Living With HP’s EliteBoard G1a: The PC-in-a-Keyboard Concept Is Intriguing, But I’ll Stick With My Laptop

I was very intrigued when I first saw HP’s EliteBoard G1a, an enterprise computer that just looks like a keyboard. It is designed for office workers who may sit at different desks on different days, in what is sometimes described as “hoteling,” or who take the machine between office and home, but don’t need to use it in between, so don’t need a screen. It’s also meant for customer-facing locations such as a hotel front desk, where not having a separate PC box can make the space look cleaner.

I can imagine that such a device could fit the needs of a number of larger organizations. It’s not for everyone, but it might work for many employees. The concept of a computer-in-a-keyboard is far from new—the Commodore 64 is an early example—but that category has disappeared in recent years, replaced by either mini desktops, towers, or laptops (which are by far the largest segment).

Having used the EliteBoard G1a for a few weeks, my feelings are mixed. I do see the use cases and the advantages, and the machine has turned out to be a quite decent performer. But I ran into some limitations with the design that have made me skeptical that it will be acceptable to as many people as HP hopes.

A Simple Design Packed With Plenty of Power

The basic design of the EliteBoard G1a is pretty simple. The core device a keyboard with a numeric keypad on the left. As a keyboard, it’s fine, with 2mm of key travel, though I missed having a palm rest, like on most desktop keyboards and virtually all laptops. The device comes with an external mouse, which you can connect via Bluetooth natively from the keyboard or via a USB-C dongle. Since the device only has two USB-C ports, it’s much more convenient to use the native Bluetooth.

Typically, you’d use one of the two USB-C ports to connect to power (it comes with a USB-C charger) and the other to connect to a display; alternatively, you could connect the device to a USB-C hub, which could then connect to both power and display, and give you more ports. With most monitors and a standard HDMI-to-USB-C adapter, I was able to get the display working well. With HP and Dell hubs, I was able to connect a monitor and other devices, including external drives.

But with a single standard monitor and an Amazon Basics HDMI-to-USB-C adapter, I could only get a 640-by-480 resolution, even though the monitor was capable of 1,920 by 1,080. And although HP ships a port adapter—a dongle that connects to an HDMI monitor and passes through power and wired Ethernet—I could never get that to work.

Under the hood, the EliteBoard G1a has all the computing power of a modern small desktop or laptop. The unit I tested had an AMD Ryzen 7 Pro 350 CPU (Kracken Point) with Radeon 860M graphics. This is a 28-watt processor with four Zen 5 cores and four Zen 5c cores, plus multithreading, with a base clock of 2 GHz and a maximum boost clock speed of 5 GHz, made on TSMC’s 4nm process.

(Credit: Joseph Maldonado)

As such, it’s not quite as fast as HP’s EliteBook X G1a, which I tested last year and had a Ryzen AI 9 HX 375 CPU, but it’s close for most applications. I found it notably slower than the Ryzen 375 on some AI tasks, such as Procyon’s AI computer vision and image generation, as well as text generation using Llama. For standard business applications, it’s quite fine. My test unit had 64 GB of RAM.

HP has emphasized the device’s easy serviceability. It’s easy to replace or upgrade parts, including RAM, SSD, battery, and keyboard. And it has the typical HP enterprise management features, including HP’s Wolf Security for Business.

The EliteBoard comes with an optional 32-watt battery that lets you switch between devices without restarting. I recorded over six hours of battery life while running PC Mark 10’s Modern Office test, with a plugged-in monitor, which should be more than enough for switching monitors or commuting.

Considerably Lighter Than Most Laptops, But I Won’t Be Switching

As for commuting, the EliteBoard is light enough to carry on its own—my unit weighed 1.69 pounds. Add in the mouse, power supply, the adapter hub, and the case HP ships with the device, and you get 2.65 pounds—still considerably lighter than most laptops with their chargers. 

While the EliteBoard is an interesting solution for the “hoteling” use case, there are alternatives. You could have PCs with keyboards and monitors, but without personal information, through “Cloud PCs.” Or you could just set up keyboards and monitors, and give employees mini desktops to carry. The HP folks I talked to were concerned that people don’t want to use keyboards others may have already used (which I hadn’t considered a problem).

(Credit: Joseph Maldonado)

HP offers a series of EliteDesk Minis, though surprisingly, they are often heavier than the  EliteBoard G1a, even though they don’t have batteries (though they tend to have more ports). One thing I did notice, though: Because the keyboard has a numeric keypad, the EliteBoard is longer than a 14-inch laptop, so it didn’t fit in my usual bag. It does fit in most backpacks, though.

While the product isn’t due to ship until next month, as I write this, HP is offering the base model with an AMD Ryzen AI 5 Pro 340 processor, 16GB of memory, and a 512GB SSD for $1,549, and a unit closer to the one I tested with a Ryzen AI 7 Pro 350, 32GB of memory and a 512GB SSD costs for over $3,400. For comparison, an EliteBook X G1A with a faster Ryzen AI Pro 7 360 processor, 16GB of memory, and a 512GB SSD is listed at $1,559; and one with a Ryzen AI 9 HX Pro 375 processor, 32 GB of memory, and a 1TB SSD is listed at $2,099.

Overall, I find the EliteBoard to be an intriguing concept, though in regular use, it’s not as convenient as a laptop. It would have to be considerably less expensive to be a really attractive option for me. For now, I’ll be sticking with my regular laptop, thanks.

About Our Expert

Michael J. Miller

Former Editor in Chief

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Experience

Michael J. Miller is chief information officer at Ziff Brothers Investments, a private investment firm. From 1991 to 2005, Miller was editor-in-chief of PC Magazine,responsible for the editorial direction, quality, and presentation of the world’s largest computer publication. No investment advice is offered in this column. All duties are disclaimed. Miller works separately for a private investment firm which may at any time invest in companies whose products are discussed, and no disclosure of securities transactions will be made.

Until late 2006, Miller was the Chief Content Officer for Ziff Davis Media, responsible for overseeing the editorial positions of Ziff Davis’s magazines, websites, and events. As Editorial Director for Ziff Davis Publishing since 1997, Miller took an active role in helping to identify new editorial needs in the marketplace and in shaping the editorial positioning of every Ziff Davis title. Under Miller’s supervision, PC Magazine grew to have the largest readership of any technology publication in the world. PC Magazine evolved from its successful PCMagNet service on CompuServe to become one of the earliest and most successful web sites.

As an accomplished journalist, well versed in product testing and evaluating and writing about software issues, and as an experienced public speaker, Miller has become a leading commentator on the computer industry. He has participated as a speaker and panelist in industry conferences, has appeared on numerous business television and radio programs discussing technology issues, and is frequently quoted in major newspapers. His areas of special expertise include the Internet and its applications, desktop productivity tools, and the use of PCs in business applications. Prior to joining PC Magazine, Miller was editor-in-chief of InfoWorld, which he joined as executive editor in 1985. At InfoWorld, he was responsible for development of the magazine’s comparative reviews and oversaw the establishment of the InfoWorld Test Center. Previously, he was the west coast bureau chief for Popular Computing, and senior editor for Building Design & Construction. Miller earned a BS in computer science from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, New York and an MS in journalism from the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois. He has received several awards for his writing and editing, including being named to Medill’s Alumni Hall of Achievement

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