Computer shopping in China

[abcdefg]

My trusty old laptop is unexpectedly showing signs of imminent demise and I will need to buy a new one in the next week or two. Did some preliminary shopping this morning in Zhuhai (am just passing through) and realized I don’t have the vocabulary for this task. Could some of you who are more savvy in this technical lingo please help me out so I can continue shopping when I get to Kunming? I would like to sound at least somewhat like an informed consumer.

When I asked about screen size in the store, I said 显示器什么大小？ and the answer was in 寸。Are there better ways to ask that question even though I was usually understood today?

I didn’t know how to ask about the chip set, but I could see Intel i3 or Intel i5 stickers on some laptops and AMD on others. I learned 主机 some time back for CPU, but don’t know if that would be used for the processor in a laptop. Dictionary had 处理器。Would that be more approriate?

Somewhere along the road I picked up 键盘 for keyboard. Is that still in current use and is the term you would use?

I remember reading 软盘 for floppy disk, so I guess 硬盘 would be hard disk drive. Is that “close but no cigar,” or is it OK? How would one inquire about hard disk capacity? 大小？I don’t mind just looking at the spec sheet for fine points like the drive’s rpm and to see whether it is SATA or solid state.

Megabytes of RAM. I have no idea how to ask about that. Although it is also bound to be in the brochure, I’d like to know how to ask the sales clerks so they don’t think I’m a complete dummy. When I type it into MDBG, I just get “MB 的 RAM.”

This morning one of the laptops I liked a lot was the Lenovo X220. It does not have a built in optical drive, so I would want to purchase an external one as a peripheral. So I was wondering how to say that. Does 外置光驱 (from the dictionary) get the job done?

I want to be sure the laptop has a wireless card and I know 无限 can be used for that. Would you employ that term, or use another such as perhaps Wi-Fi? I don't really care much about the graphics card. It's not going to be for watching movies or gaming.

Operating System. Some were Windows 7 and it sounded like the store clerks said “Windows 七” instead of 窗户七。Was that right, or was I imagining things? I am a “Just Say No to Apple” guy and I don’t want to play around with Linux. Is 操作系统 (from the dictionary) how you would ask about the OS?

I’m aware of 软件 for software from one of the Chinese Breeze books I read last year. Would Microsoft Office be 微软办公室，or is “微软 Office” used instead?

If any more major terms spring to mind, please pass them on. I view tasks like this as opportunities to build practical vocabulary in an organic way. Appreciate the help.

[roddy]

With a laptop you're more likely to refer to screen size than monitor size - 屏幕有多大，or 多少寸, guess。 分辨率 is resolution. 处理器 is fine for processor, 主机 I would have understood as the 'box' of a desktop computer.

I think it'd be virtually impossible nowadays to find a laptop that doesn't have wifi.

You could perhaps run a pop-up dictionary over this - should cover everything you need, and more.

[skylee]

I want to be sure the laptop has a wireless card and I know 无限 can be used for that.

It took me 5 seconds to process this sentence (because I don't read out Chinese in my head, and even if I do certainly it is not in Mandarin). It is 無線. I suppose this is not all that necessary as most people selling computers should be able to understand wifi.

[imron]

Just to address a couple of your other questions (for mainland terminology, not sure if there are differences in other regions),

RAM is 内存, although nowadays people talk in terms of 多少吉 (gigabytes) rather than 多少兆 (megabytes)

硬盘 is correct for hard drive, capacity is the same as RAM, although nowadays there are harddisks that come in terabytes (太).

双核处理器 and 四核处理器 (often abbreviated to just 双核 and 四核 respectively) refer to dual-core and quad-core CPUs. i3, i5 would just be pronounced as is (爱三、爱五).

操作系统 is correct for OS.

键盘 is correct for keyboard.

Wireless network card is 无线网络卡.

I'd go with 光盘 for optical drive. The full name is 光盘驱动器, but it's often just abbreviated. 移动光盘 would probably work for external CD-drive, but that's just a guess, there might be a better term for it.

it sounded like the store clerks said “Windows 七” instead of 窗户七

Probably actually 问多斯七 , but just for reference the official mainland Chinese name is 微软窗口 rather than 微软窗户.

[abcdefg]

Thanks everyone for the help. The 无限 was just a typo for 无线。 Apologies for that, Skylee. And I would have really shown my ignorance in the store if I had asked about MB of RAM instead of GB, Imron. 屏幕 makes good sense, Roddy.

For anyone reading this thread later, I will add that Zhuhai has an excellent 电脑城 with 75 to 100 stores in two or three blocks on both sides of 凤凰南路 a block north of the Zhuhai Great Hall (珠海大会场）in 香洲区。Number 3, 3A, 69, and 99 busses go there as well as some others.

[Matty]

If you normally live anywhere near Hong Kong the prices there are much much cheaper, though you should pay attention to warranty limitations.

