Design:
HP has an excellent track record of making slim and elegant laptops, and the latest EliteBook 745 G5 is no exception. Entirely clad in an anodized aluminum skin, it feels lovely to handle and use.

It's also very slim at just 17.9mm with a rear hinge that extends almost the entire width of the machine, forcing all the external ports to be on the sides, with the majority being on the right.

The left-hand edge has a single Type-A USB 3.1 Gen 1 port, a Kensington lock point, and a thin smart card slot, along with the thermal vent for the processor.

The right side includes another Type-A and a Type-C USB port, HDMI out, a docking connector and an expanding RJ-45 Ethernet port.

For those interested, the Type-C port can be used to charge the machine, but confusingly HP provides a proprietary connector on a small PSU - the type that is easily bent, broken, and falls out if you move the laptop (even slightly).