Which laptop is the best for The Sims 3

jamiep198_2

Hi

I'm planning on buying a new laptop and don't want to spend over £450ish. I want it for when I go to university, but also to play video games on. I would like to know from a technical laptop whiz, which would be the best laptop to play the Sims 3 when it comes out next month? I really don't know what I'm looking for myself so it would be good to get the opinon of and expert.

So far I found these two, but as a new user i cant insert links.

SONY NR38S/S

- Technical Details

Product Description: Sony VAIO NR38S/S - Core 2 Duo T5750 2 GHz - 15.4" TFT
Dimensions (WxDxH): 36 cm x 26.9 cm x 3.8 cm
Weight: 2.9 kg
Localisation: English / United Kingdom
Platform Technology: Intel Centrino
System Type: Notebook
Built-in Devices: Stereo speakers, wireless LAN aerial
Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo T5750 / 2 GHz ( Dual-Core )
Cache Memory: 2 MB - L2 Cache
RAM: 2 GB (installed) / 4 GB (max) - DDR2 SDRAM - 667 MHz ( 2 x 1 GB )
Card Reader: Yes
Hard Drive: 250 GB - Serial ATA-150 - 5400 rpm
Optical Storage: DVD±RW (±R DL) / DVD-RAM - integrated
Display: 15.4" TFT 1280 x 800 ( WXGA ) - X-black
Graphics Controller: NVIDIA GeForce 8400M GT - 128 MB
Audio Output: Sound card
Telecom: Fax / modem
Networking: Network adapter - Ethernet, Fast Ethernet, IEEE 802.11b, IEEE 802.11a, IEEE 802.11g, IEEE 802.11n (draft)
Input Device: Keyboard, touchpad
Battery: Lithium Ion
Run Time (Up To): 2.5 hour(s)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium
Manufacturer Warranty: 1 year warranty

Sony Vaio NS20ES

- Technical Details

Operating System: Genuine Windows Vista® Home Premium with Microsoft® Windows® Service Pack 1
Chipset: Mobile Intel® GL40 Express Chipset
Cover colour: Silver
Processor: Intel® Pentium® Processor T3400 with Enhanced Intel SpeedStep® Technology
Processor Speed (GHz): 2.16
L2 Cache (Mb): 1
Frontside Bus (MHz): 667
Number of Cores: 2
Memory Size (Gb): 3
Memory Speed (MHz): 667
Memory Type DDR2 SDRAM (1x2Gb, 1x1Gb)
Max. Supported Memory (GB): 4
Max Memory Comment: In the case of 4Gb, a portion of the system memory over 3Gb might not be available to the 32bit operating system
Hard Drive Type: Serial ATA
Hard Drive Capacity (Gb): 250
Hard Drive Speed (rpm): 5400
Optical Drive: DVD+-RW/+-R DL/RAM
Drive Speed (Write): CD-R x24, CD-RW x24, DVD-R DL x6, DVD-R x8, DVD-RW x6, DVD+R DL x6, DVD+R x8, DVD+RW x8, DVD-RAM x5
Drive Speed (Read): CD x24, CD-R x24, CD-RW x24, DVD x8, DVD-R DL x6, DVD-R x8, DVD-RW x6, DVD+R DL x6, DVD+R x8, DVD+RW x8, DVD-RAM x5
Display Type: X-black LCD
Diagonal Size (in): 15.4
Resolution: 1280 x 800
Aspect Ratio: 16:10
Resolution Type: WXGA
Graphics: Mobile Intel® Graphics Media Accelerator 4500M
Total Graphics Memory: Total available graphics memory of Approx. 1320Mb
Interfaces: 4 Pin i.LINK™ (IEEE1394), DC in, Memory Stick™ Slot (Memory Stick™ Std/Duo, Memory Stick™ PRO Std/Duo, high speed data transfer), Microphone Jack (Stereo), RJ-11 Direct Port (Modem), RJ-45 Direct Port (Network), 4x USB 2.0, VGA, Express Card Slot (34mm), SD Card Slot, Audio out (Stereo Headphones/Speakers Jack)
Built-in Modem: V.92/V.90
Integrated Wireless LAN: YES
Wireless LAN Max. Data Rate (Mbps): 300 (RX)/ 150 (TX)
Wireless LAN Range (m): max. 100
Wireless LAN Type: 802.11b/g Draft n
Ethernet network: 10BASE-T/100BASE-TX/1000BASE-T
Intel® High Definition Audio compatible: YES
Built-in Stereo Speakers: YES
3D Surround: YES
Windows® Sound System Compatible: YES
Built-in 'Motion Eye' Digital Camera: YES
Frames per Second: Max. 30
Image Sensor (Mega Pixels): 1.3
Motion Picture Function: YES
Motion Pictures max. Resolution (pixels): 1280x1024 (SXGA)
Special Buttons: Power button, Wireless switch, Mute button, AV Mode button
Auto Resolution: Plug and Display
Kensington Lock: YES
Software (Audio): VAIO Music Box, Windows Media Player 11
Software (Video & TV): Me&My VAIO, VAIO Content Importer / Exporter, WinDVD 8 for VAIO, VAIO Movie Story
Software (Photo): Picture Motion Browser, VAIO Movie Story
Software (CD-DVD Burning): Easy Media Creator 9, Click to Disc/Editor
Software (Office Application): Adobe® Reader® 8.1, Microsoft® Office Ready 2007 (60 days Try & Buy)
Software (Security & Other): McAfee® Internet Security Suite (with 60 days free virus update), VAIO Recovery Utility - HDD recovery (hidden partition), Google software package
Dimensions (WxDxH): 360x270x31.4 - 38.0 mm
Weight: 2.9Kg
Battery Type: Lithium-Ion battery (VGP-BPS13B)
Battery Life (min): 225
Battery Charging Time (min): 210
Warranty: 12 months

