Bring LapTop Computer to China?

[TootTaLu]

Now I have a digital camera.

Im thinking about buying a laptop for burning photo cds and MP3s.

I carry a MiniDisc Player to record natural sounds,so I can download that stuff to a computer also.

I will need to email stuff like photos.

A place to store photos/MP3s.

 

It would be fun to be able to record directly off of Chinese TV

(Local Ethnic Minoriety News Reports,Beijing Opera,etc.)

and make a DVD on the computer.

 

Also,Id like to have a Drum Machine/Synthesizer Sequencer built in.

(Not for 'Home Recording",rather,a real "Sequencer Synth" for live performance sequenced Drum Patterns.)

 

I will have a permanent place to keep my computer in China,so if I can put this together IN China very cheap,then thats what I want to do.

 

Is the savings worth it,or should I go ahead and buy an economy price laptop here in America before I travel?

[warpedbored]

From what I have seen laptops aren't much cheaper if any in China than they are here. Also if you buy in China there may be software compatability issues with your software and a Chinese OS. Since you will be traveling you probably want small. You can pick up an Acer Aspire One netbook for about $350.00. It has 120 gig HD and 1 gig of RAM. I see them on line as cheap as $299.00. You can get it with Linux or Windows XP. Here is a link to a review http://www.notebookreview.com/default.asp?newsID=4575 I bought one for my wife and she loves it. I would recommend that you also pick up an external CD/DVD player recorder so you can burn CDs and DVDs as well as load software. I got my wife a Pioneer for $85.

[ktmracer]

yeah, those PCs in china are more expensive after checking for myself a few times in Beijing. Just got a Lenovo Ideapad S10 netbook (ice blue) from Lenovo Direct, fantastic little machine. Wife still likes her Thinkpad T43 I got for her for Xmas.

[david_dawei]

Based on the wishlist, you may need to first decide on this to defline the hardware and software requirements:

- to record TV, I think you'll need video capture hardware/software;

- what processing speeds does the Synthesizer need?

- To store pictures and movies can easily eat up space, so either the HD is large or supplement with an external drive.

- What interface do you really want for the OS?

 

My guess is, you might find it cheaper to highly customize something in china and get any software needed, but good luck explaining that easily and verifying everything is working right and you can use it all once back in the US... If stuck with using a chinese program, will your wife explain the menus and how to use it?

[Richard & Li]

I've bought computers and accessories in China. Don is right: There are no real savings and the OS will be Chinese.

 

As you said, a laptop can be a nice data recorder & transporter. I'd buy it in America and take it.

 

If you get an extra-large laptop bag, it'll give you a lot of extra carry-on capacity on the airplane.

[Sebastian]

in addition to wots already been mentioned...

 

hey - componetize the video recording portion - think about a usb thingie that goes between the laptop and the video input.

 

The Drum Machine can be software only - going out to an audio mixer from the laptop (if that's yer intent).

Edited February 9, 2009 by Sebastian (see edit history)

[Batmaniac]

I bought an "economy" laptop for my first China trip. ACER $300 Wal-Mart Black Friday special ( 1 GB of RAM and Windows Vista Yipppeeee!). Big mistake. Crapped out on me the last day of my first trip.