Baby's got clack: HP pushes PC-in-a-keyboard for businesses with hot desks
(2026/01/06)
- Reference: 1767670286
- News link: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2026/01/06/hp_keyboard_pc/
- Source link:
At most businesses today, the IT department gives laptops out to employees so they can easily take their work with them. But HP has a different idea: build a Windows computer into a full-size keyboard and let you carry that around, plugging into monitors and mice along the way.
Announced on Monday at CES 2026, the HP EliteBoard G1a looks like a standard desktop keyboard, complete with 93 keys, including a number pad. Its keys have a solid 2 mm of travel, more than most laptops, and felt OK to type on during our brief hands-on, but it's not mechanical so isn't the best keyboard money can buy. However, look at the back surface and you'll notice a small vent where air comes out and either two USB-C ports, or, on some SKus, a single port with a built-in USB-C cable that hangs off it like a tail.
[1]
HP EliteBoard G1a
The idea is that you plug the EliteBoard G1a into a monitor that has USB-C video input and allow it to send data and get power over a single wire. Connect a wireless mouse and you've got your workstation covered. Maintain a similar monitor and mouse setup at home and you can carry just the keyboard back and forth.
If your monitor, like the majority on the market, doesn't have a USB-C input, you can use an included USB-to-HDMI adapter to connect. You can use a 65 W USB-C power adapter to juice the G1a if it's not getting electricity directly from the monitor.
The G1a weighs between 1.49 and 1.69 pounds, depending on config, and measures 14.1 in x 4.7 in x 0.7 inches, so it is more portable than most laptops, though it is longer and thicker than some. At its CES preview, HP showed off a long, thin envelope you can use to carry it and said it would also fit into any laptop bag that holds a 16-inch or larger laptop.
[2]
HP EliteBoard G1a
The G1a comes powered by an AMD Ryzen AI 5 or 7 (330, 340, or 350 Pro) with integrated AMD Radeon 800 graphics and an NPU that runs at up to 50 TOPS (Trillion Operations Per Second). Those specs make it a Copilot+ PC by Microsoft's standards, which means you get certain offline AI features like Microsoft Recall, Click to Do, and Windows Studio Effects. You can get it with up to 64 GB of DDR5 5600 MT/s RAM and up to 2 TB of SSD storage, along with Wi-Fi 6E or 7 connectivity.
When it comes out in March, the G1a will be available either with or without an embedded cable. It's unclear what the price difference will be, but having an embedded cable is a disadvantage because it makes the keyboard harder to carry safely and easier to break.
[3]
You'll also be able to configure the G1a with or without a 32 Wh battery that HP claims can offer up to 3.5 hours of unplugged use or two days in sleep. It's difficult to imagine a scenario where you'd need to use the keyboard without a power source, but having it be asleep while you carry it from one destination to another would be a huge plus.
[4]
HP EliteBoard G1a and bag for it
HP is marketing the EliteBoard G1a as an enterprise device, which means enterprise-grade security. The keyboard PC will have HP Wolf Security for Business, which protects the BIOS from firmware attacks.
By building the PC into a keyboard and selling the G1a based on portability, HP hopes to change business behavior from laptop culture to keyboard culture. This could theoretically work in businesses that practice hoteling and expect employees to carry their keyboard to whatever hot desk they are using today.
[5]
[6]
However, asking employees to have a similar monitor and mouse setup at home seems like an additional hassle that IT departments won't want and, if the business has to pay for this home monitor, the cost of this solution and the support needed become more of a hassle. We don't know how much the G1a will cost either. To justify itself, it would have to cost significantly less than a business laptop.
Where we could see the G1a taking off is in call centers or other environments where desk space is tight. In lieu of buying an all-in-one PC, companies could buy HP's keyboard computer and stick it on the desk for various employees to use as they come on and off shift. But taking it back and forth between locations seems like a rare use case.
HP updates its commercial laptop lineup with EliteBook X G2
[7]
HP EliteBook X G2
Those looking for a more traditional portable computer will find options in HP's new lineup of EliteBook X G2 laptops. These 14-inch laptops are available with a choice of three different processor platforms from each of the three PC CPU manufacturers. The EliteBook X G2i features Intel's upcoming "Panther Lake," Core Ultra 5, and Ultra 7 series processors, while the EliteBook X G2q (Q for Qualcomm) is powered by Snapdragon X2 Elite or X Plus processors, and the EliteBook X G2a (A for AMD) runs AMD Ryzen AI 5, 7, or 9 chips.
