HP is reviving the keyboard PC—this time with Windows 11 and an AMD Ryzen AI chip instead of a hobbyist board and Linux.
Announced today and demoed at CES 2026 in Las Vegas, the HP EliteBoard G1a is a full Windows PC built directly into a low-profile membrane keyboard. It weighs 1.65 pounds, comes bundled with a wireless mouse, and is scheduled to ship in March. HP hasn’t announced pricing yet.
From Commodore 64 to Raspberry Pi to HP
The idea of putting a computer inside the keyboard isn’t new. The Commodore 64 made the concept iconic in the 1980s. More recently, Raspberry Pi has owned this niche.
In 2019, the Raspberry Pi 400 squeezed a Raspberry Pi 4 single‑board computer into a plastic shell that doubles as the keyboard. With USB, HDMI, Ethernet, a GPIO header, and Raspberry Pi OS, it delivers a basic desktop experience for about $100.
Raspberry Pi followed that with the Raspberry Pi 500, built around a Pi 5 board using a quad‑core, 64‑bit Arm Cortex‑A76 processor, and then the Raspberry Pi 500+. The 500+ moves storage from microSD to an NVMe SSD and jumps to a low‑profile mechanical keyboard, at roughly double the price—around $200.
Those devices are popular with tinkerers, DIY builders, and Linux fans. But they also come with a learning curve and a very different software ecosystem from a typical office PC.
A Windows-first keyboard PC
HP’s EliteBoard G1a takes the same physical idea and points it squarely at the office. Instead of an Arm-based single‑board computer and Raspberry Pi OS, it runs Windows 11 Pro for Business on x86 silicon.
Inside is an AMD Ryzen AI 300‑series processor with an NPU rated at up to 50 TOPS, according to HP. The machine is also part of Microsoft’s Copilot+ PC program, signaling that it’s built to handle Windows’ AI‑heavy features locally instead of offloading everything to the cloud.
HP is building a 32 W internal battery into the EliteBoard, so it’s not just a static desktop slab. The company pitches it as a system you can pick up and move between desks and rooms. In HP’s words, it’s designed to “move, connect, and adapt to any workspace with ease.”
The trade‑off: HP hasn’t shared full specs yet, but based on what it has said, the EliteBoard will offer less raw computing power than many traditional Windows 11 business laptops and desktops.
Built for hot desking and hybrid work
HP is clearly targeting corporate environments that are already deep into hot desking and hybrid work. If employees don’t have assigned seats, IT can drop EliteBoards across shared desks and let people bring only a display and maybe a headset.
A keyboard PC also ticks the minimalist box. One slab on the desk, one cable to a monitor, and you’re working. There’s no tower under the desk, no docking station, and no tangle of power bricks.
Compared with Raspberry Pi options, the EliteBoard offers:
- A familiar Windows 11 Pro for Business environment
- x86 architecture instead of Arm, which tends to play better with legacy apps
- Integration into Microsoft’s Copilot+ PC push for AI‑accelerated features
That alone could make IT departments pay attention, especially if HP prices it close to thin‑client PCs and small business desktops.
Open questions before launch
Right now, the big unknowns are exactly the ones that matter to buyers: price, detailed CPU and GPU specs, memory and storage options, and ports.
HP is only saying that EliteBoard performance will be limited compared to other Windows 11 business PCs. That’s not surprising for a machine that has to live inside a slim keyboard and run off a 32 W battery, but it does put a cap on where it can be deployed.
There are also practical questions. How loud will cooling be under sustained load? How serviceable is the device if a key fails or the battery degrades? And will HP offer enterprise‑friendly management and security features on par with its Elite‑branded laptops?
For now, the EliteBoard G1a is one of the most approachable takes on the keyboard PC since the Raspberry Pi 400—only this time, it speaks fluent Windows. If HP can nail the price and specs, this could push the keyboard‑PC idea out of the maker corner and onto a lot more corporate desks.
