New laptop user, some questions

[gethane]

I got a new laptop for law school, so of course, I loaded the sims, as if I might have time to play 

but I can't seem to play because of lack of camera abilities. I currently just have that little button thingie and a touchpad. Perhaps I'm missing something? Or do I just go buy a usb mouse?

Any other tips from laptop users? This is my first laptop ever so I'm clueless.

[Solowren]

Indeed, you are missing a scroll wheel. Invest in a USB mouse.

[witch]

Do invest in a mouse for your laptop anyway. Although laptops have ways to scroll, it's neally not as good as using a mouse.

IMHO. 

[gethane]

Thank you thank you I shall buy one tomorrow. I'm gonna get a little lap top desk on wheels too. Maybe. Hmm. It might not have room for a mouse. But the laptop on the top of my lap is getting old

Witch, now that AL is out, I keep expecting an actual simwitch avatar 

[witch]

I'm not allowed to change it, I'm afraid. I got away with the other recently because the box could be seen in the background. Plus I have a jingle poofs one I'm allowed for Xmas. 

Who knows, if I make an appearance in Awesomeland I might be able to do something.

[Quinctia]

I've only played Sims 2 on a laptop.  I pretty much use the keyboard shortcuts exclusively to control the camera.  If I'm not cycling through sims to just see how they're doing, I'm usually trying to fine-tune my angle to get a good shot.

I've never been a big fan of mouse control in games, though.  I'll plug in a USB game pad if I can before I'll resort to using a mouse.  So I'm sure it's very much a matter of preference.  The touchpad scroll functions on my current laptop are way better than my first, so it's probably feasible to almost scroll with it in game like a mouse wheel.

[Sigmund]

Thank you thank you I shall buy one tomorrow. I'm gonna get a little lap top desk on wheels too. Maybe. Hmm. It might not have room for a mouse. But the laptop on the top of my lap is getting old

Invest in a cooling pad (I'm speaking from experience here) and make sure the air is circulating underneath-- sticky notes work wonderfully for this.Avoid setting your computer in your lap for long periods of time, and you definitely do not want to play Sims that way. Usually there are vents at the bottom of the laptop that keep it from overheating, and placing it in your lap blocks these vents-- it's one of the fastest ways I've found to cause a laptop to overheat. (For me personally, this resulted in lots of crashing.) Technically, laptops aren't supposed to run the Sims, but I play most of the EPs fairly smoothly and with next to no heating issues.

Additionally, I've found that disconnecting from the internet and disabling my antivirus when I play seems to help. In fact, disabling any non-necessary processes at all seems to help with the potential overheating problems.

[kiki]

I went and bought a laptop to replace my desktop and I gotta say, definitely invest in a mouse - if you don't like big clunky ones you can even get those mini-mouse thingies that are only about an inch long; scroll wheels are most definitely your friend, long tiemz and only for a dollah.

eta: sigmund speaks trufax - I've actually had a hard drive epic fail from overheating in a laptop by not having adequate cooling. $20 on ebay roughly, best monies you'll spend in terms of a laptop add-on.

[Roux]

I use a little laptop lapdesk... it has a couple things that stick up so the laptop is propped up and the vents aren't blocked. It also has a cushion on the bottom, which makes it more comfortable since this thing is heavy. I also shut down background tasks and disconnect from the internet, unless I'm just loading the game to check something. I don't generally get overheating problems unless the house is really, really hot (no A/C). If it happens, I just exit the game and let the laptop standby and cool down for a short time.

I don't use a USB mouse anymore because my laptop has a scrollbar on the touchpad, which does the same thing as a scroll wheel. (It even zooms in/out in the game.) I disabled the touchpad tap-click, though, because I was constantly selecting things when I was only trying to move the mouse. But like others have already said, touchpad vs. mouse is going to be a matter of personal preference. Using a mouse irritates my arm and wrist, no matter how ergonomically correct my set up, so it's touchpad for me.

Something else to consider if you're going the desk route and don't like the laptop keyboard: you can get a USB keyboard and set up the laptop so it's propped up on a desk, and then put the external keyboard and mouse on a keyboard tray.

[cat]

I've been using sims 2 on a laptop for a couple of years and I only have problems if there's something actually seriously wrong with the laptop (for example, my virus software was slowing it to a crawl at one poitn due to a conflict with another program). As for overheating, just keep the area besides the fan free of stuff and you'll be fine. (Tip: fans make good areas to store hot drinks besides as they'll stay hot for longer, just keep anything else well away for it's sake, not the laptop's). And don't use the laptop for sims on your lap, like others have said: you'll hurt your back, get an overheated laptop and you can't always see the screen too well.

You do need a mouse though, although if you memorise every keyboard shortcut you can manage without if you don't mind pausing every few minutes to avoid clicking on the wrong thing.

[dawnkeeper]

I bought an Alienware M15x laptop for my gaming. This thing makes my desktop look like a toy. It never overheats and I use it exclusively in my lap (I do have a cooling pad between myself and the laptop though).

Check to see if your laptop has bluetooth capability. Mine does and I bought a bluetooth mouse. No dongle and it connects automatically whenever my laptop is on. I could not live without my bluetooth mouse! It's really nice to not have to worry about breaking off that little dongle that comes with regular mice, or even having a cord hanging out.

[Lorelei]

I have used corded and cordless mice with laptops, never the default navigation pad. I usually cover it up with a bizcard.

I would typically drop another fingertip onto the touchpad and have to repeat my gestures, which got old fast. I'm used to using a mouse, and even drew with one before I got a proper stylus + sketchpad. (The sketchpad stylus is now the preferred drawing tool, as changing line width is easier to do with increased pressure than retracing a mouse-drawn line.)

I need to have my laptop keyboard checked by a geek with tools I don't have on hand, as I'm on my second external keyboard now. On the plus side, chatting in #grah is often easier without having a hot laptop perched directly over my lap. On the minus side, the new keyboard is spazzing out.

Thunderfingers here types like I'm trying to play a fortissimo march or something similar on a piano keyboard, I think. Our piano, it is old, and needs to be beaten into submission.

Oddly, I don't have the same heavy touch with any of the synths.

[witch]

Somehow I pictured you thundering and rattling and pounding the keyboard into submission during your tealdeer episodes. I'm a bit that way myself, when I'm in the middle of something and totally concentrating, I tend to hammer the thing myself. A work mate said to me the other day, 'your poor keyboard'. lol

I do not picture your hands lightly skipping over the keys like a butterfly, maybe because of the intensity of some of your tealdeer posts. There's passion in them thar hills.

[Lorelei]

Actually, I type with the same intensity regardless of topic.

I just beat the keyboard into submission writing a To Do list.

 

[nocomment]

I have a laptop and don't use a mouse.  To adjust the camera angle, hold down CNTL + right touchpad button, and run your finger up and down the touchpad.  Very useful.