sporedude

Has The Sims 3 specs been published yet? Probably wont play very well in standard laptop graphics

jamiep198_2

yes it has, but i can post a link to it because im a new member!

john_s_2

Thanks for asking this, I've been meaning to look this up myself, to check my daughter's PC will be up to it. She's marked its release on the calendar!

I just checked the Wikipedia page (so a caveat here for its accuracy) and it says:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Sims_3

Windows
CPU Intel Core Duo
Memory 2 GB
Hard Drive Space At least 6.1 GB of hard drive space, with at least 1 GB additional space for custom content and saved games
Graphics Hardware ATI X1600 or Nvidia 7300 GT with 128 MB of Video RAM, or Intel Integrated GMA X3100.

Windows (using Built-in Graphics Chipset)
CPU Intel Pentium 4 or equivalent
2.0GHz (XP)
2.4GHz (Vista)
Memory 1 GB (XP)
1.5GB (Vista)
Hard Drive Space 6.5GB of free space and 1GB for additional content
Graphics Hardware DirectX 9.0c compliant card with 128 MB RAM (NVIDIA FX 5900/ATI 9500 or better) and support for Pixel Shader 2.0
Sound Hardware 100% DirectX 9.0c compliant card

Mac OS X 10.5.7 Leopard or higher
CPU Intel Core Duo Processor or above
Memory 1.5GB (XP)
2GB (Vista)
_________________________

Ooh, definitely another gig of RAM for her PC (been thinking about doing this). Anyone think her 7300 GS should be upgraded as well? It's only one letter down ;-)

Hopefully this will help someone answer the OP's question.

EDIT:

From the horse's mouth:

http://thesims3.ea.com/view/pages/feature6.jsp

FOR WINDOWS XP
* 2.0 GHz P4 processor or equivalent
* 1 GB RAM
* A 128 MB Video Card with support for Pixel Shader 2.0
* The latest version of DirectX 9.0c
* Microsoft Windows XP Service Pack 2
* At least 6.1 GB of hard drive space with at least 1 GB of additional space for custom content and saved games
FOR WINDOWS VISTA
* 2.4 GHz P4 processor or equivalent
* 1.5 GB RAM
* A 128 MB Video Card with support for Pixel Shader 2.0
* Microsoft Windows Vista Service Pack 1
* At least 6.1 GB of hard drive space with at least 1 GB of additional space for custom content and saved games
For computers using built-in graphics chipsets under Windows, the game requires at least:
* Intel Integrated Chipset, GMA 3-Series or above
* 2.6 GHz Pentium D CPU, or 1.8 GHz Core 2 Duo, or equivalent
* 0.5 GB additional RAM
FOR MAC OS X
* Mac OS X 10.5.7 Leopard or higher
* Intel Core Duo Processor
* 2 GB RAM
* ATI X1600 or Nvidia 7300 GT with 128 MB of Video RAM, or Intel Integrated GMA X3100.
* At least 6.1 GB of hard drive space, with at least 1 GB additional space for custom content and saved games
* This game will not run on PowerPC (G3/G4/G5) based Mac systems, or the GMA 950 class of integrated video cards.
Windows Supported Video Cards

