I am moving
CommunistWithAGun
Local Propaganda Guy Join Date: 2003-04-30 Member: 15953Members
Local Propaganda Guy Join Date: 2003-04-30 Member: 15953Members
in Off-Topic
<div class="IPBDescription">and need to bring my desktop</div>I am flying out to Spokane, WA to move, and I *need* to bring my desktop with me. I don't have the money to ship it (lol 200+ dollars) I will be flying with US airways. I don't have a ton of stuff and I was hoping to basically put my case/monitor together with my clothing to pad everything. Anyone have experience in this department?
Comments
All I can think of is this:
Pack up the monitor and hope for the best.
Disassemble your computer, wrap everything fairly well, and stick the pieces in your carry on (you can bring a nice sized carry on, but make sure to contact the airline ahead of time to make sure you have the proper dimensions). I would say that leaving your PSU and possibly mainboard in the case would be fine so long as you fill the case with something lightweight and shock resistant (packing peanuts?).
good luck, you will need it.
This is why I always drive when moving.
hadn't thought of that.
yah. GFL, you need it.
and ask about insurance also.
Thank god our country doesn't have timezones > 1
Flying is dangerous for delicate luggage, if <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5YGc4zOqozo" target="_blank">this YouTube</a> (Comprox FTW) is gonnah happen to you :(
I guess the monitor and case are going in the loading bay of the aircraft, wrapping it in heavy duty protective transportation armor thingies is your best bet...
It's been years since I last flew.
Preferably you would be able to carry on the main cards, drives and RAM sticks of your PC on as individually wrapped hand luggage. I would definitely not recommend shipping all the stuff in the tower and hoping it survives. Better to take it separately and then put it all together at the other end for the price of a new case (unless you have space to ship the current case one in your suitcase).
Obviously, back up any important information to CD/DVD before you take any risks in shipping. It could be damaged or even confiscated.
And don't forget to earth yourself while handling any circuitboards.
I took the monitor in a carry-on. Don't want broken glass.
Flew from California to Texas with a connecting flight, no problems. Granted, they did open up the one with the computer because PCBs look funny on the x-ray scanners.
Keep the maximum amount of stuff in your case. Depending on your gear, that means remove the heatsink and your graphic card, basically anything massive that can act as a lever and bend the PCB's.
Hope that you can bring your hard drive onboard (I don't see why not)
I personally packed everything still in the case with some sort of shipping air bags (basically giant bubble-wrap), but any sort of protection that prevents it from budging, while being cushiony, is good, but stuff that can give out static discharges are to be avoided, obviously. I removed the heatsink because it was huge, and the graphics card. Both of these were wrapped in bubble wrap, and packed along with my clothes.
I didn't care much for the optical drives, so they just stayed there, and my PSU seemed to stay in place. However (very rare) some cheap cases have their PSU's only holding by four screws on the back, but usually there's a protective rail that prevents the supply from simply falling when there's too much stress on the screws (and of course destroying everything along the way). This rails prevents said stress on screws, therefore it shouldn't be a problem if it's there.
I guess that covers everything. As for the screen, I haven't tried (I was on a CRT back then) but I guess you should consider selling yours and purchasing one upon arrival, as an LCD panel is very fragile. If you want to try it anyway, what I would do is: first apply some sort of rigid protection over the screen to prevent an object from poking at the panel, then wrap it in bubble wrap. Same treatment as the rest.
Of course, don't forget to put "Fragile" stickers on your luggage. They'll probably be ignored, but in the off-chance they aren't, they're free.
I'd like to say that this was done prior to 2001, so I suppose that rules have somewhat changed. However, I don't see the danger in checked luggage of a full-sized PC, along with one graphics card. In doubt, put equipment in different bags, basically make nothing look suspiciously like an IED.
Also note that, travelling by air, you probably have only 20kg of luggage per person, and excess luggage is VERY expensive. So expensive, in fact, that many people get shocked at airports and toss stuff out.
Minor things to look for is the number of bags you're allowed to carry (checked and carry-on) and their size. Sometimes, especially on local flights, you're only allowed one checked luggage.
Consider reselling/rebuy.
As for the computer just take the hard drive out, wrap it in 3 layers of bubble wrap, and put that somewhere. Then take your 3d card, stick it in an anti-static bag, stick that in a cardboard box not much bigger than the card, and fill all the empty space with bubble wrap. That'll be fine to. Padding the monitor with clothes also works as long as you make sure you've got lots of clothes (worst case scenario your bag is going to be tossed around, remember).
The case is the real problem. If you want, you can gut the thing, give all the components the bubble wrap treatment, and then not really worry, but I imagine that will take up too much space for you to do so. You might just have to take out anything that could come loose and smash around (usually just CPU heatsink) and then take the rest (including the case itself) and wrap it in as many clothes as you can. If everything is snug in the suitcase and is super padded I guess there isn't a ton to worry about.
I think it's safe to say he has considered and rejected the idea.
Does anyone know if shipping it would be easier/safer than either carry-on or checked baggage?
I don't really like the idea of shipping any of this, but I'd like my computer to be in one piece when I get there, and this includes two LCD monitors.
I honestly would try to cak it into a carboard box surrounded by clothes, etc and you will be fine its not like they are going to be taking sledge hammers to it. label teh sob as fragile and make damn sure that you have fragile all over the damn thing.
Finally get insurance if you can afford it.
make sure it covers computers.
You didn't watch the video linked earlier, did you?
I've flown with a computer dozens of times, "security machines" do nothing. Laptop though, so got no advice for OP.
I moved to San Diego from Chicago a week ago, luckily I had enough money to ship my assembled computer (in its original giant antec p180 packaging) minus a few parts which I shipped in another seperate box, and two LCD screens in their original packaging too. Everything arrived fine, except I had to reseat the CPU since it got jostled in shipping, aaaand one of my screens I needed to take apart and reconnect a connector that unplugged itsef during shipping aswell.
So if anyone is going to be shipping computers, expect little things like that to happen.
CWAG, shipping my entire rig cost ~100 bucks at USPS via Parcel Post, and thats from Chicago to SD, sure it took a week but it arrived in working condition after a bit of tinkering!
No.
Light and X-Rays are both forms of EM Waves, however that is where the similarities stop. Microwaves are also EM waves.
However, it is correct that x-rays will not harm computer parts. The only things I can think that they would hard would be film and yourself (that takes a good amount of time obviously).
The real concern if them getting messed up by the luggage handlers. So, keep stuff padded or disassemble your stuff if you have a giant heatsink on there.