Job Discussion Forums

[kei1261]

Everyone I talk to thinks I should buy a laptop for use in China. (I presently just use my desktop.)

I agree that a laptop would be great to have in China, but I wonder about a couple of things before I shell out the $700 or so to get a basic laptop in the US to bring to China.

First, is it really necessary to have one? Don't most of the schools (I'll be teaching at a university) provide computers for the instructors? Also, would it be less expensive to wait until I get to China and buy a laptop there? Are all the major brands available there?

And, finally, and this maybe sounds stupid, but if I wait until I get to China to buy a laptop can I still get one with an English keyboard and pre-installed English software for word processing purposes?

I think of some strange things, I know . .

[dialogger]

Whether you will have access to a computer and internet depends on your employer and you should try that avenue first.
At my second job I had a computer (PC) in my apartment but never discovered if it was school-supplied or left by a previous FT. I had to get the internet connected and it was a real circus. However that was in 2004 and things better now.
There is another current thread on buying a cheap laptop in China.
Most localities around universities in China abound with net bars and if you can squeeze in (they're usually crammed with students playing online games) you can access your email at least, while making up your mind about one for your apartment.
The other parts of your post will no doubt be covered by more knowledgeable cafe members.

[The Ever-changing Cleric]

Most computers supplied by schools in FT apartments are very low end. Minimum RAM, small hard drive, and have never had any security software installed, so there's tons of malware/spyware etc that has to be cleaned out. Plus the OS could well be in Chinese and if its not, then its very likely a pirated English copy.

I wouldnt recommend buying a laptop in China. Don't worry about an "English keyboard" or anything like that. More importantly, its the operating system. I bought an Asus Eee last year in Shenzhen, and even in that city, right next to Hong Kong, the best they could do for an English OS was a pirated copy of XP, which I would just rather avoid completely. I'm going to switch that Asus Eee (its my travel computer, and isn't in use too often) to Linux, which is free and easy to download and install. Pirated software in China is hit and miss, sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't, not to mention the fact that pirated software is illegal.

If I were you, I'd be bringing my own laptop to China. Your time on the internet (which will be plenty) will be much more enjoyable as opposed to using a school supplied computer.

[happigur1]

[kei1261]

Thanks for the comments all.

I guess I'm off to Best Buy tomorrow . .

[GeminiTiger]

thats a good choice. good electronics are not any cheaper here.

[platinum peyote]

Buy one in Hong Kong if you can. Here in Nanjing I bought a netbook, the Toshiba NB200, was 3600RMB, works fine and is nice and light so good for using in restaurants/bars when I am by myself.

[nickpellatt]

As already suggested ... buy it at home, Im pretty sure prices in the UK are cheaper than they may be in China anyway ... if not cheaper, certainly comparable but with genuine software.

About a month ago I bought an Inspiron direct from Dell ... 3gb Ram, Intel dual core processor, and 320 GB Hard Drive ... it was �359, or on current exchange rates, about 3600 RMB. I cant imagine laptops any cheaper in China ... they certainly werent when I was there before.

But also ... I would say yes, you definitely should take one! If not for emails and other things, you can use it watch DVDs, play some simple games, store and edit photos / videos, write notes etcetc. I always had free time in China, and on those times when I was bored, having the laptop meant I could mess about editing photos and all sorts of other things to keep me busy

[Xi_Gua]

Depends on what you need it for imo. If you're into a lot of gaming and wanna stay up on new releases (CoD:MW2 soon w00t) then you'd best buy it in the States.

If you just want a little crapper for internet and basic office use then a el cheapo you can buy in China is fine. Obviously XP will be pirated, but there shouldn't be a problem getting it in English. Not like updating it will keep the hackers out if they wanted in. Plus, there are always ways around windows activation and the Genuine thing. Spyware, malware, and virus protection is easy to get and that's the important stuff.

I'm personally considering buying a light little craptop for travel since mine is heavy and bulky. They get the job done unless you wanna do crazy stuff like gaming or graphic design/photo editing.

[doogs09]

Your 700 bucks is about 4500 to 5000 RMB based on current exchange rates. You can buy a decent mid range laptop in China for that money, certainly in the south. Don't buy in Hong Kong though, it's no cheaper than anywhere else these days.