---

NVIDIA GeForce series
FX 5900, FX 5950
6200, 6500, 6600, 6800
7200, 7300, 7600, 7800, 7900, 7950
8400, 8500, 8600, 8800
9300, 9400, 9500, 9600, 9800
G100, GT 120, GT 130, GTS 150
GTS 250, GTX 260, GTX 280, GTX 285, GTX 295
ATI Radeon(TM) series
9500, 9600, 9800
X300, X600, X700, X800, X850
X1300, X1600, X1800, X1900, X1950
2400, 2600, 2900
3450, 3650, 3850, 3870
4850, 4870
Intel(R) Graphics Media Accelerator (GMA)
GMA 3-Series, GMA 4-Series
Laptop versions of these chipsets may work, but may run comparatively slower. Standalone cards that are installed in vanilla PCI slots (not PCIe or PCIx or AGP), such as some GeForce FX variants, will perform poorly.
Integrated chipsets such as the ATI Xpress and the NVIDIA TurboCache variants may default to settings that are higher than what would be optimal for them. Graphics settings can be lowered to improve performance.
The NVIDIA GeForce FX series is unsupported under Vista.
MAC OS X Supported Video Cards

---

NVIDIA GeForce series
7300, 7600
8600, 8800
9400M, 9600M GT
GT 120, GT 130
ATI Radeon(TM) series
X1600, X1900
2400, 2600
3870,
4850, 4870
Intel(R) Graphics Media Accelerator (GMA)
GMA 3-Series

Which suggests my daughter's PC just about creeps in :-)

OP: I can't commit to commenting on your specs as I don't consider myself knowledgeable enough to give advice on this.

Marty_J

If you saved up a little more, you could get yourself a White MacBook using your student discount. Apple also usually run back to school offers later in the year, so you could get yourself a free iPod too.

M4RKM

the first computer - SONY NR38S/S has the BEAR MINIMUM for the graphics, and this is the main point for playing games..

you are obviously looking at a premium brand, with a budget budget... have you looked at any other brand of machine that will give you a better graphics card..

M

4743hudsonj

Marty_J wrote: »

If you saved up a little more, you could get yourself a White MacBook using your student discount. Apple also usually run back to school offers later in the year, so you could get yourself a free iPod too.

yes because university students are made of money nowadays when tuition fees are only getting to the 5K mark, and what with their part time jobs and social life, that macbook is all the more affordable in a recession.

i dont like sarcasm usually but come on... not everything is solved by saying "get a macbook" especially when the op specifically said they do not WANT to spend over £450......ish

as for the op, the first one is better but really, you want neither, look around with something with a better processor, your budget will buy you t series intel processors so anything with a higher number than T5750 is an improvement.

same story with the gpu(graphics card) look around, ati gpu's are the ones to go for atm but nvidea will do just fine but you can get more dedicated memory than that for your money(make sure it is dedicated not integrated or it will struggle with games)

Marty_J

4743hudsonj wrote: »

yes because university students are made of money nowadays when tuition fees are only getting to the 5K mark, and what with their part time jobs and social life, that macbook is all the more affordable in a recession.

They're the most popular laptops in US colleges, so some students seem to be able to afford them.

I guess it's because universities are so much cheaper over there. It's not as though tuition fees can cost $25,000.

Unlike you, I don't presume to tell anyone how much they can afford. That's for the OP to decide.

asininity

I'd go for an acer. You'd get a lot better spec for your money and you wouldn't have to save extra for a mac book.

Marty to be fair the op stated 450ish and we aint in america where they are fashion mad.

4743hudsonj

asininity wrote: »

I'd go for an acer. You'd get a lot better spec for your money and you wouldn't have to save extra for a mac book.

Marty to be fair the op stated 450ish and we aint in america where they are fashion mad.

Thankyou!

im not the one making a presumption of what people can afford, i merely read what the op wanted to spend.if someone came on here and said i want a car to get me from a to b costing 1k you wouldnt tell them to get a roller would you.

same application

if not a bit exaggerated:rolleyes:

im not knocking macbooks or your knowledge of them marty j, you seem very helpful when ppl ask but it really isnt the answer to every question about buying a pc.

-TangleFoot-

Laptops Direct has a fair few 'gaming' laptops starting at ~£480.