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Need Help Picking a Laptop

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  • rosemowrosemow Posts: 163,585 Member
    Hello @ForEmaleigh
    I posted on your activity wall but just wanted to send another hug to you and your daughter <3 It is a hard time for your daughter and for yourself as you caringly and lovingly help her as she endures through cancer, and its effects on her life. It is great that she is enjoying playing Freeplay :)
    I hope that you may be able to find a laptop that you can use at home as well as take with you during the treatments and hosptsl stays, It would be best to post the laptop infornation here before buying the laptop, to check that it is capable to run the sims games.
  • ForEmaleighForEmaleigh Posts: 33 Member
    Thank you! I asked in an already active post and was told there's not a lot around $600 bucks. I can save for $800 and possibly get one that way. I just need a starting point to look. I've searched bestbuy and target etc. maybe the computer gurus around these forums know of a magical place that has a custom laptop that won't break the bank! Thank u so much for your help and especially for the love and hugs :) bless you!!
  • ForEmaleighForEmaleigh Posts: 33 Member
    I thought about used for sure! My only worry is getting one that's got problems. I don't want to end up with one "at a good price" only to get it running and find it's got a bug or has issues that would cost more to fix. Do you know of a reputable place that sells used that have been checked for problems? I don't mind used at all :)
  • phoebebebe13phoebebebe13 Posts: 19,400 Member
    A desktop really isn't a good option. I guess it would be good at home but lately we aren't here very much. Is there nothing that will play is in less than "optimal" mode that won't break the bank? I really think this would be the perfect escape for her. I would do the sims4 and we could wait for pets and snow....I just loaded free play on her iPad. I hope that may have more interaction. She saw a video that had babies, toddlers, kids. She gets so little interaction with kids her age.....this would at least let her experience some things she's not able to. Or if anything....FEEL like she is. If I bumped up my budget to $800 and held out a month to save for it....I think my total investment would still be around $1000 for the games, expansions. For her? It's worth it. Is $800 a workable range? If so, what would you recommend? Links? I'm sorry. I just need a little help with this and have browsed the other questions similar. I'm finding mostly answers that are years old and I had hoped newer laptops had progressed enough to support the game and possibly be less expensive. Two weeks of her treatments add up to one AMAZING laptop....but? Those chemo treatments come before a laptop of course. I hate cancer. I wish my baby could just go out and DO all these things rather than play pretend in a game....but if that's all I can give her I will find a way.

    I hope your daughter feels better :D

    As I mentioned in above posts to the original poster of this thread laptops can not be upgraded you are stuck with the specs you buy. The laptop needs to meet recommended requirements to survive the game as it adds more and more. Both the sims 3 and 4 require a mid range gaming desktop. Laptop hardware is weaker than desktop so you need a higher end gaming laptop to equal the desktop requirements

    This will work https://www.amazon.com/GL552VW-DH71-15-Inch-Gaming-Discrete-GeForce/dp/B06WVDK7W8/ref=sr_1_22?ie=UTF8&qid=1488920540&sr=8-22&keywords=gtx+960m+laptop
  • phoebebebe13phoebebebe13 Posts: 19,400 Member
    edited March 2017
    I'm sorry to hear that your kid have cancer @ForEmaleigh , its a very ugly illness and I hope she will get better soon. Both of you deserve it.

    I think bumping it to 800 would be better, where do you live at? Maybe I can find something(:

    Probably worth looking at what's available used as well!

    Used refurbished laptops or open box can be a dangerous investment. Many only give a 30 day warranty if that. Newegg gives you as is and no warranty on open box or refurbished. We had someone in here who bought a used laptop and it started giving out after 30 days
    I thought about used for sure! My only worry is getting one that's got problems. I don't want to end up with one "at a good price" only to get it running and find it's got a bug or has issues that would cost more to fix. Do you know of a reputable place that sells used that have been checked for problems? I don't mind used at all :)

  • phoebebebe13phoebebebe13 Posts: 19,400 Member
    edited March 2017
    @ForEmaleigh gaming laptops are heavier than the average laptop that is used to do simple tasks. You need better cooling while gaming and why gaming laptops are thicker. The battery life on a gaming laptop is about 4 hours. When gaming 3d games you have to play plugged in on a laptop or the game may not run properly. The laptop needs that extra power to be able to handle the game. Laptops are only good for browsing the web and steaming a movie on battery
  • luthienrisingluthienrising Posts: 37,628 Member
    I'm sorry to hear that your kid have cancer @ForEmaleigh , its a very ugly illness and I hope she will get better soon. Both of you deserve it.

