New laptop for Sims use

snarlfresh  Sorry for the late-ish reply.  Do you have any preferences other than running Sims 4 well?  For example, does screen size or quality matter, or weight?  And do you want the best that $1,000 can get you, or the cheapest good option, or are you not sure?

I ask in part because this Vivobook isn't a standard gaming laptop, not that it's a bad option, but the fact that you're considering it makes me think you might have priorities aside from in-game performance.

I don't really have many preferences. Probably something medium-sized as far as screen and general weight go. Honestly, I only chose the Vivobook because there was an open box deal on it at Best Buy and the more I looked into it, the better it looked. I would prefer to not spend a ton of money, so probably the cheapest good option rather than the best I can get for $1,000. I'm willing to spend a bit more for performance just because I haven't had a Sims game run perfectly smooth since Sims 2.

snarlfresh  Sorry for the late reply; I've been busy and haven't had time to look at this forum for a couple days.  At any rate, if your goal is to play Sims 4 on ultra settings and you don't need more than that, the Vivobook is a very good option.  You're not going to get a prettier screen for under $1,000, at least not with gaming-level hardware, and the price is very reasonable compared to other laptops with similar specs.

To be clear, the limiting factor in determining how well a given computer will run Sims 4 is almost always the graphics card or chip, and that's the important detail here too.  Any laptop with an RTX 3050 can handle the game itself, all packs included, on ultra graphics settings, although it might not handle the game plus lots of high poly custom content plus ReShade/GShade so easily.  That's where the extra power of an RTX 4050 or 4060 would be useful, but then again, if you don't mind playing on a combination of high and ultra settings, the 3050 is still good enough.

The only other laptop I'm seeing in the style of the Vivobook—RTX 3050, OLED screen, not too heavy—is this one from Lenovo, which is a bit cheaper new, and also has a higher-resolution screen, which is very nice to have if not necessary.

https://www.lenovo.com/us/en/p/laptops/ideapad/ideapad-500/lenovo-ideapad-pro-5-gen-9-16-inch-amd/83d50003us

If you do want to know what is out there with an RTX 4050 or 4060, I'd suggest these:

https://www.walmart.com/ip/5395277312
https://www.lenovo.com/us/en/p/laptops/loq-laptops/lenovo-loq-15ahp9/83dx0004us

https://www.lenovo.com/us/en/p/laptops/loq-laptops/lenovo-loq-15arp9/83jc0000us
https://www.bestbuy.com/site/asus-tuf-gaming-a15-15-144hz-gaming-laptop-fhd-amd-ryzen-5-with-16gb-ddr5-geforce-rtx-4060-512gb-ssd-mecha-gray/6605848.p?skuId=6605848
https://www.newegg.com/obsidian-black-acer-nitro-v-anv15-51-98n0/p/N82E16834360352

These (aside from the first one) are all heavier than the Vivobook and don't have the same quality screens, but I thought you might want to know what was available.

If you have more questions, about these or in general, please feel free to ask.

You've been so helpful! I never quite know what's important to look for, but you've explained it pretty well. Going to take a look at your recs.

snarlfresh  Feel free to ask more questions, or to ask for other recommendations if these are unavailable or their prices have changed.  And if you find something you like, I'd be happy to take a look and offer a second opinion.