Month: July 2019

Enlarge (credit: Valentina Palladino)

We give a lot of attention to flagship PC families—and for good reason. Devices like the Dell XPS 13 and HP's Spectre 13 often get new technologies and design perks before other lineups in the OEM's portfolio. That remains true, but Dell, Lenovo, HP, and others are showing their other PC lines some love, too. Now, it's not so strange to consider an Inspiron or an Envy laptop even if you usually sought out the latest and greatest machines for their cutting-edge tech and processing power.

HP's newest Envy 13 laptop could cause Spectre diehards to take another look. With updated processors, optional Nvidia graphics, and a sleeker design, the Envy 13 looks like it can hold its own against devices like Dell's Inspiron 13 7000 Black Edition, and even its cousins the Spectre 13 and the Spectre x360 13. As with any more affordable laptop (this one starts at $799), it makes some sacrifices to keep costs down, but those may prove inconsequential even for the most staunch Spectre lovers.

Look and feel

The Spectre 13 and all of its variants are not for everyone, particularly those who don't like making a statement with their laptops. Its metallic edges and accents make it flashy, and its angled corners are a nod to jewelry design. The Envy 13 forgoes all of that and instead looks like a professional, yet sleek, work machine. I tested a silver model, but it's also available in a gold finish, which may appeal to those who want their laptop to have just a tad more personality than the rest.

Enlarge / The Rocket Report is published weekly. (credit: Arianespace)

Welcome to Edition 2.08 of the Rocket Report! This week's report comes from Brownsville, Texas, where we came to see if SpaceX's Starhopper can actually hop into the sky 20 meters. (Spoiler alert, it did!) Also, there's loads of news in the world of smallsat launchers this week, including a big breakthrough in China.

As always, we welcome reader submissions, and if you don't want to miss an issue, please subscribe using the box below (the form will not appear on AMP-enabled versions of the site). Each report will include information on small-, medium-, and heavy-lift rockets as well as a quick look ahead at the next three launches on the calendar.

First private Chinese firm reaches orbit. iSpace became the first Chinese private firm to achieve orbit with Thursday’s successful launch from a national space center in the Gobi Desert, Space News reports. The company, formally named Beijing Interstellar Glory Space Technology Ltd., launched the Hyperbola-1 launch vehicle from Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center at 1 a.m. Eastern on July 25.