    I think bumping it to 800 would be better, where do you live at? Maybe I can find something(:

    Probably worth looking at what's available used as well!

    Used refurbished laptops or open box can be a dangerous investment. Many only give a 30 day warranty if that. Newegg gives you as is and no warranty on open box or refurbished. We had someone in here who bought a used laptop and it started giving out after 30 days
    I thought about used for sure! My only worry is getting one that's got problems. I don't want to end up with one "at a good price" only to get it running and find it's got a bug or has issues that would cost more to fix. Do you know of a reputable place that sells used that have been checked for problems? I don't mind used at all :)
    Oh, I know. I just thought that in the circumstances, it might be a worthwhile risk. This isn't a case where more money can be saved up first or a desktop is an option. It strikes me as a case where now is more important than later.
    EA CREATOR NETWORK MEMBER — Want to be notified of patches, new Broken Mods threads, and urgent Sims 4 news? Follow me at https://www.patreon.com/luthienrising.
  • ForEmaleighForEmaleigh Posts: 33 Member
    [/quote]
    Oh, I know. I just thought that in the circumstances, it might be a worthwhile risk. This isn't a case where more money can be saved up first or a desktop is an option. It strikes me as a case where now is more important than later.
    [/quote]

    If I found a really nice gaming lap that was used and had been checked out I would possibly give it a try.
    Her daddy is going to look at a few laps after work. I tend to think it through, try to be economical.....he finds a wish, grants a wish. I just hope he takes the specs with him.

    What would I need to look at to play sims4 plus 4-5 expansions? Or less...we would likely just grab the top ones. No stuff packs etc.
    this way I can give him a def. list to have someone help him choose. I don't want the sales people to sell him one, get it home and it not be what we need.

    Thank you guys for being so helpful.
    I know a laptop isn't the BEST idea for this game....but because it's the only thing we will be using it for....I won't get frustrated if we must shut it down to cool off frequently.....I don't need to do mods or anything special. I'm hoping we can at least do the sims 4 on one. After reading about sims3 and the problems it had on a lap i think we should do 4 and wait for the seasons/pets.
  • luthienrisingluthienrising Posts: 37,628 Member
    edited March 2017
    Oh, I know. I just thought that in the circumstances, it might be a worthwhile risk. This isn't a case where more money can be saved up first or a desktop is an option. It strikes me as a case where now is more important than later.
    [/quote]

    If I found a really nice gaming lap that was used and had been checked out I would possibly give it a try.
    Her daddy is going to look at a few laps after work. I tend to think it through, try to be economical.....he finds a wish, grants a wish. I just hope he takes the specs with him.

    What would I need to look at to play sims4 plus 4-5 expansions? Or less...we would likely just grab the top ones. No stuff packs etc.
    this way I can give him a def. list to have someone help him choose. I don't want the sales people to sell him one, get it home and it not be what we need.

    Thank you guys for being so helpful.
    I know a laptop isn't the BEST idea for this game....but because it's the only thing we will be using it for....I won't get frustrated if we must shut it down to cool off frequently.....I don't need to do mods or anything special. I'm hoping we can at least do the sims 4 on one. After reading about sims3 and the problems it had on a lap i think we should do 4 and wait for the seasons/pets.
    [/quote]

    I'd say, since he's hunting used, have him bring the recommended specs as think of them as a bare minimum. The game's heavier than it was at launch even basegame-alone. Re. expansions, the EPs push the game specs a lot harder than the GPs do. You might have a tough time running City Living, for example, on not-ideal laptop (indeed, it's taxing a lot of people's systems at the moment). Consider instead the Game Packs: Outdoor Retreat (camping vacations) and Vampires are especially fun, I think. The Stuff Packs also include gameplay items. Your daughter might like Kids' Stuff, which has a puppet theatre and a collectible card game, and Backyard Stuff, which has a waterslide. Those aren't going to push your specs much.

