More Awesome Than You!

I found a couple of cheap laptops (ones I can possibly afford). I would like to have opinions on them. I plan to run Sims2 on them so that is to be considered. Thanks

#1 Acer Laptop with extended battery life                   #2 Acer Dual Core
     AMD Turion 64 ML-32                                                Intel Centrino Duo T2300
     100 GB (4200)Hard Drive                                           100 GB (5400)Hard Drive
     1024 MB DDR RAM                                                    1024 MB DDR RAM   
     Dual Layer DVD Burner                                               Dual Layer DVD Burner
     128 MB (shared) Mirage 2 Graphics                              224 MB (shared) Intel GMA 950
     Wireless Networking                                                  Wireless Networking
     15.4" Widescreen                                                     15.4" Widescreen
     Price $999 canadian                                         Price $1199 Canadian
   
     
   

Intergrated graphics are crap :-\. I really don't think you'd be very happy.  If I had to pick one, I'd go with whichever has the fastest processor (I am not familiar with AMD so I can't tell which is better).

Looks like the specs on #2 are somewhat better.  Both Centrino and Turion-based notebooks get generally decent reviews at PCWorld.com, but the Intel processor seems to have a bit of an edge over the AMD.

I Googled for info and reviews on both types of integrated graphics, and got pretty much the same concensus for both: they're perfectly adequate for 2-D applications and older games, but they won't handle modern games that call for superior 3-D performance.  I found a report of The Sims 2 running on a Turion notebook, but lagging even at the lowest settings.  Couldn't find any specific reports of anyone trying TS2 on a Centrino Duo.

The number that stands out most to me is 224 MB versus 128 MB of graphics memory.  Generally speaking, more memory is better.

Regardless, I wouldn't count on being able to run the game at very high settings with either one.  : /

I vote for the dual core as well. 

If it helps, I run Sims 2 on a laptop with an NVidia Geforce Go 6200TC, which is an integrated board, and it runs like a dream. I have Uni and Nightlife, and have most of the game options set to Maximum. Running the game full-screen isn't great if I need to switch applications, but running it in a window is wonderful - very smooth switching. I usually have Sims 2 and irc running together, and often a web browser (Opera) or Photoshop as well.

Now, this laptop is a Sony Vaio, and it's around a year old. So while it cost a fair bit more than your current budget, it has similar specs in terms of processor speed and memory. The only big difference is the graphics card. We specifically bought this laptop to run Sims 2, so we got the best possible graphics card at the time. It has 32MB dedicated RAM plus 128MB shared. NVidia cards are generally good.