HP Pushes PC-in-a-Keyboard for Businesses With Hot Desks (theregister.com) 89
HP this week announced the EliteBoard G1a at CES 2026, a Windows computer built into a full-size 93-key desktop keyboard that the company is marketing to businesses where employees use hot desks and need a portable computing environment they can carry between workstations.
The device connects to a USB-C monitor for both video output and power delivery over a single cable, and HP includes a USB-to-HDMI adapter for displays that lack USB-C input. Inside runs an AMD Ryzen AI 5 or 7 processor paired with AMD Radeon 800 integrated graphics and an NPU capable of up to 50 TOPS, qualifying it as a Copilot+ PC by Microsoft's standards.
The device can be configured with up to 64GB of DDR5 RAM and 2TB of SSD storage. The keyboard weighs between 1.49 and 1.69 pounds depending on configuration and measures 14.1 by 4.7 by 0.7 inches, lighter than most laptops but longer and thicker than some. An optional 32Wh battery offers up to 3.5 hours of unplugged use. The EliteBoard G1a ships in March.
The device connects to a USB-C monitor for both video output and power delivery over a single cable, and HP includes a USB-to-HDMI adapter for displays that lack USB-C input. Inside runs an AMD Ryzen AI 5 or 7 processor paired with AMD Radeon 800 integrated graphics and an NPU capable of up to 50 TOPS, qualifying it as a Copilot+ PC by Microsoft's standards.
The device can be configured with up to 64GB of DDR5 RAM and 2TB of SSD storage. The keyboard weighs between 1.49 and 1.69 pounds depending on configuration and measures 14.1 by 4.7 by 0.7 inches, lighter than most laptops but longer and thicker than some. An optional 32Wh battery offers up to 3.5 hours of unplugged use. The EliteBoard G1a ships in March.
Considering their Ink & printer business (Score:3)
Re:Considering their Ink & printer business (Score:4, Informative)
IIRC, the printer division is a completely separate company [reuters.com] these days.
The computer company has its issues, but nothing like the shit show that is the printer company.
Re:Considering their Ink & printer business (Score:5, Informative)
HPe is servers, networking, enterprise software that manages the servers or the network, and the like.
HP without-the-e is the printers, desktops, calculators, printer ink, and related business practices involving breaking kneecaps for using unapproved ink cartridges.
With that in mind, this is the bad HP.
Re: (Score:2)
Still, it could be worse. It could be Dymo.
Re: (Score:2)
I don't know that there is a 'good' HP anymore...
Re: (Score:2)
Some of the bad HP's non consumer stuff, like Z workstations, aren't that bad. They can't peddle rubbish to IT departments as easily as they do to customers in places like PC World.
In the case of this, the experiment will be done. If it works well, better ones will come along. This one looks like it has a terrible keyboard: unlike Thinkpad T's, which are lovely, this thing doesn't look like a keyboard I'd like to do much with. So I'd plug another keyboard into it to work, which is silly. But that's kind of
Re: (Score:2)
HP without-the-e is the printers, desktops, calculators, printer ink, and related business practices involving breaking kneecaps for using unapproved ink cartridges.
Well HP with-the-e got into the assassination game. What's most surprising is not that they tried but somehow managed to not fuck it up spectacularly. I can only assume that somehow and completely by accident, they hired a competent junior executive who knew a (wise) guy.
Re: (Score:2)
I would not no nowhere near that money pit
These are targetted at business users. They have nothing to do with their ink business, and HP's enterprise business division is actually quite competent.
*YOU* don't have this choice. It'll be made for your by your employer's CTO.
Surely a laptop is better. (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Surely a laptop is better. (Score:5, Funny)
Re: (Score:2)
Yeah, what use is a keyboard without a screen?
Unless it switches to a 'dumb' keyboard for a phone, letting you post to Slashdot on the go!
Re: (Score:2)
A laptop would be better, this thing HP is peddling is all lap and no top (monitor)
Absolutely. In fact, this sort of looks like a laptop attached to a docking station with a monitor, except that the laptop doesn't have a monitor.
Re: (Score:2)
A laptop would be better, this thing HP is peddling is all lap and no top (monitor)
TBF I think this is a thin client built into a keyboard rather than a laptop replacement (which in itself is not such a great idea as it's usually the peripherals that get damaged first). You could probably plug a USB keyboard into it in a bit of Yo dawg, I heard you like keyboards kind of way.
