery was faster.

It was good for mini PC like devices. Like the HP Jornada. It was just windows but mini. Which made total sense for the Jornada which was just a PC but mini.

It totally deeply horribly sucked for phone-like devices. I used to have one from work. HTC Touch Pro 2. It had a glossy horrifically slow overlay that made things even worse but either way it was a UX nightmare.

Even on my Dell Axim it wasn't great though not terribly bad either. For the time it was ok, and I read some books on it and played some games with the likes of ScummVM. But as a phone you use every day brrr.

The later windows phone solved a lot of issues and it was very well liked, Microsoft just didn't give it enough time to actually take off. Some people still pine for it today.

oh and of course my Windows CE handheld pc.

There’s this[0] one that seems pretty approachable, I’ve been considering making it

[0]: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46265015

It was a great little device.

At 10" and 12"? More like twohandheld.

I had Acer W4-821 and I think this (along with the Dell counterpart) was the last 8" on the market, at least available in the retail. It was compact enough to go into a jacket pocket and had a full blown OS, I even run CentOS virtual machine on it for testing small things while on the go.

Today the only option for less than 10" are Android tablets and they are far from a PC.

I wouldn't imagine so. It is a different device category targeted at a different kind of user. They're entertainment devices first and foremost, where as the "handheld PC" category targeted business customers, some of whom could write their own programs for it, without needing a "developer license" or to publish through an "app store".

I think the exact terms "Handheld PC" and "Pocket PC" were technically Microsoft trademarks and branding for non-x86 mini laptops(not all were ARM!) and tiny tablets(Wi-Fi happened later!) that ran CE/PPC/WM. So technically no.

Depends, is it a computer?

The Steam Deck is, no doubt about it. The iPad isn't. If you're walking around calling your iPad a "handheld PC" then you're looking like Dwight from The Office.