Asus u38n: Trinity "Ultrathin" Laptop --> Portable Gaming & Photo Editing?

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Comp625

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I have been waiting for a 13.3"-14" ultrabook that features an IPS screen (for photo-editing purposes), has a backlit keyboard, and sports a decent GPU (for light-to-moderate gaming while I am away from my beastly desktop). Also, I know Haswell will change the landscape in 2013, but the present-day Intel HD4000's do not really meet those light gaming needs.

The closest Intel iteration that I've found is the Asus Zenbook UX32VD, which actually features a GeForce 620M (aka Fermi 520M) and not the Intel HD4000. However, it's still on the weaker side for games with its last generation mobile GPU.

Most recently, I stumbled on info about the Asus u38n Vivobook that is quietly entering the market. It has an A10-A4655m (with Radeon 7620g), 6gb of ram, 128gb ssd, and an IPS touchscreen with Windows 8. Not many benchmarks are out but I stumbled on the product page and a review.

Asus u38n Product Page
Ultrabookreview.com's Youtube Review

Beyond the Asus u38n, should I be considering any other laptops? Perhaps I am putting too much stock into the Radeon 7620g?

My 4-year old laptop is on its last legs. However, my laptop needs aren't "urgently immediate" if that makes any sense. Perhaps I should just wait for Haswell?

I'm not expecting gaming miracles, but am happy to trade-off some CPU performance for the extra GPU performance. Yet, I feel like I am overlooking something since most laptops are Intel-based that use the HD4000 and have TN panels. :confused:
 
Gigabyte has a 14inch that has a GT640m card along with an i5 ULV chip and 1600x900 screen
 
IPS though? I didn't recall seeing a Gigabyte offering that had an IPS screen.
 
My bad, I don't think it was IPS. I did not read that requirement. That's my fault.
 
A word of advice. Avoid glossy or high gloss screen laptops. Get Matte if possible. My wife is a professional photographer and has issues with color and light editing on those screens. I've had other photographers tell me the same.
 
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ASUS has the worst customer service Ive ever dealt with. If you have a problem, expect a month without your laptop, minimum.
 
You need reviews IPS is nice but it does not mean it is actually any better, and can be worse for photography, take the IPS screens in the envy that had issues with red / orange colors, I would rather have a more accurate TN panel like those in the lenovo y580 than an IPS with issues. Ultra books being so thin also are likely to have less even back lighting I think so in the end you just have to find some good reviews on the screen before you jump to conclusions.

Also it might help if you list your current rig. Honestly IMO ultra books are never going to be gaming machines, what is more exciting is the low price and weight of regular notebooks. My friend recently grabbed an HP dv6t and it was very light, very mobile and had a 650m in it. Why bother shaving off a little more I thought? This is plenty portable and the battery lasts OK.

You can always wait for something newer like haswell and it will surely be a step up, but games are just going to keep stepping up too.
 
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hard to find a ultrabook with an ips screen and a good gpu. youre going to have to sacrifice something
 
Also what are the reviews like, OLED forced the IPS players to bring prices down and that is resulting in IPS showing up in alot of places, the side effect of that is that TN players had to start bringing quality up. So I have seen some very nice TN panels while they do not have the same properties of IPS I would not hesitate to take some of these over IPS especially if gaming.
 
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