Would this laptop work well with sims 2, all the expansions?

[omgyeahlol]

I would just really like to know if it would. Because before I had a dell laptop inspiron 1520 and from experience and plenty people telling me dell and sims 2 just don't work well.

I was told the Aspire TimelineX would work but I would just like to confirm it, maybe people who have a lot of expansions and loads of hacks and downloads and custom content could tell me what their laptop is.

I understand with the large amount of custom content and hacks it will be slow etc I just want it not to crash and play correctly without me having to pay the tech repair to wipe my computer because of the sims 2.

http://www.acer.co.uk/ac/en/GB/content/model/LX.R3A02.071

^^ Aspire TimelineX ^^

[HystericalParoxysm]

There's nothing specifically wrong with Dell and TS2; what matters is specs more than brand.

I don't see any graphics card listed there, which is... odd. Some Googling suggests they have a separate graphics card, which is good, but I'd be real wary of buying without knowing for sure what graphics card is in it.

There are lots of recommendations on specific laptop models to be found in the sticky: http://www.modthesims.info/showthread.php?p=2191351#post2191351 ... any of those would work well.

[omgyeahlol]

Thanks so much ! What would be the best laptop that would work well with the large amount of hacks and custom content on the list?

[omgyeahlol]

Would the SAGER NP7110 (Clevo B7110M) work well? All I want it to do is function properly. As on my dell laptop once I began downloading, it would always freeze up, if I made a sim in create a family and went to go make another one it would freeze, it would freeze in loading screens, it would freeze ingame etc etc. It would also crash randomly and eventually the sims 2 just stopped working all together.

[HystericalParoxysm]

Well, they'll all work fairly well - generally, though, the more money you spend the better it's going to be (at least with the way that list is laid out) so it's going to depend on your budget.

[omgyeahlol]

How would I fix this issue though? Because all I use to downloads etc.

[HystericalParoxysm]

If it only happened once you started downloading custom content, then it was likely some issue with the custom content, not the laptop itself.

[HystericalParoxysm]

It's probably -specific- custom content, not everything. If it were me, I'd remove all custom content temporarily, delete cache files, make fresh user files (all described here: Game Help:Game Problem ) and test that way to see how it runs. If it works fine that way, then start putting back only minimal custom content - addon stuff only like clothes, hair, accessories, walls/floors, skins, eyes, makeup - things that are extremely unlikely to cause issues. See if it works that way. Then add in furniture/build objects, test that way. And if you do add actual mods/hacks or hacked objects, make sure they are compatible with your game version.

[omgyeahlol]

I know of people who hoard cc and nothing bad happens at all. My computers always manage to fuck up, the reasons have been to do with graphics card, my laptop is not strong enough etc.

I have to get a new laptop anyway so what one would be good for holding sims 2 and large amounts of custom content?

[HystericalParoxysm]

There's lots of recommendations in this here sticky, including some specific models to look for: http://www.modthesims.info/showthread.php?t=330413

Any of the recommended models would be good; of course the higher end ones will be better, but what you'd get would depend on your budget.

[omgyeahlol]

I live in Ireland so I would not be able to get any of those laptops, any HP, Vaio, Toshiba, Samsung, Acer, would be available to me

[ellacharmed]

You could simply compare the components (CPU, RAM, GPU) in the recommended laptops vs those offered by the other mainstream brands. Though heat in these mainstream laptop models are an issue you need to be aware of. Those that handle heat properly are the behemoths 17 inchers and not that mobile (which kinda defeats the purpose of getting a laptop IMO), that you may as well purchase a Desktop that assures an upgrade path.

[omgyeahlol]

http://www.shopping.hp.com/webapp/shopping/store_access.do?template_type=series_detail&category=notebooks&series_name=dv7t_series&jumpid=in_R329_prodexp/hhoslp/psg/notebooks/promo_tile/3/lp_promo_tile3_dv7t_series_26 Would this laptop be good?

[whiterider]

That depends which options you pick - if you look at the "Specs" tab, you can see there are a load of options for each component. You can certainly pick options there that'll give you a good laptop: make sure that the CPU, RAM and graphics are all within the Game Help:TS3 System Requirements

You should also be aware that, since that's a US site, you may not be able to get the exact same options in Ireland. Are you in NI or RoI?

[omgyeahlol]

Republic

[omgyeahlol]

http://www.dabs.ie/products/sony-vaio-e-series-ef3e1e-wi-athlon-ii-dual-core-p340-2-2ghz-4gb-320gb-17-3--windows-7-home-premium-7672.html?refs=50417 Yes or No? I've looked over mod the sims help on the specs etc but I'm confused and lost in everything. So will it work or not?

[ellacharmed]

That's another "NO".
Going by your choices so far, (all of which has unsupported graphics), you need to read up on why they don't suit. Which is all explained in the stickies.
Perhaps you should ask questions on what is it that you don't understand? I could supply some links with more information on hardware, if you care to do some research before doing further searches.

And I'm going to merge all your open threads, just to ensure we have the backstory and all the information in one place, thus cutting down on repetitive responses...

Or provide more info:
- what is the primary purpose of the machine? Does it need powerful CPU for processing heavy-duty stuff or is Sims 2 the main thing? Not Sims 3? Not playing any newer games with higher requirements in the near future, then?
- what is your budget?
- why a laptop? it is really not recomended for gaming. If you need mobility, would a desktop and a netbook be able to suit your budget and still allow you to play Sims?
- we know country of purchase (Republic of Ireland), so that would help.

You could also read through all the other threads here, if you hadn't done so, I mean.

If you just want to buy to not have the freezing issue you mentioned, perhaps post in Game Help? Other than one thread in Sims 3 Help Archive, I don't see any other Help threads to deal with any game issues you have.
...unless you have exhausted all troubleshooting suggestions that never helped solve the issue?

