HP EliteBook
Hacker ApprovedRanked 2 of 3 business laptops by recommenders
Recommended for running Linux reliably, with upgradable RAM and storage, solid build and good repairability. Common caveat: the cheaper screen options are weak and prone to ghosting.
Recommended for running Linux reliably, with upgradable RAM and storage, solid build and good repairability. Common caveat: the cheaper screen options are weak and prone to ghosting.
31 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 26
- criticize it
- 5
- approval share
- 84%
Recommended in 8 of 13 months
- November 2025: not recommended
- December 2025: recommended
- January 2026: recommended
- February 2026: not recommended
- March 2026: recommended
- April 2026: recommended
- May 2026: recommended
- June 2026: recommended
- July 2026: not recommended
- August 2026: not recommended
- September 2026: recommended
- October 2026: recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Owned for 5 years
Median of the 7 owners who said how long they have had it.
Each square is one year.
Why it carries the badge
- 26 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, met.
- 5.2 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 8 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Runs Linux well out of the box
“I've been using exclusively HP EliteBook, including x360 models, laptops recently (past 5 years) and they've all been 100% on Linux.”
Comment from 24 Jan 2026 in “Microsoft gave FBI set of BitLocker encryption keys to unlock suspects' laptops” “EliteBooks have pretty great repairability and (unintentionally) great Linux support”
Comment from 25 Dec 2025 in “I'm returning my Framework 16” “I've never seen an EliteBook that needed any drivers for the common components”
Comment from 11 Jan 2026 in “I dumped Windows 11 for Linux, and you should too” - Comment from 24 Jan 2026 in “Microsoft gave FBI set of BitLocker encryption keys to unlock suspects' laptops”
- Comment from 10 Oct 2026 in “WSL3 Performance is about 5-60% faster than WSL2 depending on the workload”
- Comment from 28 Jan 2026 in “Microsoft forced me to switch to Linux”
- Comment from 24 Jan 2026 in “Microsoft gave FBI set of BitLocker encryption keys to unlock suspects' laptops”
Upgradable RAM, SSD, and repairable
“EliteBooks have pretty great repairability and (unintentionally) great Linux support”
Comment from 25 Dec 2025 in “I'm returning my Framework 16” “The build quality is superb, they're upgradeable, everything is replaceable”
Comment from 26 Dec 2025 in “Asahi Linux with Sway on the MacBook Air M2” “You can do this with EliteBooks, and HP replaced my battery for free.”
Comment from 24 Dec 2025 in “I'm returning my Framework 16” - Comment from 23 Mar 2026 in “Migrating to the EU”
- Comment from 2 Dec 2025 in “Ask HN: Quality of recent gens of Dell/Lenovo laptops worse than 10 years ago?”
Holds up for years
“I have two 5-year-old 840 G8s (one Intel, one AMD), and they have both held up fine”
Comment from 24 Jan 2026 in “Microsoft gave FBI set of BitLocker encryption keys to unlock suspects' laptops” “Any 2-3 gen old ThinkPad or Elitebook will outlast this and perform lot better.”
Comment from 1 Jun 2026 in “Chuwi Minibook X: the netbook we deserve” “Literally laptops built to last.”
Comment from 11 Jan 2026 in “I dumped Windows 11 for Linux, and you should too” Solid aluminum and magnesium build
“I much, much preferred the aluminum of my otherwise cheaper-feeling EliteBooks”
Comment from 18 May 2026 in “ThinkPad: From IBM's Bento Box to Lenovo's AI Workstations” “rigidly built body using magnesium/aluminum alloys, good input devices and IO”
Comment from 1 Apr 2026 in “My MacBook Keyboard Is Broken and It's Insanely Expensive to Fix” “The build quality is superb, they're upgradeable, everything is replaceable”
Comment from 26 Dec 2025 in “Asahi Linux with Sway on the MacBook Air M2”
What people warn about
Each mark is one comment
Poor screens, ghosting and dim quality
“The brand-new 2025 models I see people receive have worse screens and trackpads than my 2013 MBP.”
Comment from 25 Dec 2025 in “I'm returning my Framework 16” “The Elitebooks are quite nice, except for the cheap screen options (prone to ghosting).”
