Tuesday, April 30, 2013

How to fix crashing of The Sims 3 on Mac OSX Mountain Lion?

Q. I recently installed The Sims 3 (only the base game-- no expansions) on my MacBook Pro. For the past 2 days it has been running perfectly, I created 2 games and have been playing with no complications. Yesterday, I downloaded 2 small custom content packages, and used them successfully in the game. But suddenly, after trying to run the game again this morning, it started crashing as soon as it came to the Sims 3 logo. My game is up-to-date and I have not changed or updated anything since it last ran successfully. Any ideas what might be causing it and how to go about fixing it?

A. Try removing the custom content and see if it works. If the game works, then it's probably a problem with one or more of the CC items you downloaded. You can find out which item it is by putting them back in the game one by one, loading the game up after you put each one in. If and when it crashes again, you'll know that the last CC you installed is the one that's messing with your game.

If removing the CC doesn't work, then it may be a problem with your computer. You should check your system specs and see if you have the minimum required RAM, hard drive space, and processor speed. Unfortunately, Macs tend not to run The Sims 3 (or any computer game, really) very well. The Sims 3 is a pretty intense game, so you might want to consider getting a computer built specifically for gaming.

What keyboards are compatible with OSX Leopard?
Q. I got it to install on my old PC laptop that I got last year, but the keyboard and touch pad do not work. I have a nice USB mouse that works fine, but I can not fully load the OS until I have a keyboard connected.

A. Almost any USB keyboard will work. Go to Best Buy and pick up a cheap $15 keyboard and it will work.

What is the most durable, best value laptop in the market?
Q. I have a sony vaio fj270, which crashed last night. I had it for a year and paid $1,300 for it. Last Sunday, the car we were driving was hit by the car behind us. There wasn't a huge damage on the car, but I think the impact was pretty strong. I was able to use my laptop for another 2 days until it suddenly went off, like the screen was all white. I tried to fix it with sony support but no luck. I was very disappointed. Now, I have to get a new laptop because I am studying for the board exams, and my next exam is in a month...I was wondering if you guys have some tips on buying laptops, and maybe if you know of a more durable one than a sony vaio. Thanks.

A. Hello ...

All notebooks are *generally* the same in reliability, so it all depends on the manufacturer who stands behind it and this is how good their warranties are. You may or may not already know this, but almost all notebooks are made by 4-5 Chinese and Taiwanese companies (Comp, Foxconn, ASUS, etc.) and then bought/rebranded by Dell, HP, Sony, etc., to be sold under their respective name. Most will do "some" design work in-house, but the only one that does all of their own design that I know if is Apple.

Dell has an excellent warranty (esp. for business customers) and most companies (Dell, HP, etc.) even offer drop protection; however, I've never owned one personally and they are not the only mfg that offers drop protection.

Personally, I've only dealt w/ HP and Apple in regard to warranty service and each has done a pretty good job--always provided a fast turnaround and all shipping was paid by them.

HP (like Dell, Gateway, and I believe now Sony) outsources all it's customer service and technical support to India while Apple keeps 90% of it stateside for US customers--I've talked to Canadians on the weekends, so that's probably their -overflow- for tech calls too.

If you follow Consumer Reports, you may want to give Apple a look. They're consistently rated #1 in Consumer Reports for Customer Service and reliability.

http://www.techweb.com/wire/ebiz/195900095

From my experience having owned two Powerbooks and a Macbook, each has been very reliable outside of a [Toshiba] hard drive failure on my last Powerbook.

Also, since Apple switched over to Intel chipsets, you can dual-boot Mac OSX and Windows XP/Vista with Bootcamp (free), or run them together via Parallels ($80).

Whatever you decide to get, make sure you get what fits your needs before your wants; I'd hate to tell someone they need to buy a $1,000+ plus computer when a $599 computer would do just fine.




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