[omgyeahlol]

Ok well my other laptop has actually broken in two. The hinges have broken, only the wires are connected. The frame is already broken and will soon break off completely and which I've been told will lead to the whole screen cracking. And I was told the mother board is gone.

The primary purpose of the machine would be for my study of which I would be using just the internet, also for online games and facebook. The only game I would actually install would be Sims 2 and all of it's expansions and also a graphics programme, called coral paint shop pro X. I will not be installing sims 3 or any other games, no.

My budget would be 500 to 600 Euros.

I was told I'm only allowed get a laptop.

I just don't understand anything really. Like or example I don't understand 'unsupported graphics'. I would google these things and research them but I still don't understand some words they might use to describe it or I don't understand what it does or how they describe the meaning. I know I'm useless and hopeless but I'm totally lost.

[omgyeahlol]

I've been searching for some laptops matching the named graphics cards etc but I can't seem to find any exact ones. So would any of these work well with the sims 2? Sorry I'm hopeless :P

http://www.dabs.ie/products/acer-aspire-5738----p-t4400--ram-4-gb--hdd-320-gb--w7hp-64-bit--15-6--3d-ready-widescreen-tft-laptop-6P6M.html

http://www.dabs.ie/products/samsung-x125-athlon-ii-neo---3gb---320gb---11-6--screen---notebook---windows-7-home-premium-laptop-72TJ.html

http://www.dabs.ie/products/hp-620-core-2-duo-t6670-2-2ghz-4gb-320gb-15-6--windows-7-professional-64-bit---free-carry-case-7847.html

I'm sorry this is probably no help but it's something.

[ellacharmed]

Homework (Research)
There's lots of homework ahead for you. ;) You need to do a lot of reading.

First understand the requirements Game_Help:System_Requirements/MTS2_Recommendations

CPU: 1.8 GHz or faster (2.4 GHz for Windows Vista/7)
RAM: 1024 MB or more
Video: DirectX 9.0 compatible and have 64 MB or more memory, ideally all green "Yes" across the row for all packs, as shown in the above wiki

Understand why IGPs are bad and discrete graphic cards are important:

sticky on graphics cards
Game Help:Onboard Graphics
Game Help:Graphics Cards


That's the trifecta, skimp on one component and you "bottleneck" performance because that one component cannot catch up and you experience poor gaming with lags and crashes, etc. Skimp on 2 components, you're just wasting your money down the drain.



And going by the recommendations in sticky for your budget (so you should aim for comparable components in the same benchmark that also fits your criteria):
Asus N82: has i5-450M dual-core processor (2.40GHz), 4GB DDR3 RAM, and GeForce GT335M
SAGER NP2180: has Intel i5-520M dual-core processor (2.40GHz), 4GB DDR3 RAM and AMD 5650
Sager NP5125: has i5-450M dual-core processor (2.40GHz), 4GB DDR3 RAM, and GeForce GT335M

For current available models, I would not go lower than a dual core and a 3-4GB RAM and a GPU whose model sub-series is not below 3 or 4, ie good choices would be these models and above:
- Nvidia x3xM (eg 335M)
- AMD Mobility x5xx (eg 5570)
We would usually see those which has the pixel/vertex shader column in this page (http://www.notebookcheck.net/Mobile-Graphics-Cards-Benchmark-List.844.0.html) with values in double-digits, showing in various forums with some issue or other...so the higher the numbers, the better the performance.

Due to budget constraints, I would also go so far as one or two generations older for these components and maybe one sub-series lower as you're playing Sims 2 only, as long as they are benchmarked the same. So if you can find models as those with the recommended components in the stickies that fit your budget, you're golden! FYI, current generation models for graphics are
- Nvidia 5xx series
- AMD 6xxx series

Useful links as promised, other than those in the wikis & stickies, look around the laptop/notebook sites and be a sponge (read and absorb):

http://www.notebookreview.com/default.asp?newsID=5636
http://www.notebookcheck.net/Notebook-Hardware-Guide.1311.0.html

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/radeon-hd-6950-1gb-geforce-gtx-560-ti-gaming-graphics-card,2857-7.html
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/best-gaming-cpu-core-i5-2500k-amd-e350,2843-6.html

this site is mostly geared to Desktop, so laptop versions are usually weaker and slower versions and go in the lower tier than the same Desktop model




On to your choices in above post:
1st link: Maybe (4550/4570 has "Maybes" in wiki), graphics would be low to average ; CPU Dual-core 2.2GHz is fine, RAM is good
2nd link: No, graphics is an Integrated chipset (aka IGP) "ATI Radeon HD 4200"
3rd link: No, graphics is an Integrated chipset (aka IGP) "Intel GMA 4500MHD"

I couldn't find any laptops with discrete graphics on this dabs.ie website that fit your budget, perhaps try a different one? I have no idea which sites are good or reliable (make sure to research or ask around!), but there's a whole list of online retailers here, and you have to check if they ship to your area yourself. :) http://www.uknetguide.co.uk/Shopping/Hardware_Retailers/Laptop_Retailers.html



Some offerings I found with some of my personal misgivings about the model:

http://www.wstore.co.uk/Product/Q258963/TOSHIBA_Satellite_Pro_L670-14L_Core_i3-330_2_13_

17.3 inches means heavier than all your other choices
only has 2GB RAM

http://www.novatech.co.uk/novatech/laptop/range/i5plus.html

if configurable, cost of blue-ray reader could be used for a better graphics card and just get a regular DVD-writer/reader
graphics of 310M has "Maybe" across the row in our wiki



-------------
TL;DR: Read, read, read and then, read some more. ;)

:deal: If after reading, you get confused, you're welcome to ask questions, of course!