Personally, utilizing an external monitor is not a solution because I have 2 desktop gaming rigs already for that, this laptop is exclusively for travel (and if I wanted to use a laptop at home for some reason as a desktop replacement, perhaps living in a dorm or something, I would have bought a G75 or similar!).
So I ordered the replacement 1600x900 screen from HIDevolution, it arrived in two days (!) from California to my home in New Jersey, packaged well. I was installing an mSATA anyway, so I changed out the lcd once the entire screen assembly was removed. It was a nice and easy install - remove the four corner rubber pads, and the screws underneath. Pry around the edges slowly and carefully with some sort of chisel (credit card works). Unscrew the 4 silver retaining screws, fold lcd forward, peel tape off the back and remove the connector. Assemble in reverse. Windows 8 seems to have trouble sometimes with new screen being installed, you may have to uninstall/reinstall video drivers for it to recognize. At first I was worried because the ROG boot up logo was artifacting like crazy, but it was a driver issue and easily resolved.
As for quality, I do have one dead pixel on the new lcd but it is not too noticeable due to the excellent pixel pitch at this screen size. It is the same ugly, grainy matte coating as the x768 panel. As much I love the look of glossy panels, again considering the practicality of travel -- which is what a laptop was really supposed to be for -- matte screens are a solid choice because you can't control your viewing environment so easily. I do wish it looked a little less like a$$ but what can you do. The color gamut -- it's hard to say if the panel is of an overall better quality because I spent so little time with the original, but the color and response seem possibly a bit better, maybe slightly superior brightness levels but nothing that blows the lower res panel away. One thing is for sure however....1366x768 is a little too low for a laptop this size circa 2013 (many phones offer superior res), 1600x900 feels just right and just general Windows and internet browsing feels much better. There isn't much off a performance hit in games either and I do swear that the motion blur is a little less intense with this panel in addition to the sharper image. For the low price they are offering, I think it's a worthy upgrade.
On the other hand, getting Windows 8 over to the mSATA and making it recognizable as a boot drive? That was a nightmare, lol. But the performance difference is insanely dramatic...before it literally ran Windows tasks slower than my crappy work computer with 2 GB of DDR2 ram, now its on par with my 4.8ghz i5 rig with 2 Corsair Force GT's....just a night and day difference. The 5400 Seagate drive that comes in some of these G46's (like from Best Buy) is absolutely crippling its performance even more than I realized. I know it's not so much Asus's fault as that's what the big box stores wanted to sell to shave cost.
All in all, I am absolutely ecstatic with the G46 now that the two major oversights are corrected!
