Advice for buying a laptop to mod SWBF

[Kit Fisto]

Hey everyone!
With EA SWBF2 ending support and the game being left in an "eh" state (and with no EA SWBF3 on the horizon) I've decided to pursue my dream hobby of modding SWBF1 to my hearts content. The problem is, I don't know where to begin.
First things first, I need to purchase a PC laptop to mod SWBF on but I'm not sure which to get or if the mod tools software will run on a semi-recent laptop.
I also want a laptop that is good enough to run SWBF2 using all of those fancy remastered mods, and to play both games online using the GOG servers they recently brought back.

Do any of you have any suggestions as to what OS I should pursue and what brand/model of laptop would be good?

I'm trying to keep the price range at max $400, preferably lower. I don't mind it being a 10 year old laptop as I won't be playing anything new on it. Only the old Star Wars games of the glory days.

Any help is much appreciated!

[Dark_Phantom]

My personal opinion:
Any laptop made in the last 10 years for Windows will run SWBF and should run the mod tools.

Those fancy remastered mods, I'm not the person to ask - I know of them and know that if you don't have a reasonable machine they can be unplayable.  A BF2 user with those mods would be better suited to answer that portion.

I'm personally pretty loyal to companies like Acer/Asus/HP.  We've bought HP laptops at reasonable prices for several years where I work and have been pretty pleased, but make sure you read the reviews and listen to what others here say.  The HP laptops do fall in your price range, but if you can get 8 GB of RAM you will have a much more pleasant experience than anything lower (can also look at SSDs and faster processors, but then we start climbing out of price range I think).

[Kit Fisto]

Ok thanks for the advice Dark Phantom. Glad to hear there aren't any issues with SWBF and the mod tools on Windows 10.
And I'm able to play those remastered mods now on my Mac port so I'm sure the stuff you recommended will work fine for me as well.

[AnthonyBF2]

I do all of my modding on my EliteBook 8540w. It has 1GB AMD graphics, i5 2.5 ghz two cores, 8gb ram. It's more than enough performance to do anything I need related to modding such as ZE, Gimp, running BF2 on PC, or PSP emulator. I got this laptop used for about $150 and I put a 500GB SSD in it which was also about another $150 at the time I purchased it.

For more high end things, such as remastered mods, and other gaming, I think you'll need more power. I use another EliteBook, the 8770w model for all serious gaming, including BF2 + remastered mods. I got this used for about $300 several years ago and I slowly maxed out all the different parts. It has currently i7 3920XM 2.9-3.8 GHZ 4 cores, 16gb ram, and 4GB Nvidia Quadro. This laptop does *everything* I need. I can play GTA V at med-high settings with no problem, BF2 2017 at max settings with no problem. My only problem ever, is Zeroeditor. Something about Quadro graphics doesn't like ZE and ZE just won't run.

I won't necessarily recommend this computer because it's old and you can definitely get something modern with even more power these days. I choose not to upgrade because I personally don't like new computers, for several reasons.

- Too thin & fragile, no durability
- Everything is soldered, can't upgrade or self-repair
- Mediocre storage capacities
- Windows 10

Edit: I'd like to move to a different state soon. I am trying to save as much money as I can. If you're interested, I will consider selling you my current EliteBook 8540w model. You can contact me and we can discuss price or anything else related.

Here is all of the specification details:

Graphics: AMD FirePro M5800 1GB
RAM: 8GB DDR3
Storage: 500GB SSD - Western Digital Blue 2.5" SATA
CPU: i5-m540 2.5GHz dual core
Display: 1920x1080
USB: 2x USB 3.0, 2x USB 2.0, 1x USB 1.0
OS: Windows 7 64 bit
Other: Display Port, DVD Drive, WiFi, Bluetooth, Ethernet, VGA, SD Slot, eSATA.

What can be upgraded: CPU, GPU, Ram, Storage, & DVD Drive.

This computer can play BF1 & BF2 at max FPS on low-med settings. BF1 and BF2 can be played at max settings but the games will lag on a per-map basis. I've used this computer to run any PPSSPP game at max performance + PPSSPP graphics enhancements. It does modding just fine, as I've said above.

[Kit Fisto]

I tried to PM you but I was blocked...

[AnthonyBF2]

I tried to PM you but I was blocked...

I locked my DMs because I was tired of being contacted by normies. The best way you can get to me is add me on Discord: AnthonyBF2#9350