    Fingers crossed that he can track down a good laptop! If he's willing to call/text in specs to you, we can check them here, give you an idea of whether you'll get at least some mileage out of the machine.

    EA CREATOR NETWORK MEMBER — Want to be notified of patches, new Broken Mods threads, and urgent Sims 4 news? Follow me at https://www.patreon.com/luthienrising.
  • phoebebebe13phoebebebe13 Posts: 19,400 Member
    edited March 2017
    @ForEmaleigh
    Your very welcome. Just be careful if you buy used. They don't sell laptop hardware to the public. If anything goes wrong you would have to take it to a professional. If they no longer make the hardware for the laptop you will have a problem. They will only replace laptop hardware with same hardware you had before.

    specs to look for

    on laptop you would need a stronger laptop i7 processor quad core which will end in HQ or MQ

    You want a video card that is DDR 5 vram. You need a GTX 960m or better on laptop.

    The first number is the series for Nvidia 900, 1000 etc. The 1000 series is better and newer than the 900

    The second number , the higher the second number the better the card 50, 60, 70, 80. On laptop in the 900 series I would not go under 60 but over is fine. With the 1000 series on laptop you can go 1050 ti and up

    8gb of computer ram is fine

    hard drive at least 500 gb or more
  • ForEmaleighForEmaleigh Posts: 33 Member
    You guys are great. I took pics of the specs, I called and spoke with an EA tech....I took screen shots of THIS conversation and showed them to my husband so that we could keep up with it, know what to look for. I totally expected to get this within the next few months. Well..... My husband left to go get takeout for dinner...it's my birthday but I've really just not thought much about it at all. When your loving what we are, there's not much room for celebrating until someone says the words CANCER FREE.
    That sweet man came home with a laptop! He knew making my baby happy by helping me get this for her would be more than anything a personal gift to ME would ever be.
    Got it open and I couldn't find the specs for it on anything in the box but the guys at bestbuy helped him choose, gave him a discount and said that it exceeds the recommended specs on EA site, that it also meets the specs you guys listed. We did pay a little more than what I bumped up my price tag to....but I can save it again in a few months.
    I had to download origin....I got all confused trying to purchase. It was my first time buying a digital game verses one on a CD....I ended up with four pending transactions so AGAIN I called EA. This Fabolous man named Blake got everything straightened out for me and added the game where you can play in the hosptial? I'm not sure which expansion that is but as we spoke it ended up in my queue as a gift. He was so kind. Today has been good. After all this...so,some stopped by the house with a box for Emma....the Auburn University and Alabama University softball team signed softballs for her and calendars. My oldest daughter plays college ball on a rival team but this completes ALL the teams in this conference so Emma now has a full set. I'm feeling so blessed today. Needed that. I hope to make some new online friends here and I will try to pop on here now and then and post some photos of little bit playing the new game. She's so stinkin excited. I'm sure I will have gameplay questions and I don't know a soul anymore who plays....I was a member of a small mod group with some Australian ladies....a few are still on my Facebook page and I chat with them now and then. I may just see if any of them still play the sims after ten years.
    You guys have a great week! Hugs!!!
  • rosemowrosemow Posts: 163,585 Member
    You guys are great. I took pics of the specs, I called and spoke with an EA tech....I took screen shots of THIS conversation and showed them to my husband so that we could keep up with it, know what to look for. I totally expected to get this within the next few months. Well..... My husband left to go get takeout for dinner...it's my birthday but I've really just not thought much about it at all. When your loving what we are, there's not much room for celebrating until someone says the words CANCER FREE.
    That sweet man came home with a laptop! He knew making my baby happy by helping me get this for her would be more than anything a personal gift to ME would ever be.
    Got it open and I couldn't find the specs for it on anything in the box but the guys at bestbuy helped him choose, gave him a discount and said that it exceeds the recommended specs on EA site, that it also meets the specs you guys listed. We did pay a little more than what I bumped up my price tag to....but I can save it again in a few months.
    I had to download origin....I got all confused trying to purchase. It was my first time buying a digital game verses one on a CD....I ended up with four pending transactions so AGAIN I called EA. This Fabolous man named Blake got everything straightened out for me and added the game where you can play in the hosptial? I'm not sure which expansion that is but as we spoke it ended up in my queue as a gift. He was so kind. Today has been good. After all this...so,some stopped by the house with a box for Emma....the Auburn University and Alabama University softball team signed softballs for her and calendars. My oldest daughter plays college ball on a rival team but this completes ALL the teams in this conference so Emma now has a full set. I'm feeling so blessed today. Needed that. I hope to make some new online friends here and I will try to pop on here now and then and post some photos of little bit playing the new game. She's so stinkin excited. I'm sure I will have gameplay questions and I don't know a soul anymore who plays....I was a member of a small mod group with some Australian ladies....a few are still on my Facebook page and I chat with them now and then. I may just see if any of them still play the sims after ten years.
    You guys have a great week! Hugs!!!

