Looking for casual gaming laptop

[carla224]

1. What is your budget?
About $500

2. What is the size of the notebook that you are considering?
Doesn't matter much, but a little on the big side would be alright

3. What screen resolution do you want?
Doesn't matter too much

4. Do you need a portable or desktop replacement laptop?
Portable would be best

5. How much battery life do you need?
Doesn't matter too much but the longer the better

6. Do you want to play games with your laptop? If so then please list the games that you want to with the settings that you want for these games. (Low,Medium or High)?
I'm looking to buy this laptop mostly for playing The Sims 3 on Medium to High settings.

7. What other tasks do you want to do with your laptop? (Photo/Video editing, Etc.)
Not much, occasionally some web browsing

8. How much storage (Hard Drive capacity) do you need?
At least 7 GB

9. If you are considering specific sites to buy from, please post their links.
Anywhere really, but it would be best if they stocked the laptop in stores, though not necessary.

10. How long do you want to keep your laptop?
At least 5 years

11. What kind of Optical drive do you need? DVD ROM/Writer,Bluray ROM/Writer,Etc ?
DVD ROM/Writer

12. Please tell us about the brands that you prefer to buy from them and the brands that you don't like and explain the reasons.
As long as it works well and can run The Sims 3 well, I don't really mind much.

13. What country do you live in?
USA

14. Please tell us any additional information if needed.
Here are the Sims 3 Requirements: http/www.thesims3.com/game/systemreq

Here's the computer I'm thinking of buying, will it run TS3 well? http/us.toshiba.com/computers/laptops/satellite/C670/C675D-S7325/

Thank you!

 

[WR2]

Hello carla224;

I'm not sure that realtively weak E-300 APU in that model is a good choice for Sims3.
One of the A-series APUs or a Intel i3 CPU would be a better choice for a CPU dependend game like Sim3.

Let see what's happening for Black Friday/Cyber Monday.

 

[WR2]

Here are a couple options with a good step up in CPU and graphics power.
SAMSUNG Series 3 305V5A-A01 15" Notebook $450
AMD A-Series A4-3310MX(2.1GHz) APU, 4GB RAM, 320GB HDD 15.6" 1366x768 LCD w/ Radeon HD 6480G

HP g6-1b60us 15" Notebook $450 plus $50 rebate
AMD A-Series A4-3300M(1.9GHz) APU, 4GB RAM 500GB HDD 15.6" 1366x768 LCD w/ Radeon HD 6480G

 

[WR2]

A larger desktop replacement sized option:
HP Pavilion g7 17" Laptop $380
AMD A-Series A4-3300M(1.9GHz) APU, 4GB RAM 320GB HDD 17.3 1600x900 LCD w/ Radeon HD 6480G

 

[carla224]

Thank you very much for your suggestions, but I think I've found one that will suit my needs quite well. I'm most likely going to go with this one:

http/www.bestbuy.com/site/Gateway+-+Laptop+/+Intel%26%23174%3B+Core%26%23153%3B+i5+Processor+/+15.6%26%2334%3B+Display+/+4GB+Memory+-+Blue/3411173.p?id=1218399180563&skuId=3411173

 

[WR2]

That's an excellent choice for an all-rounder laptop. It's Intel HD 3000 graphics is slightly weaker than some other choices when it comes to gaming.

This isn't a huge difference but it looks like the Radeon HD 6480G might have a slight advanage in Sim3 gaming.

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[WR2]

Intel HD Graphics 3000 review
Intel Core i5-2430M review

 

[carla224]

Thank you, however ts3 requires at least a 2.4 ghz processor, and I'm not sure if A4-3300M meets that standard? Also, graphics aren't a huge deal for me, so I think as long as the graphics card can run the game on medium settings pretty well, I'll be alright, so I'm leaning towards the Gateway. However, I have more than a month to decide, so perhaps I'll change my mind soon.

 

[WR2]

That would be a single core 2.4Ghz old school desktop Pentium P4 CPU.
Most of what's listed here would be better (except that E-300 first listed).

I think you're underestimating the importance of the graphics card.
It's going to be the difference between play on low/med and med/high.


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[carla224]

Oh, I see now, so the AMD A4-3300M has a dual core, correct? Hm, so would you say there is a big difference between the second and third computers you linked? Because the third one looks like a great bargain and I think I might go with that one. Again, thank you so much for your help.

 

[WR2]

here is a comparison of laptop CPUs/APUs with a few desktop CPUs included for comparison: Big List of Mobile Processors (CPU Benchmarks)
Way down @ #417 is an old P4 Pentium 3.0Ghz CPU that's a higher end CPU than mentioned in the Sims3 Sys Reqmts.
#225 AMD A4-3300 APU
#130 AMD A8-3500 APU
#47 Intel Core i5-2410M

 

[WR2]

I think that last $429 option @ BestBuy with the A8-3500 APU and HD 6620G graphics will you runs Sims3 with medium/high graphics settings.

 

[WR2]

That note about 'Minimum 3 per store' - I have a suspicion it's going to be a very popular choice at that price with those specs.

 

[carla224]

Thank you, that one looks like a great bargain. I'll definitively look into it.

 

[carla224]

Best answer selected by carla224.

 

[carla224]

Hi, so sorry to bother you again, but may I ask when/where that advertisement for the $429 laptop is from? I looked all over the Best Buy website, and I can't find it...

 

[WR2]

It's a sneak peek
at the BestBuy BlackFriday ads probably due out this weekend

 

[WR2]

It's on page 8 of that PDF file.

 

[carla224]

So does that mean they'll only be selling it on Black Friday? =/

 

[WR2]

That's the only time I can confirm that price would be good.
But you can generally expect to find holiday deals in the general vicinity.
If I were to guess I'd think you could probably get one with similar specs for under $500 sometime during the holiday period (or right after).