Comment from 2 Dec 2025 in “Ask HN: Quality of recent gens of Dell/Lenovo laptops worse than 10 years ago?” “the only thing negative I have to say about it is that the screen is pathetic”
Comment from 2 Dec 2025 in “Ask HN: Quality of recent gens of Dell/Lenovo laptops worse than 10 years ago?” - Comment from 26 Oct 2026 in “The Curse of Soldered RAM”
Missing drivers and hardware quirks
“Half the things on my 5 yo HP Elitebook don't work out of the box and I need to install a bunch of drivers from HP”
Comment from 11 Jan 2026 in “I dumped Windows 11 for Linux, and you should too” “The intel one had some kind of new touchpad, which doesn't work during the windows install.”
Comment from 11 Jan 2026 in “I dumped Windows 11 for Linux, and you should too”
Other business laptops people recommend
The two most recommended other business laptops, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lenovo ThinkPad | 332 | 113 | 75% | 12 | 10 yrs44 owners | Approved |
| HP EliteBookThis page | 26 | 5 | 84% | 8 | 5 yrs7 owners | Approved |
| Dell Latitude 7490 | 5 | 2 | 71% | 3 | — | — |
What people said
40 of the 44 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“I was fed up with the ridiculous screen quality of the HPs”
“Suspend and Hibernate work pretty flawlessly on higher end devices”
“they became a worthy alternative at a similar price, the base screens are decent (16:10 in the last models) with nice touchpads”
“holding a modifier key like Alt makes the F key act standard, so Alt+F4 works in any mode as expected”
“Businesses sell off perfectly functional laptops in bulk because they are on regular refresh cycles for employees”
“Any 2-3 gen old ThinkPad or Elitebook will outlast this and perform lot better.”
“I get about 20 hours of battery life on CachyOS”
“I much, much preferred the aluminum of my otherwise cheaper-feeling EliteBooks”
“the most stupid design decision I saw was on some HP EliteBook”
“randomly doesn't wake from suspend, hinge cracking and keycaps falling off”
“I am just keen on not having that little red ball in the middle of the keyboard”
“rigidly built body using magnesium/aluminum alloys, good input devices and IO”
“except for maybe business laptop models (eg HP's Elitebook line)”
“you can format the drive, install Linux, and be completely free of Microsoft and Apple”
“the older generation HP EliteBook 840 G10 that Micro Center sells as a business laptop makes a bunch more sense in a lot of ways”
“Around $300, upgradable RAM and SSD, and reasonably recent.”
“the big brands like Dell Latitude and HP Elitebook are also dropping the ball”
“notably business laptops like the Thinkpad x1 and HP Elitebook”
“On Linux it's been fine since day one, some 5 years ago.”
“I'm generally very happy with my 845 G8, I only ever hear its fan when compiling.”
“EliteBook and Z Book from HP seems fine for Linux too”
“I have two 5-year-old 840 G8s (one Intel, one AMD), and they have both held up fine”
“the firmware has Linux happy paths, the hardware is supported by the kernel”
“I've been using exclusively HP EliteBook, including x360 models, laptops recently (past 5 years) and they've all been 100% on Linux.”
“For a long time, the AMD's webcam didn't work.”
“The intel one had some kind of new touchpad, which doesn't work during the windows install.”
“I've never seen an EliteBook that needed any drivers for the common components”
“Half the things on my 5 yo HP Elitebook don't work out of the box and I need to install a bunch of drivers from HP”
“Literally laptops built to last.”
“on a HP Spectre 360, another HP Elitebook and on a really ancient Toshiba Satellite”
“But they’re heavier, slower, have more impactful active cooling, have much worse battery life (mostly due to the processor)”
“The build quality is superb, they're upgradeable, everything is replaceable”
“HP Elitebooks are expensive, high-end machines.”
“The brand-new 2025 models I see people receive have worse screens and trackpads than my 2013 MBP.”
“EliteBooks have pretty great repairability and (unintentionally) great Linux support”
“You can do this with EliteBooks, and HP replaced my battery for free.”
“I've been quite happy with it so far.”
“The Elitebooks are quite nice, except for the cheap screen options (prone to ghosting).”
“have upgradable ram, SSD, and are generally serviceable”
“the only thing negative I have to say about it is that the screen is pathetic”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.