A portable computer for use in interfacing to a process control system having a host system includes a housing adapted for hand-held operation, a processing unit disposed within the housing and a computer readable memory disposed within the housing and coupled to the processing unit. The portable computer also includes a display, a keypad and a radio frequency transceiver adapted to communicate with the host system, all of which are disposed within the housing and communicatively coupled to the processing unit. A first software routine stored in the computer readable memory processes a user input received from the keypad and sends a command to the host system via the radio frequency transceiver. Additionally, a second software routine stored in the computer readable memory receives process information sent from the host system in response to the command and displays the received process information via the portable computer display.