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trcpunzel's avatar
trcpunzel
4 years ago
Solved

Should I buy this laptop?

Hey! My HP Pavilion laptop died on me so now I’m looking for another one. I’m on a budget but one that has recently caught my eye that has a low price is an ASUS VivoBook 15 F512DA-DB34 Laptop, 15.6" Full HD Screen, AMD Ryzen 3 3250U, 8GB, 128GB Solid State Drive, Windows 10 Home in S Mode. I use cc’s & mods but because my expansion packs (city living, get famous, & get to work) are on my old laptop I will just be using base game & mods. Is this a good laptop to use? I like to have high or ultra settings. I’ve seen good reviews on it but no one has mentioned how good it would run on high or ultra settings nor any mentions of no lagging. Any help? 

pc
  • puzzlezaddict's avatar
    puzzlezaddict
    4 years ago

    @trcpunzel  You can do a lot better than the laptop you've described for your budget, even on the lower end.  For example, this laptop is $430 and should handle high graphics settings just fine with the packs you own:

    https://www.walmart.com/ip/773741305

    It has enough storage for the entire game and all your custom content, and even with all currently available packs installed, you'd still likely be able to play on medium-high if not high graphics.  Its one downside is that its screen isn't great: it's apparently good for a TN panel, but TN is the lowest category in terms of brightness and color vividness.

    This one ($490) has the same internal hardware, so you'd be looking at the same performance.  its screen is IPS though, the highest quality:

    https://www.amazon.com/Lenovo-IdeaPad-Processor-Graphics-82KT00AMUS/dp/B08YKDYWK5

    This one is somewhat more expensive ($520) and has an equivalent processor and graphics chip and otherwise the same components (including an IPS screen), so performance would be very similar.  It's not really better, but if you happen to like it better for other reasons, $30 is a reasonable premium to pay.

    https://www.walmart.com/ip/601684960

    There are lots of other options in this price range; I just listed the cheapest good options I saw.  So if you want something in particular that none of these laptops have, let me know, and I'll look again.

4 Replies

  • puzzlezaddict's avatar
    puzzlezaddict
    Hero+
    4 years ago

    @trcpunzel  Your expansions belong to your Origin account, not your old computer, so you'd be able to download them on a new computer if you wanted.

    This laptop may run the base game only on high graphics settings, although ultra is probably out of the question.  And adding packs will increase the demands of the game, although here again you don't have the most intensive expansions.  You also may well see some lag as the processor struggles to keep up, especially if you play in San Myshuno.  And high poly (high resolution) custom content will further increase the workload for the already underpowered graphics chip.

    The other major issue with this laptop is its small drive space.  128 GB is certainly enough for Sims 4 and the packs you own, but between that and Windows, you wouldn't have a lot of space left even before you started downloading custom content.  (Windows needs some room to maneuver as well: it's best to leave at least 20 GB free if you can manage it.)  So it would be better to get a laptop with a larger drive if you could.

    Windows 10 S won't let you install anything not from the Microsoft Store, but you can "upgrade" to Windows 10 Home for free with a couple of clicks.

    So while you could certainly play on this laptop, it might not be the best option for you given what you'd like your new computer to handle.

    If you'd like to see other options that might work better, feel free to ask.  Just list your budget and country as well as any other details that matter to you.

  • puzzlezaddict's avatar
    puzzlezaddict
    Hero+
    4 years ago

    @trcpunzel  You can do a lot better than the laptop you've described for your budget, even on the lower end.  For example, this laptop is $430 and should handle high graphics settings just fine with the packs you own:

    https://www.walmart.com/ip/773741305

    It has enough storage for the entire game and all your custom content, and even with all currently available packs installed, you'd still likely be able to play on medium-high if not high graphics.  Its one downside is that its screen isn't great: it's apparently good for a TN panel, but TN is the lowest category in terms of brightness and color vividness.

    This one ($490) has the same internal hardware, so you'd be looking at the same performance.  its screen is IPS though, the highest quality:

    https://www.amazon.com/Lenovo-IdeaPad-Processor-Graphics-82KT00AMUS/dp/B08YKDYWK5

    This one is somewhat more expensive ($520) and has an equivalent processor and graphics chip and otherwise the same components (including an IPS screen), so performance would be very similar.  It's not really better, but if you happen to like it better for other reasons, $30 is a reasonable premium to pay.

    https://www.walmart.com/ip/601684960

    There are lots of other options in this price range; I just listed the cheapest good options I saw.  So if you want something in particular that none of these laptops have, let me know, and I'll look again.

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