@Rjmontez Just to be clear, what graphics card do you want, what screen size do you want, and what's your preferred price? If you only have two answers, that's enough; I just want to make sure I'm suggesting the laptop that best fits your personal preferences.
All of the ones I linked are good quality, so this is more about what you want out of the computer rather than what's objectively the best option.
@puzzlezaddict It doesn't matter to me as far as graphics card goes. From what you said they all those links seem to have a good enough picture/graphics which I'm fine with that. Screen size preferably 15inch or more. Price wise no more than $1000. I don't know much about game systems, But my main care is that the game runs smoothly and good memory for the mods etc. Hopefully this answers your question 🙂
@Rjmontez Well, good thing I checked prices again, because this is an excellent laptop and has dropped to $950:
The Legion series is probably the best of the "budget" gaming laptops and has been for a few years now. As you can see, it's become less "budget" lately, but the sale price brings it back down into the reasonable range. To be clear, it's overkill for Sims 4, but if you want the best sub-$1,000 laptop, that's it.
If you'd like a 16" laptop, which is a noticeable difference even if it doesn't seem like it would be, this is an excellent alternative. The 16:10 resolution is great for multitasking too: you get a bit more space vertically without sacrificing width. It "only" has an RTX 4050, but as we discussed, that's more than enough to max out Sims 4 and then some. ROG Strix laptops are also high quality, just usually not in the budget tier either.
https://www.newegg.com/eclipse-gray-asus-rog-strix-g16-g614ju-ns54-gaming/p/N82E16834236429
If you want to save money without getting a low-end laptop, this is the best alternative I'm seeing right now:
It's still high quality, not quite at the level of the other two, but still great and should last you as long as you want.
All of these are excellent options, and frankly I'm surprised they're so cheap right now. (The ones from Best Buy won't be for much longer if you believe the sale countdown, which is hit or miss.) The question is what you want, and I can't tell you that. I will say that I love my 16:10 screen and that if the screens were equal, I'd buy a Legion without thinking about it. But it's not my extra $200.
Sorry to jump on the thread (and happy to create my own!) but would you know of any laptops on the UK under £400 that would be good enough for Sims 4? I’d like to get back into it again but my current laptop is extremely old, loud and heavy! Not to mention it doesn’t work unless plugged in.
If I could, my preference would be £200-300, but I’ve got a feeling it would be worth a bit extra for a better experience!
@Jadey678 You're right that going above £300 will give you much better options, at least for new laptops. These are the best I could find, in terms of hardware, for less than £400:
https://ao.com/product/x1400eaek2134w-asus-vivobook-14-laptop-black-99122-251.aspx
They have the same internal hardware, but the first has a smaller screen, although neither is top-tier in terms of brightness or colors. The processor and graphics chip should be able to run Sims 4, all packs included, on medium-high to high graphics settings, 8 GB RAM is enough for the game (although not for much multitasking), and 512 GB is plenty.
If you'd like a better screen, consider one of these:
https://ao.com/product/nxaddek00m-acer-aspire-3-a31558-laptop-silver-98375-251.aspx
https://www.argos.co.uk/product/3343173?clickPR=plp:22:40
All have the same graphics chip as the others. The first two have the same processor, while the third has a slightly faster one, but that won't make much difference, if any, to Sims 4. The first only has 256 GB storage, which is more than enough for the game (~60 GB including all current packs) and a moderate amount of custom content, but you might run into trouble if you wanted to install another large game or store a significant amount of data as well.
If you want to keep the price down further than those, I wouldn't go any lower than £300, below which the performance drops off significantly. These laptops should be able to handle low-medium settings, or maybe higher if you don't install all the expansions:
https://www.argos.co.uk/product/4375690?clickPR=plp:8:40
https://www.hp.com/gb-en/shop/product.aspx?id=8R523EA&opt=ABU&sel=NTB
These do also have lower-end screens and only 256 GB storage, understandably at this price point.
Please note that if you get a laptop with Windows S installed, you'll need to "upgrade" (for free) to the Home version of Windows in order to install apps not found on the Microsoft Store. This only takes a couple of clicks and is not a reason to avoid any particular model.
Some of these laptops could be upgraded to 16 GB RAM in the future, if it became necessary or convenient. It's not always straightforward to figure out which ones, but let me know if you want me to double-check any of the models.
If you have more questions, please feel free to ask.
