Hi! I've been going a little nuts trying to pick a new laptop after the death of my old one months ago and finally decided to ask for advice here. I'm not a big gamer, but I'd like a machine that will run The Sims 3 with all expansions (and probably quite a bit of store content). Finding this thread and its recommendations threw me for a bit of a loop, considering my old middle-of-the-road Samsung somehow ran the game OK, albeit with lots of lag, on medium-ish settings. 
Maybe that contributed to its death. I still think it was the milk.
Wilkommen, Jynx. Ich spreche kein Deutsch, but I can read some of it okay. As you've discovered, milk may do a body good, but doesn't do a laptop good.
Anyhoo, I was initially looking at this Acer: http://www.cyberport.de/acer-aspire-vn7-571g-56w6-notebook-i5-4210u-sshd-full-hd-gtx850m-windows-8-1-1C26-9AW_1688.html
(If you don't speak German, click on Datenblatt for the detailed specifications.) Going by your recommendations, the processor is a little weak, right?
This is an okay system. I only say that because I'm a little hesitant to recommend a system with an Ultra-Low Voltage processor. However, I've kind of eased up on the outright dismissal of the chips as they have improved quite a bit in the past couple of years. Most still have a base clock speed under what's recommended for The Sims 3, so it will be running in Turbo Mode frequently.
I also looked on Amazon.de and found a newer version of the system with a slightly newer processor --
Acer Aspire VN7-571G-574H for 729,00 Euro.
Doing a bit of hunting leads me to believe that my best chance for a stronger processor in my preferred price range is an MSI. I don't know much about their laptops. Are they to be avoided? Unfortunately, most of their machines come without an operating sytem or with DOS, so that has to be accounted for in the price. This looks like the best option at the moment: http://www.cyberport.de/msi-gp60-profd-gaming-notebook-i5-4210h-full-hd-gtx850m-ohne-windows-1C17-1MD_10892.html
I'd prefer 1 TB of storage, but it has a slot for adding a second drive.
I've been quite enamored of MSI laptops lately. Maybe because when I built my desktop computer last year, I used an MSI motherboard for it (and it rocks!). But like you discovered, they have good specifications for the price. And a number of them also come with no operating system or with FreeDOS. At least in Europe.
On the other hand, buying a system should also allow you to get a system builder's (used to be referred to as OEM) copy of
Windows 8.1 for less money than a standard license. The only problem I see with the system you linked to is that it only has 4 GB of memory, and for Sims 3 + a 64-bit OS, you really want 8 GB.
As before, I did find a similar system (
MSI GP60-2PEI585FD) on Amazon.de with 8 GB for 705,75 Euro, but again with no operating system. Unfortunately, the
Windows 8.1 System Builder is a little more expensive on Amazon -- 102,90 Euro instead of 95 Euro at Cyberport.
I've been aiming at an NVIDIA GeForce GTX 850M for the graphics card, but would downgrading to an 840M be problematic? I don't know that any combo I can afford would run high settings, but it'd be nice. I know very little about such things, so I've been using gpuboss.com comparisons as a guide.
If you're inclined to check for a better option, I would be very grateful. I live in Germany and would like to stay around €770 (laptop + OS) on a laptop with a matt 15' display and plenty of storage space.
Thanks in advance!
The other system I found at Cyberport is another MSI --
MSI CX70-2PFi587W7. There are some tradeoffs, though. First of all, the system has a GT 850M rather than the GTX 850M - which means best you'll get is likely medium-high settings. Also, it's a 17 inch screen. The other thing is the URL and title both say it has a Core i5 4210M processor, but the description says it has a Core i7 processor. On the other hand, it does come with Windows 7 Home Premium.
Overall, though, I think I'd recommend the Acer I linked to earlier --
Acer Aspire VN7-571G-574H for 729,00 Euro. It doesn't have an operating system, so you will need to buy one. However, it does have nearly everything you want -- a GTX 850 graphics chip with 4 GB of memory, 8 GB of system memory, and a decent processor. Pair that with a copy of Windows 7 or 8 and a good cooling mat, and you should have a system that should play the game quite well. It will put you over budget though once you add in the cost of Windows and the cooling mat though.
Hope this helps and happy Simming!
Flynn
