Laptop recommendations to play The Sims in bed

SheSlayedGames​  That is quite a wide budget range.  Would you like the cheapest possible option, or the cheapest option that lets you play on ultra settings, or the best you can get up to a certain price point, or something else?  And is this budget in U.S. dollars or some other currency?

In US dollars, I prefer the ultra settings recommendation, but if you can also list the cheapest possible option, that would be great. I've been told I could just get a normal Windows laptop and use a 1TB or larger external hard drive to store all my mods, CC, and DLC, but I don't know.

SheSlayedGames​  An external drive is fine for storage but won't make your graphics any better.  And depending on the drive and the speed of its connection, you might see significantly slower loading times, and possibly even graphical issues if the pipeline is slow enough.  An SSD would be much better than a mechanical drive, but some cheaper SSDs come with very slow cables, I guess as a cost-saving measure; swapping the drive to a quality enclosure makes a big difference, but you don't want to have to do that with a drive you just bought.

Having said all that, if this laptop is only for Sims 4 content, you shouldn't need an external drive at all.  These days, most entry-level gaming laptops come with at least a 500 GB drive, which is enough for the entire game, saves, saved households and builds, and a massive cc collection.

If you really want to keep the price down, this one is $550 and has hardware that's more than good enough for ultra graphics settings, even with ReShade or some high poly custom content in the mix.  It also runs hot and loud, which might matter a lot if you're playing in bed, but it's your call.  Considering the price difference between this and the next-cheapest options I'm seeing (at least new), it's a reasonable trade-off, but I'm not the one who'll be using it.

https://www.walmart.com/ip/15843466879

These are in the same performance category but not as loud and typically not as hot either, and with slightly-to-somewhat better screens than the MSI.  The Asus does have a 16" screen, but that's not so much more than 15.6", certainly not as awkward to handle as a 17" or higher model.

https://www.bestbuy.com/product/gigabyte-gaming-a16-16-165hz-1920x1200-wuxga-intel-core-i7-13620h-512gb-ssd-16gb-ddr5-ram-geforce-rtx-4050-black-steel/J3GWPQCCVJ
https://www.walmart.com/ip/16276372539
https://www.hp.com/us-en/shop/pdp/victus-gaming-laptop-15-fb3025nr
https://www.lenovo.com/us/en/p/laptops/loq-laptops/loq-15-series/Lenovo-LOQ-15ARP9/83jc00gkus

This is a bit more but has the newer RTX 5050, which is not necessary for Sims 4 but is worth considering if you're already looking at options in the $850-900 range:

https://www.lenovo.com/us/en/p/laptops/loq-laptops/loq-15-series/Lenovo-LOQ-15AHP10/83jg000fus

Feel free to ask more questions, about these or in general.  And if none of them are what you want, let me know what details matter to you, and I'll have another look.  You do have a lot of flexibility in your budget, after all.

I skipped the integrated graphics category for now because if you want a good iGPU and 16 GB RAM, you're probably looking at spending at least $450 (typically, although I didn't check today), and the MSI is only $100 more for much better performance.  But I can list some of those too if you like.

yes please do 

SheSlayedGames​  This $400 laptop could handle medium-high settings with all current packs installed and without taking third-party content into account; mods are not the issue so much as custom content.

https://www.target.com/p/acer-aspire-3-15-6-fhd-ips-notebook-amd-ryzen-5-7430u-2-3ghz-16gb-ram-512gb-pcie-ssd-windows-11-home-pure-silver-zn-n01si-03s-w11h/-/A-1005681872

These two are a little faster, perhaps capable of high settings; they have the same graphics chip, although the second one has a processor that's a generation newer.

https://www.walmart.com/ip/3486292340
http://walmart.com/ip/15076908938

I didn't see anything else equal to these two (and not low-quality) with a 15 or 166" screen for under $500, or anything equivalent to the first one for under $450, at which point you're better off with one of the faster ones.

I also want to mention that I found this $600 gaming laptop while looking for non-gaming options.  Apparently Target put a bunch of Acer laptops on sale.  The RTX 3050 is not as fast as the 4050, unsurprisingly, but it's still capable of running Sims 4 on ultra settings, all packs included, as long as you don't pile on the high poly cc.  It also doesn't run as loud or hot as the MSI, although it isn't exactly quiet.  But then, that's part of the deal with entry-level gaming laptops.

https://www.target.com/p/acer-aspire-7-15-6-fhd-ips-144hz-gaming-notebook-intel-core-i5-13420h-2-1ghz-16gb-ram-512gb-ssd-nvidia-geforce-rtx-3050-6gb-un-34psi-002-w11h/-/A-1005681877

Thank you if you can keep this post up for others; that would be great. I think I found the one I wanted. Another question: if I just had to filter online by storage, processor, RAM, and graphics, since you said 5050 is not necessary for all the Sims 4 DLC, mods, and CC—what are those? 

SheSlayedGames​  I'm not sure exactly what you're asking here.  It sounds like you're asking what the various components are, but you sounded in your first post like you understood that pretty well.

i do thanks 

Then let me know what you'd like to hear about, and I'll write out an answer.