[abcdefg]

If you normally live anywhere near Hong Kong the prices there are much much cheaper,

I have heard that. I live in Kunming but get to Hong Kong or Macau every few months for one thing or another. Where does one shop there? Is there a main computer shopping zone with lots of stores side by side?

...you should pay attention to warranty limitations.

Do the warranties generally limit service to Hong Kong without including the Chinese mainland? If so, that would be a deal breaker for me.

And BTW, I now have info on where to look for computers in Kunming, and will post it in the Kunming forum in case anybody else needs it.

[skylee]

I usually go to the one at Southorn Centre next to Wanchai MTR Station. There are 2 storeys of shops and they are more than enough for me. But I think this is not the biggest or cheapest place. That would be Shamshuipo Golden I think.

I bought my laptop at Broadway (one of the chain stores). You can also check out Fortress. They are not the cheapest, but they are everywhere, and quite reliable.

[abcdefg]

Thanks, @Skylee. Do you know if the warranty on a computer bought in Hong Kong is usually valid in the Chinese mainland?

[skylee]

Sorry I don't know.

It is my impression that nowadays electrical/electronic products are generally very well QC'd that they will only turn bad after the warrenty period. This was particularly obvious with my Midea fans. All of them went wrong after one year or so.

[Matty]

Warranties vary between companies and products, you'd have to check each individual product.I bought my ASUS laptop in Australia half based on it's 2-year global warranty. The warranty relationship between China and Hong Kong is sometimes even more complex.

[roddy]

How's the computer shopping going? Santa got you anything nice?

[abcdefg]

How's the computer shopping going? Santa got you anything nice?

Sorry, only just now saw this. I cleaned up my old computer (fixed some software issues) and postponed taking the plunge.

[Mike N]

I'd like to bump this topic as I'm debating entering into the market for a new machine. My current laptop is just not cutting the mustard for what I want to do with it anymore (primarily gaming). I'd like to get a powerful new MacBook and dual-boot it, but I don't think I'm going to have the budget required for a while.

That brings me into the realm of the desktop. How easy is it to build machines here? What kind of components do we have access to? Where is the best place to get them? What kind of cost is involved? Answers to these and other related questions are much appreciated.

Thanks for the help!

[imron]

Not directly related to your question about building desktops, but with regards to laptops, I find that running virtual machines works out better than dual-booting on a MacBook. It's such a pain to have to restart all the time when you want to use the other OS and after a while I just bought virtualisation software and converted my Windows partition to a VM. I don't really notice any performance issues (although I don't use it for gaming), and it's significantly more convenient.

[Mike N]

Noted! Thanks for the tip.

[abcdefg]

@Mike -- Where do you live in China?

I finally did wind up buying a new laptop early last month (in Kunming.) Hardware works great; software is a troublesome mix of English and Chinese and has been difficult for me to use. Got a Lenovo Thinkpad X220, fitted out suitably, at a decent price.

In the process of shopping, I saw quite a few places that would build desktop machines to spec or help in upgrading one you had already purchased elsewhere. Didn't look into it closely enough, and am not knowledgeable enough, to give you detailed answers on components and their pricing.

[Mike N]

I live in Beijing.

What are the specs on your laptop and how much did you pay for it?

[abcdefg]

I'm not at home, so I cannot give you a complete run down. If I remember right, It had an Intel i5 processor, 4 GB RAM, 500 GB hard disc, Win 7 Home Edition. Cost a little under 7,000 RMB.

I could have bought a better computer for less money in the US, but I did not have that option.

Every now and then we get posters wondering about buying a computer here more cheaply than in the west. In my experience that's a myth. I would add, in the interest of full disclosure, that I am not a "computer guy" and a savvy shopper might be able to do better.

[Sarevok]

I buy almost everything on Taobao these days, including laptops. It saves me the hassle of going to places like 中关村 or 百脑汇, which I have really grown to hate lately (especially those guys shouting "laptop, laptop, Asus, Apple, camera, camera" immediately after seeing the foreign Mr. Moneybags). Even on TB, you can sometimes do a bit of haggling if you are into that sort of thing and you are not at such a disadvantage, since they don't see your foreign face. You can browse the specs and compare different models without anyone bothering you and hit the 阿里旺旺 (special IM app) if there are any questions or something unclear in the product description. You can also hit some interesting special offers through 淘金币 if you are lucky.

The chances of getting ripped off buying a product with refurbished parts and whatnot are about the same as in any 电脑城 - if you aren't really tech savvy, than you can't recognize if the computer has been tinkered with. There are reviews on every product for your reference (I only buy from sellers with a solid number of positive reviews after having read a good portion of them).

I bought two Dell Inspiron 15R in different configurations (one with i7四核，4GB 内存，750GB硬盘 and Nvidia独显 for 5800 RMB, the other one with i5 and about a thousand cheaper) from 戴尔中国淘宝旗舰店 (Dell's official shop on TB). It's been a few months and no complaints so far.