Laptop Advice
Hi, I am hoping that someone can help me. I am looking for laptop to use for work and some very casual gaming (just The Sims 4 and a couple of expansion packs). It can’t be a big, heavy gaming lapt...
Forum Discussion
@Eira2011 That would be an excellent choice for a non-gaming laptop. The Nvidia MX350 was up until recently the fastest of the entry-level, non-gaming graphics cards, and it should be able to handle high graphics settings without a problem, especially if you're not installing all the expansion packs.
I noticed an MX450 on the HP site, which I didn't know was even available yet. But the laptop that has it is £1,200, so £200 more than the one you linked when the discount is factored in. If you'd like me to look for other suggestions, I can do that too, later tonight or tomorrow. Let me know any other details that matter to you, like how much storage it has or keeping it extremely light, e.g. the 1.3 kg of the HP rather than more like 2 kg.
Hi @puzzlezaddict,
Thank you so much for your reply. I would be very grateful if you would take a look to see if you have any other suggestions.
I need something that’s quick and able to handle me flicking between quite a few things as for work I will need it to to connect it to at least one other monitor and to flick between a database that’s pretty demanding, Word and PDF documents and webpages running multiple tabs whilst also running a telephone system program in the background and taking calls. Also Teams. I’ve got an old Acer at the moment that struggles.
I would like it be light which is what’s making me really like the HP I linked to - the fact that it’s light and small - but if you think there’s something better that will work for me/is better in any way but it’s bigger and heavier I’ll happily consider it - I just can’t have one of the really big looking gaming laptops as I like to cycle to work and the laptop would be in my bag on my back.
I also am an amateur photographer and need it to be able to handle the usual photo editing software.
The huge 1TB of storage space isn’t a deal breaker as there are ways around that if I fill it up - I just like that the HP has it from the start.
I’m happy to look at a variety of prices.
Edit: Oh and for work I need it to have a decent webcam for the endless Teams meetings.
@Eira2011 It sounds like your first priority is 16 GB RAM for multitasking, which eliminates a number of otherwise reasonable possibilities. While gaming laptops will almost always take a memory upgrade, the lightweight productivity models often do not. Between that and the storage you'd like, I didn't see anything as good as the Envy for an equal or lower price. On the very high end, there are plenty of more powerful options, but your "variety of prices" might not extend to around $2,000, and that's a lot to pay for a moderate upgrade regardless.
One thing worth noting about the Envy is that it apparently doesn't get anywhere near ideal performance for its hardware in gaming. The graphics card tends to severely downclock under load, leading to around 10-15% slower performance relative to other laptops with the same card. That may or may not matter to you in the context of Sims 4, but if you happen to be doing graphics rendering, you could see a similar effect. This issue could apparently be fixed by adjusting the card's power settings, but that's assuming the settings are even accessible and that doing so wouldn't damage the laptop. (This is the kind of thing you let other people try first, for sure.)
If you're interested in other not-a-gaming-laptop options, these two are £1,200 and have the same hardware: an Nvidia 1650, capable of running Sims 4 on ultra graphics settings with some room to spare; 16 GB RAM; and an i7-10750H processor. The CPU is significantly faster than the one in the Envy in tasks that use 4 or 8 cores, although again whether this matters to you would depend on the load you plan to place on the laptop. (Sims 4 wouldn't use the extra power.) These two do only have 512 GB storage, and they're heavier, at just under 2 kg each. So whether the tradeoff and higher price tag are worth it may be a close call for you.
https://www.dell.com/en-uk/shop/laptops/new-inspiron-15-7000/spd/inspiron-15-7501-laptop/cn50101
I was all set to recommend the Asus Zephyrus G14, a gaming laptop that doesn't look like one and is smaller and lighter than almost anything else on the market, but I realized it doesn't even have a webcam, which is unfortunate. Just in case you're curious, this is the £1,200 configuration:
Anyway, the short version is, the Envy is a great option for your other purposes and a decent but not ideal one for Sims 4. If gaming matters enough that you want an upgrade, there are options out there that would work, but if it doesn't, the Envy will certainly be good enough to run the game; you might just need to make some compromises on the graphics settings.
If you have more questions, or you want to talk about more expensive options (at least over $1,500), let me know.
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