Computers change all the time, but every so often, some ideas in computing get us really excited. So excited that they can surprise, something that doesn’t happen very often in an era where most gadgets and devices are iterative, and basically just offer an upgrade each and every year.
An announcement at CES earlier this year did just that. The place where you can expect clever tech, computer company HP talked up a concept that could just change the home… except it wasn’t being made for the home.
HP’s EliteBoard is something different. Yes, it’s a computer, but it’s one that doesn’t come in a laptop or with a screen, nor does it come with a battery.
It’s a computer inside a keyboard, and one that doesn’t aim to pull back on what it can do.
While old school geeks will know that computers in keyboards aren’t technically anything new — and only need to glance the way of the Commodore 64 — keyboards with computers inside haven’t been much of a thing for decades.
And now they are, as HP reveals just that: an AI PC built to simplify workspaces by throwing in everything you might need inside a keyboard.
The EliteBoard G1a is very much a first-get product, using an AMD Ryzen processor with graphics, memory, and storage inside the one system, encased behind a sheet of metal with a keyboard on top. You need the metal to protect the computer, while the keyboard itself is spill-resistant, meaning you can drop water or other liquids on it, and then deal with it easily.
Plugging the laptop in works from the two ports it has, both of which are USB-C and basically means Type C to the wall for power and Type C to a screen. It comes with a wireless mouse and a case, and is basically built to take with you to go, but not be used as a laptop.
Imagine that: no way of working on the bus or train, unless you decided to bring a portable power source and external monitor, and frankly, a laptop would be easier. Rather, this is a computer that stays in one place, but could theoretically be shared, hence its business proposal.
The downside of HP’s EliteBoard G1a is that it is solely for business, with the company confirming this device isn’t being built for consumers or the home in mind.
Even though a home makes perfect sense for this, especially if you had family members sharing the one computer against a monitor or TV, HP is keeping this just for business. There are reasons why, such as the EliteBoard being built as a desktop replacement and made for long life cycles, or rather longer life cycles than regular consumer gear is made for.
That and the price, which will see a 16GB RAM and 256GB computer, for between $2500 and $3000, making it a pricey PC focused on business, less so on consumers.
It’s an intriguing computer, but one that isn’t made for you at home. It’s focused on business and working environments where the PC stays put, or where it travels around like on a medical cart. It even makes sense in a school.
It’s just not for home… yet.
HP wouldn’t say whether its EliteBoard would make its way into a line focused on consumers yet, which given the capability of the concept would be an interesting move.
Given that laptops are getting more expensive thanks to AI and the computer could become more of a communal thing over the next few years because of it, a keyboard PC like this could change the nature of how technology is used in environments.
We’ll be giving it a proper review all the same, but even from first glance, the idea has promise. Now we just need HP to make it for everyone, not just for companies with money to spare.
