Hello! I am looking to purchase a new laptop that I am pretty much exclusively using to play the sims 4, plus all of the expansion packs. I’m new to all the mods/ccs, I may want to use/download some of those as well. I really don’t want to spend more than $800. Do you have any laptops that you would recommend? I don’t understand the first thing about computer requirements 🙂
@sarahn2011 Is that $800 in U.S. dollars or something else? (A few different countries use dollars.) I'd be happy to look for something suitable either way. Please let me know whether you're comfortable with a gaming laptop or would like something more lightweight, at the expense of better performance.
Thanks for the response! That is $800 US dollars. And i guess I’d prefer something a little more lightweight, but ultimately it doesn’t matter!
@sarahn2011 Interestingly, the best prices right now are mostly from Walmart. If you'd like to save some money, you can get a proper gaming laptop with good reviews for under $600. This one isn't particularly lightweight, but a bit under 5 lbs is decent for a gaming laptop.
https://www.walmart.com/ip/136519056
The one downside of this model is its hard drive is relatively small. Still, 256 GB is more than enough space to fit all Sims 4 packs and as much custom content as you can download; the size would only be a problem if you wanted to install other games or store other data.
You could get an HP with a 512 GB hard drive for $675; this has an equivalent processor, at least as far as games are concerned, and the same graphics card and memory. HP lists the weight as 1.98 kg, which is about what I'm seeing on other sites (4.37 lbs).
https://www.walmart.com/ip/151186972
This Lenovo is a highly-rated laptop, one of the best in the "budget gaming" category, and is usually more expensive (maybe $900), but it's on sale for $750. Its processor is significantly more powerful than the ones in the above laptops, although that doesn't and shouldn't ever matter to Sims 4. Lenovo lists it at just over 5 lbs.
https://www.walmart.com/ip/288379401
If you're hoping for something even a bit lighter than the ones above, this MSI is 4.1 lbs and comes with either a 256 or a 512 GB SSD, for $700 and $800, respectively.
https://www.walmart.com/ip/968379373
https://www.walmart.com/ip/139466774
Some if not most of these laptops are available from other stores as well, if you don't want to buy from Walmart, but not always in the same configuration. For example, the second laptop, except with a 256 GB hard drive, is $700 from Best Buy:
The MSIs are available at Newegg and Best Buy, respectively; while the Best Buy one is priced at $1,000, there's a price match guarantee that may or may not cover Walmart.
If you have more questions, please feel free to ask.
@sarahn2011 It would be a good option, not as good as the others but perfectly fine. The Ideapad laptops are excellent choices for people on a tight budget, but the Legion and the HP models are better-made. That translates into a couple percentage points of in-game performance and a laptop that runs cooler, which may or may not be worth the higher price tag for you.
@Nadervader How much would you like to spend? If $400 is within your preferred budget, this laptop would be a very good option:
https://www.walmart.com/ip/986002531
It should be able to run all Sims 4 packs together on medium-high or high graphics settings, and while 256 GB isn't a lot of storage, it's more than enough for the game and associated content.
The next good option I'm seeing is this one, for 450:
https://www.walmart.com/ip/945394621
It's a little better than the first one, but the gap is small and certainly not worth stretching your budget beyond what's comfortable. The other options I saw in this performance category are all more expensive, and the higher-tier options are gaming laptops that start at $700.
If you'd like to spend a little less, there really isn't much in the way of new laptops: the options below $400 are a couple of levels lower than the ones I listed, many barely capable of running Sims 4 at all. This used laptop would work though:
https://www.walmart.com/ip/744084451
It has the same processor and graphics chip as the second laptop I linked, plus it has 16 GB RAM instead of 8 and twice the storage.
If you have more questions, please feel free to ask.