I don't think this is meant for people who work remotely or hybrid that occasionally use hotdesks, it's for people who use VDI/Citrix or other remote desktop solutions for security, think things like insurance cust
Re: (Score:3)
This is probably aimed more at corporate where they want to provide desktop PCs that users won't take home but don't want to fork out for a proper one, instead hope most people won't fancy taking a keyboard home in their bag.
Re: (Score:3)
I suppose the key point would have to be some price advantage for not including a display, touchpad, hinge, and a smaller battery than usual laptop. I'm skeptical, especially now where RAM costs likely make the rest of all of that a rounding error....
I suppose one *could* argue that use with an external monitor would be less awkward. Using a PC with external monitor as your focus can be pretty weird, and generally it's easier to have a separate keyboard which is more desk space.
However a tiny PC mounted b
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Frankly, in that scenario, I'd want my phone to be that system. Unfortunately, all the phone vendors that tried royally sucked at providing decent window management/desktop shell with zero ability to run alternative desktop shells.
Unfortunately, Android is at the behest of Google who just can't make a decent desktop shell to save their lives and also won't use an external one. I'll begrudingly say that Windows might have done an "ok" job, if they had gotten Windows 10 done earlier, though still not my favo
Re: (Score:2)
Frankly, in that scenario, I'd want my phone to be that system.
I'd rather the computing be separate from everything else. Once you don't have to build around a screen it frees up a lot of design constraints. I definitely could see it running a phone-like OS and being able to connect a phone-sized touchscreen to it though.
Re: (Score:2)
It's less wasteful as you don't need to throw out a whole display when the hardware is outdated. Plus no need for a battery. As long as you don't need computing on the go and just need to play musical chairs in the office, it could be a nice solution. Hopefully the storage is an m2 drive that can just be swapped between keyboards when the time comes for a compute refresh.
USB-C Cable Always Not Easy (Score:2)
Attach to a docking station with a USB-C cable - easy.
Not so easy as one might hope. There was a time when docking stations used proprietary connectors, and while not "universal", they worked extremely well.
Since manufacturers have switched to USB-C, it's become a crapshoot. This is because USB-C defines the physical connection, not the protocol. That USB connector on your laptop might be USB 3.2, USB 4, Thunderbolt, or one of several other possibilities. In my experience with so-called "universal" docking stations, the results are just as varied. Sometimes ev
Re: (Score:2)
Except of course if you're sophisticated enough about this to complain about it, you're sophisticated enough to know the specs of your laptop ports, which addresses 90% of what you're complaining about, and much of what is left is actual manufacturer defects, bugs, or flagrant misimplementations.
Like, set aside "physical connection" and "protocol" -- to a 99% approximation, connection of a laptop with DisplayPort alternate mode to a USB C monitor should work on any laptop/device that supports DisplayPort
Re: (Score:2)
For my work (from home) setup, I have a notebook with a dock, connected to a pair of monitors and a real keyboard and mouse. I never use the notebook screen because it's small and at an awkward distance, and the keyboard/touchpad just take up desk space. If it's only ever designed to be used with a dock, there's no need for any battery.
Eliminating (or at least reducing) the compromises that go into fitting everything into an ultra-slim case probably makes for a better system too (don't have to try to have f
Re: (Score:2)
Laptops are typically a more expensive solution and less permanent. This isn't replacing laptops as much as it is replacing dumb terminals. If anything I think the biggest competitor to these are those computers that mount on the VESA bracket behind the monitor.
What goes around... (Score:5, Insightful)
... comes around. Seems like we've arrived back in the 1980s this time.
Re:What goes around... (Score:4, Funny)
I still have a Vic-20 in my garage. Maybe I should get it back out!
Re: (Score:2)
My TI-99/4a is in a tub in the back of a closet.
Would take a stack of adapters to get it working with a flat screen, I think.
Re: (Score:2)
That was my first thought, with the revival of Commodore and the new C64U, as well as other retro platforms' efforts, it feels like HP is trying to ride the wave.
Re: (Score:2)
You could get PCs in keyboards as well - they were popular in the 90s for retail systems. Had a 486 PC in a very thick PC keyboard case with a floppy drive on the side and all the ports on the back. Contained a hard drive inside of it as well, so it was a PC with a standard full size keyboard that was the height of the original C64 breadbin unit.
