Well, since my old pandapassport post about expensive real software in China is doing so fabulous on the newly created Chinalyst’s Popular Content page, I thought I’d balance here it with a new post dedicated to helping foreigners shop for cheap hardware in China.
Anyway, I’ve been talking to some of my “people,” discussing my future plans to buy a new ninja-fied computer. I bought my current excuse-for-a-laptop on ebay 3 years ago for about CDN$400, and I think it’s soon time to buy a desktop. About the only function my laptop can successfully perform these days is pressing waffles.
Those who are in-the-know (i.e. my friends who are even nerdier than me) seem to think that building a desktop computer from scratch is a good option, especially if you plan to be in China for more than a year. Apparently you can build one for about 4000RMB if you’re so inclined, though prices may vary from city to city. Most people agree that China’s many 电å城/dià nzÄchéng (aka your local “Electronic City”) are a kick-ass place to start. For those of you who lack technical skills, or if you’ve been using your CD ROM drive as a cup holder, please read up some more on how to build your own computer from scratch.
Anyway, in true Dan Johnson fashion, here’s a computer hardware vocabulary list for you to take along with you on your Laowai shopping spree, if you choose to build a computer in China:
| Chassis | 机箱 | jÄ« xiÄng |
| Hard Drive | 硬盘 | yìngpán |
| System Board | ä¸»æ¿ | zhÅbăn |
| CD ROM | CD光驱 | CD guÄng qÅ« |
| DVD ROM | DVD光驱 | DVD guÄng qÅ« |
| CD/DVD-RW | 刻录机 | kèlùjī |
| Floppy Drive | 软驱 | ruănqū |
| Keyboard | 键盘 | jià npán |
| Mouse | é¼ æ ‡ | shÅbiÄo |
| Monitor | 显示器 | xiănshìqì |
| Laptop | 笔记本 | bÄjìbÄ•n |
| Printer | 打å°æœº | dăyìnjÄ« |
| Processor | 处ç†å™¨ | chÅlÄqì |
| Memory | å†…å˜ | nèicún |
| Power Supply | ç”µæº | dià nyuán |
| Video Card | æ˜¾å¡ | xiănkă |
| Network Card | ç½‘å¡ | wăngkă |
| Sound Card | å£°å¡ | shÄ“ngkă |
| Speakers | 音箱 | yÄ«nxiÄng |
Now I know what you’re thinking. “Rick, how do I know that I’m not going to be anally raped by these shrewd electronic merchants?”
That’s a very astute question. I’m glad you asked.
You can check out the Zhongguancun (chinese) website for the latest prices of computer parts in China. Go to the drop-down menu in the top left, and click on the DIYé…件/pèijià n . There you can choose from a list of computer parts, and browse their low low prices in your nearest location. Click on the image below for a neato visual aid to show you where to click. As they say on South Park, Everybody loves aids!
Anyway I hope this word list is useful for someone out there. If anyone has any other suggested additions, I’d be glad to hear them.
Happy shopping!
Ryan,
Good post, just remember to let people know:
1) You need to bargain
2) Bargain
3) Shop around, there are plenty of people selling the same stuff in computer towns.
4) Buy from a slightly respectable looking storefront. At least make sure there is a storefront that looks like it has been there more than 2 hours.
Also – video card is not ç½‘å¡ but æ˜¾å¡ or 显示å¡. Your pinyin is correct, though!
Hey TCE, credit for the post should go to Rick, not me. 🙂
Good advice all around though. Your number #4 particularly. Though it doesn’t take much to pull up stakes and leave e-town, it’s best to find a store/booth that looks like it might be there to honour that 3mo., 6mo. or 1 year warranty they claim to be giving you.
#3? Don’t they all sell the same stuff? China’s electronic cities are like Best Buy on crack, and I love it, but it gets boring pretty quick when they’ve all got the same damn knock off MP”4″ players and “Sony” infrared mice.
Hi, I need to build a lot of Touch Screen Computers. The Touch Screen will show information (text and images) from a server. I need an economic model (I think we do not need a micro-procesor into the touch screen). Con you contact me to talk about my project ? Thanks
Hi Alfred.
You can reach me at rick { at} pandapassport.com
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Good site
http://www.google.com – xamasapa
Hey guys, im going to be in Harbin for the next 7months or so and am looking to build a computer since I left my desktop @ home.. well I brought my GPU but the rest is out of date.
Any information regarding shops, lists, where I can buy parts around/in Harbin would be awesome. Email me @ hiddindragon08@hotmail.com — Thanks
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Hi,thanks for the info..DO you know about building own laptop in china?Thanks alot…
Is it possible to buy a Lenovo or Toshiba laptop directly from China and get an excellent price.
Thanks,
dave
Hi – very great website you have made. I enjoyed reading this posting. I did want to publish a remark to tell you that the design of this site is very aesthetically sweet. I used to be a graphic designer, now I am a copy editor in chief for a marketing firm. I have always enjoyed working with information processing systems and am attempting to learn computer code in my free time (which there is never enough of lol).
Great Post. Is it normal that all the components that I search for are more expensive than in the US? How can this be possible? Is it possible to find cheaper stuff?
I think this is due to import taxes that China puts on electronic products from foreign companies. Ironically, most parts are likely built here.