The 14-inch laptop weighs around 2.4 pounds (1.09 kg) in most configurations, but there's also an Intel-powered G2i lightweight config that starts at 2.2 pounds (998 g) and a bend-back 2-in-1 called the EliteBook X Flip G2i that tips the scales at 2.86 pounds (1.29 kg). Depending on config, you can get it with a variety of screen panel options, ranging from a 1920 x 1200, 300-nit panel on the low end to a 2880 x 1800 OLED touch screen that goes up to 700 nits and 120 Hz.
[8]
HP EliteBook X Flip G2i
The EliteBook X G2 series laptops are available with up to a 2 TB PCIe SSD and as much as 64 GB of LPDDR5x RAM. They sport a 5 MP webcam that has an IR sensor for facial recognition and can do human presence detection to tell if you're at your seat.
You can power the EliteBook X G2 with an included 65 W or 100 W power adapter (your choice). There's a built-in three-cell, 56 Wh or six-cell, 68 Wh battery.
[9]
All versions of the laptop come with Wi-Fi 7 connectivity, Bluetooth 6, and the option of adding a 5G modem. In the case of the EliteBook X G2q, the modem comes from Qualcomm, while the AMD and Intel versions have HP R15 or R18 5G connectivity. The lightweight G2i model is Wi-Fi only.
[10]HP to sack up to six thousand staff under AI adoption plan, fresh round of cost-cutting
[11]HP Inc settles printer toner lockout lawsuit with a promise to make firmware updates optional
[12]HP deliberately adds 15 minutes waiting time for telephone support calls
[13]HP Inc. hastens China exit as tariffs kick a hole in its profits
HP brings Copilot to enterprise printers
If your company has a Microsoft 365 Copilot account and you own or plan to buy an HP Enterprise printer that works with its ecosystem of Workpath apps, you'll soon be able to get that AI directly in your print/scan solution.
[14]
HP Printer with Copilot
Dubbed HP for Microsoft 365 Copilot and due out this spring, the new on-printer software lets you do new AI-related kinds of things directly from the printer/scanner's touch screen. First, you'll be able to redact personally identifiable information from documents before you print them. Imagine scanning in a resume or opening it up from OneDrive and having the name and other information blacked out so that hiring managers can only look at the qualifications.
[15]
HP for Microsoft 365 Copilot
You'll also be able to have Copilot suggest file names for documents you scan so that you can easily identify them when looking through your folders. As you might expect, Copilot will also print AI-generated summaries of documents in lieu of the documents themselves and will do translation on-device. ®
Get our [16]Tech Resources
[1] https://regmedia.co.uk/2026/01/02/hp1.jpg
[2] https://regmedia.co.uk/2026/01/02/hp2.jpg
[3] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/systems&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2aVyW7Fep7AKPD7pP5gdq9gAAAAw&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
[4] https://regmedia.co.uk/2026/01/02/hp3.jpg
[5] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/systems&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44aVyW7Fep7AKPD7pP5gdq9gAAAAw&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[6] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/systems&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33aVyW7Fep7AKPD7pP5gdq9gAAAAw&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[7] https://regmedia.co.uk/2026/01/02/hp4.jpg
[8] https://regmedia.co.uk/2026/01/02/hp5.jpg
[9] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/systems&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44aVyW7Fep7AKPD7pP5gdq9gAAAAw&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[10] https://www.theregister.com/2025/11/26/hp_inc_q4_2025/
[11] https://www.theregister.com/2025/03/19/hp_printer_lawsuit_settled/
[12] https://www.theregister.com/2025/02/20/hp_deliberately_adds_15_minutes/
[13] https://www.theregister.com/2025/05/29/hp_inc_q2_2025/
[14] https://regmedia.co.uk/2026/01/02/hp6.jpg
[15] https://regmedia.co.uk/2026/01/02/hp7.jpg
[16] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
Announced on Monday at CES 2026, the HP EliteBoard G1a looks like a standard desktop keyboard, complete with 93 keys, including a number pad. Its keys have a solid 2 mm of travel, more than most laptops, and felt OK to type on during our brief hands-on, but it's not mechanical so isn't the best keyboard money can buy. However, look at the back surface and you'll notice a small vent where air comes out and either two USB-C ports, or, on some SKus, a single port with a built-in USB-C cable that hangs off it like a tail.