Re: What goes around... (Score:2)
This is, idea-wise a Raspberry Pi 400 (and yes, a VIC-20, A C64, a TRS-80, a TI-99/44, an Atari 800XL, an Amiga 1200...).
What I wanna know is whether HP brings back B. Dalton and Egghead so you can get programs on cassette tape!
Re: (Score:2)
VIC-20 had 20KB ROM. So I guess this is the HP-2000000000 .
Component Costs (Score:4, Funny)
The device can be configured with up to 64GB of DDR5 RAM and 2TB of SSD storage.
Oh, so this will be a $1,800 keyboard.
Re:Component Costs (Score:4, Insightful)
Re: (Score:2)
And a keyboard is a wearing part and prone to damage...
Exactly this. Just pitch the whole thing in the trash when a keyswitch goes bad. The absolute ultimate in disposable gear.
Re: (Score:2)
Pulling a good mobo from a bad keyboard would be easier than detaching a good screen from a bad laptop.
Re: (Score:2)
I guess the real question is: how many Losers do not graps that "the keyboard is the computer" ... and just consider it a low value item.
Actually I want to place a Raspery Pi into my old MacIntosh SE Keyboard, but that is a different story ...
Re: (Score:3)
Re: (Score:2)
So you dont have a laptop because the keyboard can break?
You can always plug an external keyboard into your laptop, and while I suppose you can plug an external keyboard into your keyboard, it would take up a lot more space than necessary. Ideally they will have spare devices to just swap out, but I'd still rather swap minipcs or nucs or whatever and keyboards separately.
The other suck thing about a laptop, or this keyboard, is the lack of key travel. A lot of people think they like that, but you know what's much nicer? Keys with full travel and earlier actuation
Re: (Score:2)
When a C64 breaks it is usually not the keyboard. And those are more than 40 years old.
The TRS-80 all over again (Score:2)
As someone above said, A) why not a laptop? and B) I don't trust HP anymore.
Re: (Score:2)
RPi 400, except with Windows.
Re: (Score:3)
Another famous computer that had it's guts in the keyboard.
Forbes [forbes.com] called it a "modern-day Commodore 64".
Who does this? (Score:1)
Is "hot desking" just a sort of variation on the open office theme that (afaik) basically everyone HATED?
I recognize that my case is not necessarily universal, but I'm genuinely curious if anyone has this at their workplace and likes it, or at least finds it useful.
Our corporate HQ in EU did the whole open office thing just before covid and frankly people were pretty angry. No personal desks (in reality, people self-organized informally where they could expect to sit) and if you were going to have an exten
Re: (Score:3)
It works for the company looking to fit as many bodies in as little area as possible.
I'm just waiting for some tech company to pitch upgraded stacked mortuary cabinets as the next level of 'collaboratve workspace'
Re: (Score:2)
They did that at Otellini's Intel in Chandler AZ when I was there around 2009 or so.
The round foam couches and glass cubes, 70's colors, and a new age relaxation room with two massage chairs (really).
A game room with a big flat panel on the wall hooked up to a Wii as a bro detector, mostly used by the sales weasels. It always smelled in there.
Sitting in the middle of the floor, with no walls, was this massive Cisco teleconferencing system built into a curved wood veneer conference table with multiple 1080p
Re: (Score:2)
My company does this for the work from home crowd, when they have to come in (1-2 days in a month).
Currently we have thin clients connecting to window VMs but I see the use case for these.
Re: (Score:2)
Is "hot desking" just a sort of variation on the open office theme that (afaik) basically everyone HATED?
Unfortunately, many of those in positions to force that abomination on the rest did not hate it at all.
problem already solved 40 years ago (Score:2)
Putting the computer in the keyboard was a cost-cutting measure and FCC emissions loophole in the 1970's and 1980's. You don't need to do that anymore.
There's a reason mini-PCs have VESA mounts. And the vast majority of all-in-one computers have been built into the display, not the keyboard.
With most people using hot desks having access to a laptop. A keyboard-computer is just going to be in the way most of the time. While I can plug my laptop in my work's hot desk, and a simple monitor with two inputs woul
Re: (Score:2)
The only reason I can think of, especially with a lot of storage, is that the keyboards could be "sticky" for a person, but the monitor fixed to the desk. I'd say HP missed the mark on this one; going minimal specs and having the big stuff either with the screen or centralized would be much easier.
