Sim City 4

First of all, yes, Sim City 4 will run on a netbook. In fact, SC4 is pretty forgiving to netbooks as it allows a lot of customization in relation to your graphics settings. The graphics settings in Sim City 4 include an option to switch to software rendering if you're finding the itty bitty graphic chipset in your netbook is having a problem rendering your city when it gets large.

Sim City 4 installs well from an image file though the installation takes a little while. When all is said and done, SC4 will take up approximately 920 MB of storage. The default graphics settings will allow the game to play smoothly. However, with no wide-screen resolution you might find it difficult to navigate your city as the control menu at the bottom of the screen takes up a large portion of your view.

Will you create a metropolis to rival New York? Or will you lead your city to ruin? Good luck!

Acer Aspire One
Intel Atom N270 CPU
1 Gb RAM
Intel 945 graphic chipset
8 Gb SS Hard Drive
16 Gb HCSD card used as a second drive
8.9" LCD screen

The Sims

The best selling PC game of all time for a reason. But does it run on a netbook? Yes it does!

The image file was mounted in Alcohol 52% and installation was smooth. The first attempt to run the program at 1024 x 768 did not result in success. The Sims only loaded on the left side of the display and the colour scheme was way off. The program locked up shortly after but was able to be terminated in the Task Manager. Attempt number two involved running the game at 800 x 600. The game loaded up and ran smoothly. Occasional slow game play when mousing over a moving Sim but hardly noticeable.

Acer Aspire One
Intel Atom N270 CPU
1 Gb RAM
Intel 945 graphic chipset
8 Gb SS Hard Drive
16 Gb HCSD card used as a second drive
8.9" LCD screen