[1]
HP EliteBoard G1a
The idea is that you plug the EliteBoard G1a into a monitor that has USB-C video input and allow it to send data and get power over a single wire. Connect a wireless mouse and you've got your workstation covered. Maintain a similar monitor and mouse setup at home and you can carry just the keyboard back and forth.
If your monitor, like the majority on the market, doesn't have a USB-C input, you can use an included USB-to-HDMI adapter to connect. You can use a 65 W USB-C power adapter to juice the G1a if it's not getting electricity directly from the monitor.
The G1a weighs between 1.49 and 1.69 pounds, depending on config, and measures 14.1 in x 4.7 in x 0.7 inches, so it is more portable than most laptops, though it is longer and thicker than some. At its CES preview, HP showed off a long, thin envelope you can use to carry it and said it would also fit into any laptop bag that holds a 16-inch or larger laptop.
[2]
HP EliteBoard G1a
The G1a comes powered by an AMD Ryzen AI 5 or 7 (330, 340, or 350 Pro) with integrated AMD Radeon 800 graphics and an NPU that runs at up to 50 TOPS (Trillion Operations Per Second). Those specs make it a Copilot+ PC by Microsoft's standards, which means you get certain offline AI features like Microsoft Recall, Click to Do, and Windows Studio Effects. You can get it with up to 64 GB of DDR5 5600 MT/s RAM and up to 2 TB of SSD storage, along with Wi-Fi 6E or 7 connectivity.
When it comes out in March, the G1a will be available either with or without an embedded cable. It's unclear what the price difference will be, but having an embedded cable is a disadvantage because it makes the keyboard harder to carry safely and easier to break.
[3]
You'll also be able to configure the G1a with or without a 32 Wh battery that HP claims can offer up to 3.5 hours of unplugged use or two days in sleep. It's difficult to imagine a scenario where you'd need to use the keyboard without a power source, but having it be asleep while you carry it from one destination to another would be a huge plus.
[4]
HP EliteBoard G1a and bag for it
HP is marketing the EliteBoard G1a as an enterprise device, which means enterprise-grade security. The keyboard PC will have HP Wolf Security for Business, which protects the BIOS from firmware attacks.
By building the PC into a keyboard and selling the G1a based on portability, HP hopes to change business behavior from laptop culture to keyboard culture. This could theoretically work in businesses that practice hoteling and expect employees to carry their keyboard to whatever hot desk they are using today.
[5]
[6]
However, asking employees to have a similar monitor and mouse setup at home seems like an additional hassle that IT departments won't want and, if the business has to pay for this home monitor, the cost of this solution and the support needed become more of a hassle. We don't know how much the G1a will cost either. To justify itself, it would have to cost significantly less than a business laptop.
Where we could see the G1a taking off is in call centers or other environments where desk space is tight. In lieu of buying an all-in-one PC, companies could buy HP's keyboard computer and stick it on the desk for various employees to use as they come on and off shift. But taking it back and forth between locations seems like a rare use case.
HP updates its commercial laptop lineup with EliteBook X G2
[7]
HP EliteBook X G2
Those looking for a more traditional portable computer will find options in HP's new lineup of EliteBook X G2 laptops. These 14-inch laptops are available with a choice of three different processor platforms from each of the three PC CPU manufacturers. The EliteBook X G2i features Intel's upcoming "Panther Lake," Core Ultra 5, and Ultra 7 series processors, while the EliteBook X G2q (Q for Qualcomm) is powered by Snapdragon X2 Elite or X Plus processors, and the EliteBook X G2a (A for AMD) runs AMD Ryzen AI 5, 7, or 9 chips.
