Hand-held data collection terminal with a contoured protrusion

A hand-held computer having a contoured housing with a head, a body, and a neck portion therebetween, the housing having a contoured protrusion positioned on the body portion substantially adjacent the hand-held computer's center of gravity. The contoured protrusion is sized and ergonomically shaped to correspond to a support portion of the person's hand between approximately the metacarpal-phalangeal joint ridge and the proximal phalangeal joints when the hand-held computer is carried by the person. The hand-held computer has a longitudinal axis and a display screen that is oriented at a positive angle relative to the longitudinal axis for improved viewing by the user of the display screen. The hand-held computer includes a scanning unit that scans along a scanning axis that is angled downwardly at a negative angle relative to the longitudinal axis. A plurality of computer keys define a keypad plane such that the tilted display screen is at a selected angle relative to the keypad plane. The computer keys have different heights or shapes to easily distinguish the computer keys by feel without requiring the user to visually identify different keypads.