The HP EliteBoard G1 Is A Decent PC In A Very Expensive Keyboard

It’s A Cyberdeck With All The Fun Removed

HP announced the EliteBoard G1a series of PCs in a keyboard, essentially an entire system with a Thunderbolt/ USB4 port to connect to an external monitor.  If you don’t have a monitor that can handle USB-C then don’t worry, HP has an HDMI dock they would be happy to sell you along with the EliteBoard G1a.  On the plus side they did include a wireless 675M mouse that can handle Bluetooth or a 5-GHz USB-C dongle.  As you would expect there is an optional 65W USB-C power adapter to power your EliteBoard G1a if you don’t have a monitor that will provide power.

Connectivity includes the aforementioned USB-C power port and Thunderbolt/USB4 USB-C port and that’s it.  The keyboard itself is spill resistant and supposedly easy to clean.  A built in speaker and microphone are included, and about the same quality you’d find on any business laptop. It is a full sized keyboard with a numpad, measuring 14.1 x 4.7 x 0.7″ and there is a fan inside which you can hear when the EliteBoard G1a is under load.  The keys travel a decent 2mm, better than many business keyboards on the market and overall The Register did like the feel of typing on it.

As for the bad news, an EliteBoard G1a will cost you between $1,499 and $3,423.  At the low end you will get a Ryzen AI 5 Pro 340, 16GB of RAM and a 512GB SSD, while the high end sports a Ryzen AI 7 Pro 350 CPU, 32GB of RAM, and a 512GB SSD.  It also comes with an internal 32 WHr battery which should give you around three or four hours of life when unplugged; for reasons known only to HP.