The 14-inch laptop weighs around 2.4 pounds (1.09 kg) in most configurations, but there's also an Intel-powered G2i lightweight config that starts at 2.2 pounds (998 g) and a bend-back 2-in-1 called the EliteBook X Flip G2i that tips the scales at 2.86 pounds (1.29 kg). Depending on config, you can get it with a variety of screen panel options, ranging from a 1920 x 1200, 300-nit panel on the low end to a 2880 x 1800 OLED touch screen that goes up to 700 nits and 120 Hz.
[8]
HP EliteBook X Flip G2i
The EliteBook X G2 series laptops are available with up to a 2 TB PCIe SSD and as much as 64 GB of LPDDR5x RAM. They sport a 5 MP webcam that has an IR sensor for facial recognition and can do human presence detection to tell if you're at your seat.
You can power the EliteBook X G2 with an included 65 W or 100 W power adapter (your choice). There's a built-in three-cell, 56 Wh or six-cell, 68 Wh battery.
[9]
All versions of the laptop come with Wi-Fi 7 connectivity, Bluetooth 6, and the option of adding a 5G modem. In the case of the EliteBook X G2q, the modem comes from Qualcomm, while the AMD and Intel versions have HP R15 or R18 5G connectivity. The lightweight G2i model is Wi-Fi only.
[10]HP to sack up to six thousand staff under AI adoption plan, fresh round of cost-cutting
[11]HP Inc settles printer toner lockout lawsuit with a promise to make firmware updates optional
[12]HP deliberately adds 15 minutes waiting time for telephone support calls
[13]HP Inc. hastens China exit as tariffs kick a hole in its profits
HP brings Copilot to enterprise printers
If your company has a Microsoft 365 Copilot account and you own or plan to buy an HP Enterprise printer that works with its ecosystem of Workpath apps, you'll soon be able to get that AI directly in your print/scan solution.
[14]
HP Printer with Copilot
Dubbed HP for Microsoft 365 Copilot and due out this spring, the new on-printer software lets you do new AI-related kinds of things directly from the printer/scanner's touch screen. First, you'll be able to redact personally identifiable information from documents before you print them. Imagine scanning in a resume or opening it up from OneDrive and having the name and other information blacked out so that hiring managers can only look at the qualifications.
[15]
HP for Microsoft 365 Copilot
You'll also be able to have Copilot suggest file names for documents you scan so that you can easily identify them when looking through your folders. As you might expect, Copilot will also print AI-generated summaries of documents in lieu of the documents themselves and will do translation on-device. ®
Get our [16]Tech Resources
[1] https://regmedia.co.uk/2026/01/02/hp1.jpg
[2] https://regmedia.co.uk/2026/01/02/hp2.jpg
[3] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/systems&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2aVyW7Fep7AKPD7pP5gdq9gAAAAw&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
[4] https://regmedia.co.uk/2026/01/02/hp3.jpg
[5] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/systems&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44aVyW7Fep7AKPD7pP5gdq9gAAAAw&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[6] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/systems&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33aVyW7Fep7AKPD7pP5gdq9gAAAAw&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[7] https://regmedia.co.uk/2026/01/02/hp4.jpg
[8] https://regmedia.co.uk/2026/01/02/hp5.jpg
[9] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/systems&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44aVyW7Fep7AKPD7pP5gdq9gAAAAw&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[10] https://www.theregister.com/2025/11/26/hp_inc_q4_2025/
[11] https://www.theregister.com/2025/03/19/hp_printer_lawsuit_settled/
[12] https://www.theregister.com/2025/02/20/hp_deliberately_adds_15_minutes/
[13] https://www.theregister.com/2025/05/29/hp_inc_q2_2025/
[14] https://regmedia.co.uk/2026/01/02/hp6.jpg
[15] https://regmedia.co.uk/2026/01/02/hp7.jpg
[16] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
> HP hopes to change business behavior from laptop culture to keyboard culture.
I suspect most of the targetted audience will be of the "you can prise my laptop from my cold, dead hands" variety.
The form factor is essentially a longer, faster Raspberry Pi 500 (which I'm pretty sure sells in tiny quantities compared to the main Pi 5 models) - but at least the Pi has HDMI outputs.
I just don't see the upsides outweighting the downsides for more than a handful of people.