Laptop to run Sims 4

ajcardiac

Reputable
Feb 25, 2015
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4,510
Looking for some help buying a budget to mid-range Laptop for 14yo daughter:

1. What is your budget? £600

2. What is the size of the notebook that you are considering? 15.6"

3. What screen resolution do you want? 1920 * 1080

4. Do you need a portable or desktop replacement laptop? Replacement laptop

5. How much battery life do you need? 3 hours

6. Do you want to play games with your laptop? If so then please list the games that you want to with the settings that you want for these games. (Low,Medium or High)? Sims 3, Sims 4, possibly Steam Games like Gary's Mod - medium

7. What other tasks do you want to do with your laptop? (Photo/Video editing, Etc.) Streaming HD video, web-surfing, video calling such as Facetime

8. How much storage (Hard Drive capacity) do you need? 1TB

9. If you are considering specific sites to buy from, please post their links. Amazon, eBuyer, Dabs, Overclockers, Newegg or any recommended

10. How long do you want to keep your laptop? 3-5years

11. What kind of Optical drive do you need? DVD ROM/Writer,Bluray ROM/Writer,Etc ? DVD-ROM, possibly Bluray. No need for writing.

12. Please tell us about the brands that you prefer to buy from them and the brands that you don't like and explain the reasons. Likes: Asus - reliable. Lenovo - recommended. Dislikes: Toshiba - battery poor. Dell - poor desktop components

13. What country do you live in? England

14. Please tell us any additional information if needed. Daughter is known to drop laptop :-( I can't decide if 1366 * 768 will suffice or is a cop-out. Suspect will play more graphic-intensive games in future, so suspect will need a dedicated graphics card. Suspect 8GB ram needed. First post, will probably do it wrong. Prepared to be flamed.
 
Solution
Lenovo laptops are expensive and they don't really make laptops with dedicated graphics chips. My personal laptop, Lenovo Yoga 2 Pro, is pretty expensive and it only uses built-in graphics chip which would be inside the CPU. Dell/Alienware/MSI are pretty much the only exceptions, except battery life becomes an issue. That goes for all laptops that laptops are not designed for gaming, as it is a very slim device that runs very hot. The internal battery isn't designed for stuff like gaming, even if it is for something casual like The Sims. Are you sure your daughter can only get a laptop, for school or something? A desktop PC can be faster than a laptop for cheaper and since it's plugged into the wall you can use it indefinitely.

As for...
Lenovo laptops are expensive and they don't really make laptops with dedicated graphics chips. My personal laptop, Lenovo Yoga 2 Pro, is pretty expensive and it only uses built-in graphics chip which would be inside the CPU. Dell/Alienware/MSI are pretty much the only exceptions, except battery life becomes an issue. That goes for all laptops that laptops are not designed for gaming, as it is a very slim device that runs very hot. The internal battery isn't designed for stuff like gaming, even if it is for something casual like The Sims. Are you sure your daughter can only get a laptop, for school or something? A desktop PC can be faster than a laptop for cheaper and since it's plugged into the wall you can use it indefinitely.

As for the display/screen, 1080p would be your best bet for budget laptops as the screen PPI would be very high, guaranteeing a clear image. Anything higher than 1080p is a bit excessive (my laptop has a 3200x1800p display lol) but it does have a very clear image. Anything less than 1080p on a laptop introduces a bit of screen blur. Nonetheless, if you and her are up for it a desktop would be the best bet. Although, with a desktop, you'd have to use your own monitor/tv or buy your own.
 
Solution
Budget laptops can be very slow. My old laptop took minutes to start up and it kept freezing occasionally, and this was an Eee PC or something. Maybe you can try talking to her about it again, mentioning the disadvantages you'd have with budget laptops (long startup time, occasional freezing..).

The good laptops that load up insanely fast and stuff are very expensive, like the Lenovo I have.