The biggest issue is the software. It'll come with Chinese XP and Office, both of which are likely to be pirated. It's easy enough to buy a copy of your OS of choice at home to install when you get here though. The other issue is warranty. If you buy a laptop in the states, even if it comes with an international warranty, will you be able to get it fixed in China? If you buy it in China with the aid of the Chinese staff at your school, you should be able to have any faults fixed pretty quickly. If you buy a name like Asus or Toshiba then you should also be able to get it fixed when you get back home, assuming you are staying for a year or more.

If you buy it in China make sure it has an international warranty so you can have it fixed for free when you take it home.

[rel]

Id recommend buying a laptop at home and bringing it to China.
I would also recommend buying a new Asus laptop since they come with a 2 year global warranty so you can get it fixed anywhere in the world. (do not buy from best buy, the asus models there only come with 1 year warranties)

[wangdaning]

[cps82856]

I agree with the other posters' descriptions of school-provided computers (whether in the apartment or the FT office) -- low-end processors, low RAM and hard drive storage, (usually) Chinese OS, a plague of malware and other viruses.

My first couple of years in China, I had very little use for a laptop, especially in the classroom. Later, when I started making more contacts, I was doing a lot of business English teaching and traveling to various company facilities. More times than not, they had set-ups that allowed me to plug in my laptop and use a projector. This expanded the type of materials I was able to use and kept the students (and me) more interested in the class. After a couple of years of using my laptop, I wonder how I ever got along without it. I use it in all the classes I teach, take it everywhere, and always have something to entertain me. In the larger cities, it's pretty easy to find Wi-Fi hotspots (especially if you're partial to Starbucks coffee, but many coffee shops have free Wi-Fi). It's set up the way I want it, so I never have to worry about whether the PC I'm using for the first time has what I need.

I ordered a Dell direct from the factory online. They have an English version of the website, but if you have someone who can help you with the Chinese web page (and talk on the telephone if necessary), that's the way to go. I paid direct using my bank number and it arrived about three days later. It had the English version of Vista and all the supporting CD's. It's had some hardware problems, but I would call Dell and within a day or two a technician would come to my house to make repairs or replace the part. You may want to check other manufacturers who have a strong presence in China, especially ones like HP/Compaq.

[jamesmollo]

I for one don't like laptops, because the screen is too small. It depends on what you want to use it for really. As others have said the school provided computer will be a piece of crap.
I bought a dell pc with a 2 year warranty here, downloaded the operating system, windows vista(english) and any other programs you want are easly downloaded with a fast connection.

Obviously the software you get in china is fake and in chinese, but you can find english software if you look hard.

You'll want to install the chinese language pack and change your settings to be able to view chinese web pages, usefull for the many film sites available here, were you can watch and download at the same time: tom365.com for example.

In my opinion laptops are just good for travel and for use in the classroom for powerpoint presentations and media, but I've never needed one in 4 years.

Your best bet is to by a good/powerfull pc in china, for 4500 you could get a good one. Just change the operating system, easy.

[kungfucowboy83]

for the most part work computers will be slow, old, non-secure and full of viruses and other crap.

if you compare the same 2 computers it will be cheaper in the usa, with the exception of brands like haier.

If you buy from a reputable dealer in the usa you can be sure that all the software is genuine witch means a lot imo (i have mostly not so genuine stuff right now and it can really suck). If you just want a basic laptop you can get something like a 15in dell in the usa for 400-500 bucks a similar setup will cost around 600-700 bucks here (unless you want to buy a chinese brand computer).

the chinese brand laptops aren't bad computers but they are a little bit fragile and heat sensitive with low battery life in my own experience, if you have vista there is a program called vistalisator that you can use to switch your language (if you want to update theos via microsoft you have to switch back to the original language, but it's really easy). also there is the green dam software to worry about (uninstall).

if you want a desktop i would buy it here (have it made by yourself, a friend, or a seller with a good reputation) and either buy a copy of windows 7 and bring it with you or get used to linux, or download a pirated os (which can cause annoyances). most of the pirated copies sold here are ghosts from another computer which will run like crap unless you have a similar setup.

as for office either buy ms office in you home country or use oppenoffice.org's program (which is free and almost as good)

logicbuy.com is usually a good site to find good deals on laptops (they find search affiliated sites and link their specials)