any tips on moving my game from on computer to another?
See comments below~
*install the sims 2 with expansion packs (duh! i think i already know how to do that!)
Make sure that the last EP you installed on your PC is the last you install on this new laptop - that is the version of the game that your saved games are saved as.
*burn my sims 2 downloads file to a disk and place on laptop (any tips on moving large files? apparently my downloads folder is 2.78 GB, and i have blank cd's that can hold 700 MB. help with tech math?)
1 GB= 1024 MB
So, if you have 2.78GB of downloads, that is ~2848MB. Since you can only burn 700MB to a CD, you will need 4-5CDs to burn all downloads. Don't forget that if you also want to restore your neighborhoods, you will need to copy and move the Neighborhoods folder as well.
There are a couple options other than burning to CDs which may or may not be easier for you.
1) Form a home network between your Dad's PC and your new laptop so you can transfer the files over the network. This involves having both PCs connected to the internet through a switch/hub/etc and then creating a network. If you or your Dad are not very techy this might not work for you, but this is what I have always done.
2)Buy a transfer cable for ~$30 and link the 2 computers USB ports for file transfer. It comes with software to help transfer files directly from one computer to the next. I bought one of these recently and plan to try it when my new PC arrives - it's supposed to be faster than going through the network
3)Burn to DVDs? If your dad's PC has a DVD burner and your laptop can read DVDs, they would be a better option than CDs, as DVDs have a capacity of 4~8GB depending on how many layers they have. You could burn all of your stuff to 1 DVD as opposed to 4 or 5 CDs.
*possibly move my projects folder to a blank disk and place on laptop? ( i really want to continue creating custom content, and is there any way i can move the projects folder to my laptop? u know, so when i open up bodyshop, they're already there)
You can definitely transfer the folder, but whether or not it will load the projects.. I'm not sure :\ Someone else may be able to answer that better.
I'd also like to give you a bit of warning- laptops run MUCH hotter than PCs. Overheating=laptop death. You will need to get a laptop cooling pad and/or a small desk fan to blow on your laptop to help cool it when playing games. It's good that the laptop is 2core but how well the game will run will also depend on the laptop's memory, operating system, and video card. If your laptop has Vista and only 1GB of memory, it won't run as well as it would on an XP OS with 1GB (as Vista is a big ol' resource hog). Most laptops do not come with very good gaming video cards, but I'm sure it will be able to handle sims. I hope I haven't discouraged you too much from laptops, I have not tried playing on a modern one myself, but they tend to have the same problems just because of the nature of the beast. I hope that was helpful ^^;;