| PC advice required | |
|---|---|
| Mar 22, 2010 07:29 |   |
 | She who must be obeyed needs a new laptop (in China). I'm thinking about buying one in the Uk (because Chinese made electronics are cheaper in the UK than China for some reason). The question is, should I buy one with UK Windows 7 installed or buy it with no Windows and buy Windows in China? If the latter which (genuine) Windows is recommended? |
| Mar 26, 2010 16:50 | #1 |
| I would buy with windows pre installed, plus if you buy from reputable dealer you will get the windows disk too. |
| Mar 26, 2010 21:13 | #2 |
| Hey Gaffer, I guess that she must be more familiar with Window XP OS. However, Microsoft has stoppted its support for Windows XP. It tries its best to promote Win 7. Actually, I am using Win 7 ultimate (OEM) version. It looks fantastic and better than Vista. So I think it is time for her to get used to Window 7. And I suggest you buy a laptop with Win 7 OS in your country. You are totally right. Some Chinese electronics are cheaper outside China, for example, Lenovo's Thinkpad. I don't understand why. Many Chinese people complain about this. Why does Lenovo do a favor for Chinese people? Get back on track. It is cheaper to buy a laptop with Windows 7. If you buy a laptop without OS and then buy Windows 7 in China. It will be expensive. See, Win 7 Home Basic costs CNY 399. Win 7 Home Premium costs CNY 699, Win 7 Professional CNY1399 and Win 7 Ultimate CNY 2460. Most Laptops sold in China are installed with Win 7 Home Basic. But I find out that it is different in other countries. The laptops are installed with Home Premium. Better buy a laptop at least installed with Win 7 Home Premium because Win 7 Home Basic is no use in my eyes. |
Last edited by JIMMYB: Mar 26, 2010 21:15 |
| Mar 27, 2010 04:31 | #3 |
| Thanks guys, advice noted. The laptop will be for normal home use, watching movies etc. No kids games needing lots of power. I'm thinking 15.6 wide screen, 3gb RAM, 250gb hard drive, webcam, and mid range processor (AMD Dual Core Athlon X2 QL-66 2.2GHz or Intel Pentium Dual Core T4300 2.1GHz). In the UK prices would be around 2900 - 3500 CNY with Win 7 Home premium (excluding sales tax). Brands Lenovo, Acer, HP, Compaq. How does this compare? |
| Mar 29, 2010 20:31 | #4 |
| Damn it! It is toooooo cheap in UK, Gaffer. In China, I bought a Thinkpad which costs me CNY6000. It has 14.1(16:10) screen, 2 DDR3 RAM, 250G hard drive, no webcam and the processor is intel P8600. I am aware that TP is expensive in mainland but comparably cheap abroad. What's worse, it is only installed with Vista Home Basic originally. In UK, a laptop around CNY2900-3500 has been installed Win 7 Home Premium. It sounds very nice. Compaq has been acquired by HP. Recently, Chinese media has reported widely that HP laptops have quality problem. A guy who bought a HP has been to HP after-sale servie division nine times but his laptop still has problem. More ridiculously, his laptop's mainboard has been changed to a low-level one. Besides, the laptop is just in guarantee period. So far, HP hasn't reached an agreement with this guy on compensation issue. Honestly, my sister also has a Compaq CQ45. She bought it two years ago. There is nothing wrong with it except it is a bit hot when she uses it for a long time. This is a common problem that HP laptops has. I don't know if HP has such a serious trouble outside China. Acer is welcomed in Europe. Compared with other laptops, it is cheap but configured very well. However, it is hot too. My friend has one. After I use it, I decided to give up buying an Acer laptop. The reason why I chose Thinkpad is that TP is strong and durable though it is more expensive than others and not configured very well. Besides, it has good cooling system. Even you use it for a long time, it is not as hot as other laptops. Sigh, TP quality has deteriorated since Lenovo acquired it from IBM. One good thing that Lenonvo has done is that the price of TP has decreased. Of course, high-end TP laptops are still as excellent as before. For Lenovo, I suggest you choose Idealpad if you decide to buy. My colleague and my cousin bought idealpad Y450. It is well configured and considerably cheap. Also it is not as hot as HP or Acer. |
| Mar 29, 2010 20:42 | #5 |
| By the way, you may choose one which has Intel Core processor, for example, T6 series processor. Such a laptop costs around CNY 4000 to CNY 5000. Just keep up with the times. She may use it for a long time without changing a new one. At this range of prices, it has a 320G hard drive. She may store more movies and songs. Just my suggestion! Wish you bought a well-configured one with reasonable price. |
| Mar 30, 2010 06:25 | #6 |
| Thanks for the advice Jimmy. Her current pc is steam driven so this one WILL be lasting her a long time ;) My only slight concern is mixing UK Windows and Chinese programs. Will the add-on she uses for typing Chinese characters work ok? |
| Mar 30, 2010 20:07 | #7 |
| Gaffer, That will be a problem but can be fixed. Last night my friend in Dubai has the same problem. She bought a Dell laptop with Win 7 Home Premium installed. The OS is in English but she needs to run Chinese programs. She told me that all Chinese programs she installed were in a mess. She couldn't figure out what she installed because they were shown in unrecognizable codes. The files that has Chinese names have the same problem. Here is a solution. Open IE and click Security menu and choose "windows update". Then follow the instructions to update your OS. There should be some language patches. Just open your eyes and find Chinese language patch and install it in your OS. The last thing is go to Windows Control Panel and find Regional and Language Options to change English to Chinese. If you succeed, her laptop will show Chinese programs correctly. If you are still not clear about this, please read Help info on MS website: http://windows.microsoft.com/ Once I installed Windows XP (English Version) for my previous Thinkpad X200 and I successfully run the Chinese programs in this way. However, there might be some Chinese programs that can't not be recognized by your laptop. If you really want to install and use it, you have to change your OS to a Chinese version. This is the worst situation. Generally speaking, the Chinese programs will work smoothly on your laptop (with English OS) if you change the display language. |
| Mar 30, 2010 20:16 | #8 |
| If she encouters any other problems when using her new laptop, please let me know. I'd like to help you fix them. Actually, I know some computer knowledge. But I am not professional. I am just interested in these things. Forget one important thing. Just notice what kind of Win 7 Home Premium is installed with your new laptop. I mean if it is a 32 bit (x86) or 64 bit(x64) OS. Theoretically, X64 is better because it can support some "huge" softwares and it can recognize 4G DRAM. The 32 bit Win 7 OS only support 2G DRAM. Besides, some programs(English or Chinese) can not work smoothly on a laptop with 64 bit OS. |
| Mar 30, 2010 20:21 | #9 |
| One day I will try Win 7 OS 64 bit(English Version) on my laptop. My TP R400 works a bit slowly now since it was installed Win 7 Ultimate (32 bit) about 5 months ago. I am considering reinstalling an OS. |
| Mar 31, 2010 03:14 | #10 |
| Thanks again Jimmy, your advice is most appreciated. Interesting point about the 32/64 bit. Several laptops now boast 3g RAM. I think I need to investigate a little further here. |
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