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Test Subject
Original Poster
#1 Old 13th Jul 2014 at 2:59 PM
Need Help deciding on a Notebook to play Sims 3 on!
First of all:
Yes, it has to be a Notebook.
I'm buying from Germany.
My budget is 600€ (~$800) at most. I would really like to stay as far below that as possible, because I just made some other purchases that drained my funds and the notebook is only supposed to last me until I can afford a real gaming notebook from my Christmas bonus.

I have a really nice desktop PC at home that runs the Sims 3 (high graphics settings and lots of CC) without a hitch, but due to my work I spend a lot of time traveling and my old HP HDX 16's battery died recently, so I need a new notebook for entertainment purposes, mainly games.
The old HP was not a good choice to play Sims on, the game lagged a lot (no matter the graphics settings) and the cooling was abysmal, so I couldn't use it to play in summer at all until I got a laptop stand with external fan.

I don't mind playing on low graphics, so long as everything runs smoothly and I don't have to wear oven mitts to type in my Sim's name!
What I'm looking for is a notebook with a decent enough video card and cooling system that will allow me to casually play the Sims 3 (no CC and no expansions packs released after seasons) on battery for 2-3 hours at a time.


I have looked up a few models on amazon that looked promising and would really appreciate some advice on those or recommendations if my choices are inadequate!
(It's the German amazon site but most of the specs are in the header. Only thing that's different is Zoll=Inches)

HP 15-g007ng

Medion MD 98479

Lenovo G700

Medion P6647/615B

Lenovo IdeaPad Z710

Toshiba Satellite L50D-B-147


If TS3 won't run on Win8, I still have a Win7 Home Premium lying around, so as long as there are Win7 drivers for the hardware I could just replace the OS.
According to notebookcheck.net the video cards should be theoretically sufficient, at least for the base game.

The Medion MD seems like the best deal, or what do you guys think?
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#2 Old 13th Jul 2014 at 3:59 PM
Spec wise the Lenovo Ideapad Z710 is better than the rest. The Medion MD doesn't even have a dedicated graphics card, and the processor is weaker than the Z710.

I don't recommend playing on a 740M (that the ideapad has) though. It's still a pretty weak card. It's better to either abandon the idea of playing the sims on the go, or save up for something more capable. If you do try it, make sure to set everything at the lowest settings to begin with and at a lower resolution than your native screen.
Née whiterider
retired moderator
#3 Old 13th Jul 2014 at 4:58 PM
Notebookcheck is generally a great site, but their advice regarding TS3 is very poor, because it doesn't take into account EPs or patches. For TS3 specifically, you're better off relying on Game Help:TS3 System Requirementswiki.

What I lack in decorum, I make up for with an absence of tact.
 
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