Upcoming Asus - U or W series with 8600 or better?

Hello all. I've been looking for a new laptop and plan to purchase one sometime early in the year. My current W3v is showing its age, and is about to be sent off to the home (by that I mean, my father's home, to be used for business). I've been keeping abreast of the latest Asus offerings, especially the U series.

Right now, I feel that in order to get a couple of years out of a notebook, including some decent gaming, I'm going to need to invest in one with a mid-range graphics card at least - the Nvidia 8600/9600 or better. However, size and aesthetics are also important to me. I love how the U series (and previous W series) look. LED Backlit screens, the rolled "bamboo" style hinges or recessed ones like the Macbook Pro, high quality materials etc... If Asus was to produce a 13, 14 or 15" U series with suitable graphics power, my decision would be easy.

Right now, I'm looking at a Mac Book Pro, simply because its the lightest/prettiest laptop I know of with enough graphical power to handle gaming at native resolution for a time. I'd really rather not pay "The Apple Tax" as I think I'd rather dual boot Linux and Windows anyway.

So are any of our Asus gurus aware of a notebook that might be what I'm looking for, arriving in the coming months? Thanks

 

Welcome ChivalricRonin,

I am too a W3V owner, however you will be a little dissappointed with what I'm going to tell you. The W3 series has been discontinued and looks like it will not be replaced. Currently there are a few machines under the same category, however, not quite as high quality as the W3. If you haven't noticed already, there are a few models under 14" that quite resemble the W3 in size weight and well power (given what the W3V/W3J was at the time). Unfortunately we don't know what's coming yet, but there have been new releases as of lately.
Just a brief list from the top of my head, nothing detailed.


F8SV-A1/B1 14" with 8600m GT DDR2 around 6 lbs including battery 1280x760 or 1440 x 920 resolution. It has a glossy finish(much like the HPs), almost identical dimensions to the W3 series, as well a familiar hinge and power button design. I would say this is most likely the closest thing to the W3J/W3V series, and worth predecessor. There is also the F8Sa-X1/A1/B1 with ATi HD2600 version of the F8 but offered with different colors most notibly white special edition, with leather finish.

V2S series 14" also Santa Rosa refresh with 8600GS

F3 series with 15.4" with both Nvidia 8600GS and ATi HD2600 graphics

If you want to compare directly to the MacBook Pro the G1S is also a worthy mention(although aimed at a different market), and packs quite a bit of power. There are tons of reviews on this model.



As you can see, Asus has alot of the table as of recently and it's pretty confusing even for Asus fans, users, and potential buyers..

Feel free to post more questions if you need any assistance.

 

Sub-14" with GPUs that handle current games at native res are not very common, I'm afraid, because of thermal dissipation constraints. (where current = at the time the notebook is released)