    Hello @ForEmaleigh :) Happy birthday! It is very special that your husband has bought the laptop and you now have origin and the games set up on it. It is nice that EA Help worked through your issues for you. I hope that both Emma and yourself will enjoy playing The Sims :)
    Happy simming! :)
  • luthienrisingluthienrising Posts: 37,628 Member
    Hugs back, @ForEmaleigh and to your daughter and husband too! Kudos to EA Help for great support there too :) If you run into any issues we're here to help. Maybe your daughter will like playing the doctor career! I'm a fan of the science career myself :)
    EA CREATOR NETWORK MEMBER — Want to be notified of patches, new Broken Mods threads, and urgent Sims 4 news? Follow me at https://www.patreon.com/luthienrising.
  • phoebebebe13phoebebebe13 Posts: 19,400 Member
    edited March 2017
    Happy Birthday! Enjoy the new laptop . If you followed my advice on laptop specs you will need this link to set up the laptop for the sims 4
    http://forums.thesims.com/en_US/discussion/776882/sims-4-and-switchable-graphics-how-to-nvidia-amd/p1

    This would be instructions for the sims 3. http://forums.thesims.com/en_US/discussion/906947/limit-fps-on-1070#latest

    To read your computer specs you can hit the windows key and R key at the same time. This will open your run box in the lower right hand corner of your computer. Type DxDiag hit ok and you will be able to see you computer specs

    EA Customer service is always more helpful via the phone than chat. I have gotten some pretty awesome CS phone reps.
  • gmomasuegmomasue Posts: 648 Member
    Hi my laptop hard drive needs replaced. I have a Dell inspiron. It will cost 149$ for the part but it might be more money do to when I updated to Windows 10 I had trouble with it for a long time. Now I think I need to get a new one. So for now II can play only in my head tell I get it fixed or a new one.
  • ForEmaleighForEmaleigh Posts: 33 Member
    Happy Birthday! Enjoy the new laptop . If you followed my advice on laptop specs you will need this link to set up the laptop for the sims 4

    To read your computer specs you can hit the windows key and R key at the same time. This will open your run box in the lower right hand corner of your computer. Type DxDiag hit ok and you will be able to see you computer specs

    EA Customer service is always more helpful via the phone than chat. I have gotten some pretty awesome CS phone reps. [/quote

    Good morning!!
    I'm having coffee and went to load my new game for us and realize......it's still downloading!
    It took SOOO long last night. I finally fell asleep at 1am and just hoped it would keep on trucking. It's still working on the "get to work" expansion right now and I had no clue this AM when I got up that it was not done. It also did its own self updateflr windows. I guess I was a little over excited last night and downloaded the game before I let the system do its thing.

