Internet Cafes in China - some queries

[roddy]

Given that I haven't been in an Internet cafe for yeeeears . . .

What are the chances of Internet cafe computers nowadays having accessible USB ports? I suspect slim as presumably the machines are built without any unnecessary extras, but like I say - I haven't been near an Internet cafe for years. What software is generally on there? Word / other word processors?

I'm looking at the feasibility of leaving my laptop at home on trips away, but would need a back up plan in case non-turn-downable work comes in - even if that means working in the middle of a CS tournament. I should be able to get by with web-based applications - ie Google Documents - but am also looking at portable applications. It'd be nice to be able to run Firefox and Thunderbird, etc, off a USB drive.

I also remember that some cafes used to have a 'VIP' area with comfier seats, maybe larger monitors, at a slightly higher price. Is that common? Can I pay my way into a quieter environment. What about hotel business centers? In the past I'd probably have assumed they were overpriced and probably not all that good, but perhaps I'm wrong.

[Senzhi]

I once tried, to avoid the hassle of carrying my laptop around, to go to a 'Net Bar' to copy files from a USB hard drive to DVD-RW. No such option was available.

Since then I do carry my laptop around, but even then, a lot of these internet cafés will not likely accomodate me with internet access, wired nor wireless. Some do though, so it's a matter of luck.

Now, when I travel, I usely go to some café/restaurant that has free wireless. Unfortunately, I still have the hassle of carrying my laptop around.

[yonglin]

I think the level of equipment of internet cafes vary very widely. Actually, smaller internet cafes in obscure places (like upstairs in apartment buildings) might be more well-equipped than the large one next to the road. There could be a problem of finding those, though. I've used USB devices at internet cafes and I would think it's getting more and more common: people need to load songs onto their mp3 players! CD drives isn't too common, however.

As far as I'm aware, most internet cafes have the standard office suite (probably not the 2007 version, and probably not licenced), although there might be exceptions. I found that some of them used really obscure pinyin input systems (but then I'm so used to sogou's, so I might just be spoiled).

There are usually different types of seating at different prices, although the ones I've seen just mean a bit more secludedness and a somewhat wider seat. Still not exactly a great work environment. It wouldn't surprise me if they had private rooms (they have those everywhere: restaurants, tea houses, etc.) but I've never asked for one, so I don't know.

[roddy]

Sounds more or less what I expected. From my pre-laptop days I seem to recall that larger places would have no extras like USB ports or optical drives, and would prevent you from making any permanent changes to the machines. Smaller ones - in particular I'm thinking of a couple of places attached to backpacker hotels - would have the USB / optical drives, but the machines would also be a complete addled mess of viruses, browser plugins and toolbars, etc.

Will probably make online applications my first choice - between webmail and Google Documents I should be fine. There's a portable version of firefox I could use, assuming I can download and run an .exe, otherwise whatever is installed should be usable. Have also got a new USB stick on its way though, so will load that up with whatever I might need in case I get a chance to use it, and have also ordered a portable Bluetooth keyboard for my smartphone which gives me another, fiddly, option.

[Rincewind]

The quality varies a great deal in the cafes I've used. Some let you use USB and some don't. Most will have a webcam, headphones and mike plus your basic install of windows XP, office, and IE. The cheaper ones tend to be better setup. Avoid hotel business suites unless you are really stuck. They charge way over the top. The best I found was in Guilin which had everything you want but only charged 1 yuan per hour, which is cheap.

[roddy]

To be honest if a hotel business center is quiet, has a comfy seat and a decent Internet connection on a well-set up PC, I'll quite happily pay for the privilege - chances are it will save me the time spent wandering around randomly trying to find a cheaper place that would be ok to work in. However my (very out of date) experience with hotel business centers is that they're run by people who don't know anything about computers.

[ipsi()]

Have you considered just buying a smaller laptop? e.g. an Eee PC. I've just acquired one, and it's fantastic. Assuming you're doing mostly Chinese -> English Translation, it'd be really good. The Chinese Pinyin IME is pretty poor though, so I'd suggest learning Wubi for that...

Or do you not want to carry *anything* that won't fit in your pockets?

[roddy]

I have actually been looking lovingly at the EEE for a while, it or a similar UMPC is certainly an option for the future. My current laptop - a Dell 420 - is very portable in itself, and with my phone working well as an EDGE modem and an extended battery it's a pretty nifty mobile office. However, for at least a month this summer I plan to avoid working on a daily basis and carry no electronics that do not, as you say, fit in my pocket. However I'll need to still be doing at least several hours work a week so need to plan for that, and there's also the possibility that a piece of work comes in that I can't turn down (although if it's so attractive I can't turn it down, I could probably justify buying an EEE to do it on).

[ipsi()]

The EEE is quite absurdly portable. You'd just have to get used to a really small keyboard. However, I'm touch-typing on it now, so it's good enough for that.

Too bad it's coming into summer for you folks in China, otherwise I'd just suggest buying a 大衣 with a really big pocket, and thus have the EEE be pocketable

The only problem I've found is that while I'd love to be able to use it on the bus to do my assignments (translating from Classical, or from Modern soon), I don't have quite enough hands. (2 for Pleco, 2 to type, and one to hold the bit of paper with my assignment on it.

Anyway, that's dragging this a little off-topic, so:

I don't know much about internet cafes in China. Or anywhere else for that matter. Can't say I use them much. Though I'd recommend being really careful about doing anything even remotely confidential or personal on them for fear of keyloggers, either installed by shady clients, or by shady Internet Cafe operators... This would include logging in to your email and stuff. Depends how paranoid you are, and how much trouble you're in if there really is a keylogger (obviously if there isn't you're fine). I'm sure there are plenty of other reasons to be cautious, but that's the one that sprang to mind (and that I've seen discussed recently).

[onebir]

Quite a lot of internet cafes have the VIP setups you mention & they're not too expensive (her in Changsha RMB5/6/hr). The PCs they use often have USB ports on the front - I've not used one for a while though, so I'm not sure if they're usable (I believe they can be locked down in the hardware configurations).

Producing acceptable ID can be a pain though - increasingly internet cafes require you to show it, and often their software validates the ID number. So it can only deal with Chinese style ID numbers. I'm not sure if a permanent residence cert comes with a suitable ID or not. If not, more clueless staff in some cafes may not be able to figure out a way to get you logged on, or may take a while figuring out how to do it.

Judging from the cities I've been in, I'd think you'd have a good chance of finding a decent, reasonably conveniently located internet cafe if you're staying reasonably centrally. But this could take a couple of days and some trial and error.