Re: (Score:2)
The only reason I can think of, especially with a lot of storage, is that the keyboards could be "sticky" for a person, but the monitor fixed to the desk. I'd say HP missed the mark on this one; going minimal specs and having the big stuff either with the screen or centralized would be much easier.
The keyboard could also be good. Like with mechanical keys and a satisfying thunk or thonk or click or whatever floats your boat. But I expect that it won't be that. The keyboard will be horrible.
Re: (Score:2)
I like a keyboard that is easy to position and fits in a keyboard drawer for proper ergonomic height.
Worst of all worlds ... (Score:2)
Who asked for this form factor?! If you really need to move a computer between workspaces (or work/home) a much more convenient form factor is just a Raspberry Pi (in a case) size (and easily achievable nowadays even in Intel/AMD world). But nobody wants that, everyone wants a laptop, that can be used by itself too without any shenanigans.
This has been tried in many forms, with Samsung's DeX (Microsoft Continuum and some other attempts earlier), Android Desktop now, whatever Apple's equivalent is too - it's
Interesting idea (Score:3)
Interesting idea. Though probably a PC-in-a-dock would have been a better idea.
Keyboards (and mice) were always the most disposable parts of a PC - for a reason.
I mean, with this device, you now can spill coffee on your PC too.
Plus all the hygienic hazards. (I would never want to use keyboard/mouse of some of my colleagues.)
Cheap keyboard PC works. This? (Score:2)
A cheap keyboard PC works for some folks. But what they're suggesting sounds like a rather upper-scale PC built into a keyboard. Just make it a damned laptop if you expect to sell it. Having it be an expensive, non-useable its own PC built into an inconvenient form-factor seems a non-starter in a world where PC laptops and tablets with click-on keyboards exist. It's like they're trying to invent a product for a demand that does not, and never will, exist.
Which seems completely on-point for this particular j
Should Have Remained a "What if?" Conversation (Score:2)
What we have now: Laptops.
* Low power consumption
* Lightweight
* Variable keyboard sizes, but generally compact
* Self-contained battery the entire computer for hours at a time
* Easy plug-and-play with USB C docks
* Integrated monitor
* Price: $500 - $1,500 for most business/student laptops.
* Sales Pitch: A fully capable computer wherever you need to be.
What they're offering: Screenless Laptop.
* LowER power consumption than a laptop (no monitor).
--- This doesn't matter though because almost no one will ever use
Is USB C sufficiently reliable for power? (Score:2)
I, too, am dubious if there is a niche for this kind of product, but you also touched (twice) on the power topic. I think that may be a more important problem than it seems. So I'll throw this question out here:
Is anyone else noticing "slow charging" problems with USB C devices? In my case that's smartphones and a Chromebook. It seems to be getting worse over the months. Initially I suspected the cables, especially the connectors, but I've swapped too many cables to support that hypothesis and I think there
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Interesting and somewhat relevant. But one of my AC adapters is quite large. I'd have to dig around for the specs, but I think it was 2 amps. I haven't tried it with all of the devices involved, but I don't ever recall seeing any "slow charging" problems before I switched it to the USB C cables. (Actually that is a statement I think I could make broadly about lots of AC adapters and with various USB connections including micro and mini. I think I'm down to my last mini device and only one or two micros. How
Re: (Score:2)
Latest USB 3 PD spec allows for up to 240W (48V @ 5A), which should be plenty for just about any laptop. My current laptop draws up 180W through USB-C no problem, other than the laptop itself getting uncomfortably hot.
The problem is usually a bad cable, assuming your power supply is rated for the output. You can get a little inline power meter you can put between the cable and the device if you suspect a bad cable, something like this: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0B5... [amazon.com] .
If you are willing to spend more yo
Re: (Score:2)
Very constructive response and cable suspicions have been haunting me, though buying test equipment (beyond the cheap multi-meter I already own) seems too expensive an approach. But it makes me wonder about a service that might be offered in shops that have the battery pack sales or rental. Maybe next to that they could have a little device were you pay a buck to have it test your USB C cable? Maybe gamify it by letting you test as many cables as you can plug in and out in a minute? I have several "suspicio
Re: (Score:2)
Charging via USB-C is DC. ... look at the connectors. There is a symbol for high power charging.
So the frequency is irrelevant.
