College laptop friendly to gaming?

College Life
1

<p>I’m really not a BIG gamer, but I do play the Sims a lot. Like… a lot. And the series ISN’T tiny by any means. I want to get a laptop for college, but I want to buy something that is ALREADY friendly to gaming. I will upgrade it at some point, but I don’t want to have to spend a bunch of money on a laptop only to have to spend MORE money within a short period of time to make it work better.</p>

<p>Any suggestions?</p>

2

<p>dell xps line. or even possible the studio 15. i dont imagine the sims requires that hefty of a graphics card.</p>

3

<p>you won’t be able to significantly upgrade a laptop.</p>

<p>The graphics card is not upgradable, and the CPU is very expensive and technical to upgrade. RAM is really the only component you should expect to upgrade easily.</p>

4

<p>There are no good laptops for gaming. Laptops weren’t built for gaming. They were built for mobility. My advice is to get a netbook (~$250-350)to bring to class and around campus and then buy a really nice desktop (~$600-1000) with quad-core processing and graphics cards that would blow laptop GPUs out of the water. You would spend close to $2k if you wanted a half decent laptop capable of gaming. </p>

<p>And another note. Gaming computers weigh can around 8-10 lbs while netbooks weigh only around 3 lbs.</p>

5

<p>Actually this laptop could work. Certainly overkill for a game like the Sims, but it’s a great deal for what you get… could probably handle any game well.</p>

<p>[Gateway</a> - FX Edition Laptop with Intel® Centrino® 2 Processor Technology - P-7805u](<a href=“http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=9172511&type=product&id=1218043606827&ref=09&loc=01&srccode=cii_5766179&cpncode=22-14715507-2]Gateway”>http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=9172511&type=product&id=1218043606827&ref=09&loc=01&srccode=cii_5766179&cpncode=22-14715507-2)</p>

6

<p>yes that is a fat laptop, check out the xps m1330, 13in. tiny, standard intel core2duo (above good nuff’), optional (but NEEDED) graphics card, standard 1gb…upgrade to 2 if you got the dough, but as pointed out above RAM can be upgraded easily everything else can not.</p>

<p>so XPS m1330 performance
great processor , check
Good options for video card, check (128mb to 256mb VRAM avail) [devoted to V-card]
SMALL COMPUTER!!!, I speak from experience , I OWN ONE!, plays counterstrike-source very well, worldofwarcraft is decent settings, and FOR SURE sims no problemo.</p>

<p>Smallness is a big criteria, any computer can be fast and cheap given no size/weight constraint.</p>

<p>that gateway posted above can be used as a deadly weapon, its huge.</p>

<p>(before you buy a 17in’’ laptop online, make sure to see it in real life, carrying that crap around defeats its purpose of portability…If 13in is to small which under no circumstance is it…opt for a 15in (m1550)…cheaper too)</p>

7

<p>I agree with Haldir. Buy a real desktop for games, and buy a small cheap laptop to carry around. You may be able to find a laptop that is powerful enough for gaming, but it will be large, heavy, and have a short battery life.</p>

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<p>If you are a real gamer, even if you buy a desktop, you will be upgrading to play the newest games.</p>

8

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<p>True, but this person is asking for a laptop to play the Sims. It isn’t hard to find a laptop that has more than enough power to run the Sims without spending a lot of money. I wouldn’t consider a gaming laptop or desktop required or even desirable for the needs.</p>