    Thank you for the link. I think it's got a dual video card? It's showing me an option of playing the game on the NVIDIA (it's set as the default) when I right click. I only realized that when I actually tried to open the game and it would do nothing....I didn't realize it was still loading an expansion. SO. I will pop over and read the instructions for install! This doesn't seem to work like the old sims where you just pop in a disk and play. :)
    I did peek at specs last night...The processer is an I5 2.5 windows 10 and the video card is a GeForce....900 series...I think it's a 960. I did have a panic moment when I saw the hard drive. It says 1TB. My age is showing. Back in my day that wasn't a thing yet unless you bought it externally. I seriously thought the laptop had "1 gigabyte" of storage lol.
    I know this might just be in the recommended zone but I'm crossing my fingers it works for us!!
  • ForEmaleighForEmaleigh Posts: 33 Member
    Okay question.
    When I go to "add program" under the video card.....sims4 isn't there. I CAN find it and select it in the drop down menu for "select a program". On the instructions it shows the origin file when they selected the "high graphics NIVIDA processor"....since I cannot "add" it because it appears to already BE there....do I just select it in th drop down menu or do I have to show an origin file when I choose? I'm zooming those instruction images and I don't want to have the wrong thing in there. I can see how it would make sense to just "select" the program and choose high performance though I don't want to misstep if I'm wrong.
  • ForEmaleighForEmaleigh Posts: 33 Member
    Oh my goodness it's playing! I've got the little GeForce icon in the bottom right...it's giving me instructions for the get to work expansion. YAY we are Simming. Thank you guys! Again! This went a lot smoother than I thought it would! It's a bit disconcerting not to have an actual disk in your hands.
  • rosemowrosemow Posts: 163,585 Member
    Oh my goodness it's playing! I've got the little GeForce icon in the bottom right...it's giving me instructions for the get to work expansion. YAY we are Simming. Thank you guys! Again! This went a lot smoother than I thought it would! It's a bit disconcerting not to have an actual disk in your hands.

    Hello
    It is great that you are now simming :) I hope that you don't have too many issyes occur in your game, and that playing goes smoothly.
    The game may have already been using the graphics card, so didn't need to be added through the control panel.
  • phoebebebe13phoebebebe13 Posts: 19,400 Member
    Oh my goodness it's playing! I've got the little GeForce icon in the bottom right...it's giving me instructions for the get to work expansion. YAY we are Simming. Thank you guys! Again! This went a lot smoother than I thought it would! It's a bit disconcerting not to have an actual disk in your hands.

    Glad you got it working. Enjoy the new laptop.

    All gaming laptops come with dual cards. In your case intel for light tasks and Nvidia to game on. The sims 4 to add the game is a lot easier than the sims 3 set up. If you need further help let us know.
  • ForEmaleighForEmaleigh Posts: 33 Member
    Thank you all so very much! We have been enjoying the game all week! No lags, hangs, slow etc. The only time I have any issue is when we forget to plug back into the charger lol. It drops the screen and the first few times I thought the game had crashed.....but it was just a battery low warning. We now have all the expansions and I believe one or two stuff packs. Laptop is zooming along.....We play everywhere! Emmas favorite is the science career! I totally thought she would like the hospital best....she wanted that one and also to play it first but she likes the spaceship best. We still have not landed or explored the alien planet but are working on it!
  • rosemowrosemow Posts: 163,585 Member
    Thank you all so very much! We have been enjoying the game all week! No lags, hangs, slow etc. The only time I have any issue is when we forget to plug back into the charger lol. It drops the screen and the first few times I thought the game had crashed.....but it was just a battery low warning. We now have all the expansions and I believe one or two stuff packs. Laptop is zooming along.....We play everywhere! Emmas favorite is the science career! I totally thought she would like the hospital best....she wanted that one and also to play it first but she likes the spaceship best. We still have not landed or explored the alien planet but are working on it!

    Hello
    I am so glad that the game is going well on the laptop, and Emma is enjoying playing the game :) It will help her she goes through her treatment, and would be nice for you also to see Emma enjoying herself, with all the strain and pressure that comes with seeing our loved ones unwell. Sending smiles to Emma and yourself :);)
  • gmomasuegmomasue Posts: 648 Member
    I got a new dell today starting to down load sims 4 . thanks to origins my library so far its going good .
  • rosemowrosemow Posts: 163,585 Member
    gmomasue wrote: »
    I got a new dell today starting to down load sims 4 . thanks to origins my library so far its going good .

    Hello
    It is great that you have a new computer! :) You will enjoy simming on it! I hope that everything goes smoothly on your computer :)
  • gmomasuegmomasue Posts: 648 Member
    I down loading all my sims 4 games . it's going good
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