A variable form factor multi-portion housing of a handheld computer. The housing includes a first housing portion to provide a first interior for mounting a first electronic component, the first housing portion having a common first mating surface for facilitating coupling to a secondary housing portion. The housing includes the secondary housing portion having a version configuration of a first form factor selectable from a family of different version configurations having a plurality of different form factors contributing to a selectable variable form factor nature of the multi-portion housing, such that each of the version configurations from the family of different version configurations has a same second mating surface that is configured to couple to the common first mating surface. The first form factor of the secondary housing portion is configured to facilitate at least one of housing a portion of the first electronic component or housing at least a portion of a second electronic component that is interconnected with the first electronic component. Further, the secondary housing portion extends from an intermediate location (between proximal and distal ends) to the distal end of the first housing portion, such that the intermediate location is positioned on a bottom or top surface of the housing of the mobile terminal. The first and second housings also provide a majority of the internal space of the multi-portion housing.