If a USB-C cable supports high power charging depends on the cable
How fast a device is charging, is usually up to the device. So when it gets older, and the battery gets bad, it intentionally charges slower. Has nothing to do with your cable.
Re: (Score:2)
Actually I studied some electrical engineering a long time ago so I know that AC is not DC, but if the AC adapter is unhappy with the power it is receiving, then the output DC may be affected. Especially in the case of less expensive AC adapters, of which I have too many. Also too many cables of various lengths.
You're also wrong about the device. Quite a new smart phone. However it is possible that my usage pattern has "troubled" it.
Perhaps you could ask more politely to see if any of the details are releva
Re: (Score:2)
Perhaps you could ask more politely to see if any of the details are relevant to what you actually know?
Actually you made a(some) point(s) and I addressed them.
You're also wrong about the device.
No, I am not. As I did not talk about YOUR device.
Fact is that grid frequency has nothing to do with your charger, your cable and your device :P
Re: (Score:2)
NAK
Let me say this (Score:2)
I have seen tickets come through where the person has said they don't know how to plug the cable from the docking station into the side of the laptop.
No way in hell these people will be able to use this keyboard.
Looking forward (Score:2)
Looking forward to these being dumped on eBay for the cheap when the companies stupid enough to buy them realize their mistake. We have a supposed DDR5 shortage and this is where they decide to solder it in? Also, HP, nope, nope, nope.
Interesting though with problems.. (Score:2)
Interesting if this could be paired with high quality VR googles.
I am a potential user - I have monitors everywhere - I am not really using my notebooks screen.
But I can see 2 problems:
1. price - though this may not be a problem once it flops and we got plenty on ebay
2. keyboard is the part that breaks most often in my case - possibly this is HP's idea too - tie PC upgrade to the part that breaks most...
no (Score:2)
What we want is our own keyboards, especially since all HP keyboards (whether dedicated or part of a laptop) are shit. The last decent example was on the EliteBooks before they shrank them and ruined them too.
and just to ram that home (Score:3)
As the story says, this keyboard only has 2mm travel. A real keyboard has 3.4-4mm travel. That's why they are so much nicer to type on.
I use the same keyboard at work and home, Redragon Devarajas (K552USB) with Silent Peach switches. It's worlds better than any keyboard HP ever sold for any system. It's about a billion times better than the keyboard built into the laptop - a later model HP EliteBook. It does have backlighting, which is nice, but everything else about typing on it is terrible.
Re: (Score:2)
woops K556RGB. 2nd version with type C.
Ergonomic keyboard version? (Score:2)
If not I guess I would have a keyboard plugged into my keyboard.
hp keyboard computers (Score:2)
Raspberry Pi 400 (Score:2)
If laptops aren't the answer (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Upper tier smartphones have all the computing power needed for your typical desk jockey needs.
The computing power isn't the problem, it's the storage. High speed storage is power hungry to the point that it's actually beneficial to cool it now. Phones can't sustain that kind of consumption on a sustained basis, especially while they're trying to approach a thickness of 0.
Re: (Score:2)
Re: If laptops aren't the answer (Score:2)
This is stupid and wrong. Just normal office bullshit is slowed down even by normal laptop storage.
RPi 500 (Score:4, Interesting)
I bet the HP PC-in-a-keyboard will also be a lot more expensive that a RPi 500.
Battery (Score:2)
NO thanks (Score:2)
I like the HP ProDesk Mini 1 liter PC's; I have/mange hundreds of them. They are nearly the perfect form-factor for modern lower-power desktops. Easy to service and upgrade. Opening is tool-less. Swap fan or RAM completely tool-less. Easy to manage. Work great in Linux (yes, we bought them without MS-Windows). They are a bit over-priced.
Keyboards are the #1 failure on computers. I would never want the computer to BE a keyboard. Much rather just swap in a new $15 Logitech. People like real keyboard
Bad keyboard layout (Score:2)
No space between key groups. Cursor keys and page up/down are half height. And I hate these single row return keys.
Did they worry that people won't take it home when it doesn't fit into a backpack?
Welcome back 8 bit micros (Score:1)
Cyberdecks! (Score:1)
I'm amazed nobody's made the comparison to cyberdecks from RPGs like Shadowrun and Cyberpunk 2020.
old news (Score:2)
This was already done by Rasberry Pi [raspberrypi.com]