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Anyone ever carried PC in luggage or shipped via courier?

nublikescake

nublikescake

Senior member
So I gotta relocate for my new job and I'm not driving there or using movers. I wanna take my super-duper PC with me but don't know if I can get through airport security with it. What do guys suggest I do?

1) Pack PC with components in luggage
2) Disassemble PC and pack components separately in luggage
3) Ship via UPS/FedEx?

Anyone have experience with either of the above? I'd love to hear how you did it. I'm leaning towards option #3 but don't know if they can ship it safely though.
 
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I'm currently in the process of moving and I'm letting the movers take it, along with my 24" monitor and printer. If you're using a large, national moving company, there's little reason to think it would get broken.
 
sjwaste said:
I'm currently in the process of moving and I'm letting the movers take it, along with my 24" monitor and printer. If you're using a large, national moving company, there's little reason to think it would get broken.
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I'm not using movers. I'm flying there and setting up from scratch. It's a headache.
 
I'd just put it in the box it came in ... and ship it.

If it was water cooled, take out the water, otherwise leave everything on I guess.
 
novasatori said:
yes of course, but there is a bit of a difference between bending the rules for a commercially sold carry on bag and a PC or a random cardboard box or...
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Yeah... I can just visualize the TSA explaining to me that the PC has too much metal and can be disassembled during the flight to wreak havoc at 40000 ft!
 
sjwaste said:
I think you could bring it as your carry on.
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You can, I was debating a month or so go if I should bring my mini SFF PC. I found on some forums from people talked about bringing their shuttles at the TSA, they just check to make sure it's not a bomb. Some might power it on, or some might know what it is, but people can bring it onboard.

If you have a standard tower then.. kind of awkward I guess. 😛
 
nublikescake said:
I'm not using movers. I'm flying there and setting up from scratch. It's a headache.
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So... what are you doing with all of your stuff (besides your PC)? I used to be able to fit all my belongings in a few bags, then it expanded to the back of my civic, now it's like a full truck load.

Is your life down to just a few bags?
 
illusion88 said:
So... what are you doing with all of your stuff (besides your PC)? I used to be able to fit all my belongings in a few bags, then it expanded to the back of my civic, now it's like a full truck load.

Is your life down to just a few bags?
Click to expand...

Good question. All my other stuff will be in storage temporarily in case it doesn't work out for me and I have to move back! The PC tower's the only item that I have a problem with transporting.
 
If you don't have much stuff, UPS or Fedex Ground is the cheapest, I've computed recently. It's $50 per large box, pretty much. Most movers will cost over $1000.
 
I'd probably ship it, and take as many components with me as I could. No guarantee the tower would fit or be allowed, probably to tall, also the flight could get rough.
 
Demo24 said:
I'd probably ship it, and take as many components with me as I could. No guarantee the tower would fit or be allowed, probably to tall, also the flight could get rough.
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I think this sounds like the most reasonable option. Ship the tower and take some components with me in the luggage.
 
sjwaste said:
Have you seen some of the roller bags they let on as carry ons?
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You aren't getting on with most desktops in your carry on.

I have been flying at least once a month lately, my brother as well...he started TripIt and he has 61k miles in two years.

A lot of travelers whine about small bags since they have wheels on them and every WalMart shopper thinks of wheeled luggage as the 'big bag'.

Most are actually pretty tiny and airlines are getting more strict on the limits. When you usually see someone getting their bag pulled and checked, they will get a bill if it was over their limit. The problem is many get irate on the plane thinking this person cheated the system.

Luggage theft is on the rise as well though...the airlines have made it so hard to get a good carry bag not checked, thieves know there are great items to be had on that conveyor belt and the airline industry has made it DOGMA that you are probably taking the wrong bad anyway. The problem is when the do catch the guy with the wrong bag, they never validate him. He just walks away to come back some other one and try to steal a bag again.
 
Ship it. Taking it with you when flying is just begging for it to get stolen. If they don't steal it in the back, what alkemyst says could happen as well. At least if you ship it insured and it gets lost or damaged you get your money back. If you're concerned about your data, pull your hard drive(s) and stick them in your carry-on.
 
I went on a business trip recently where I had two large duffel bags with 4 Dell Slimline towers in each of them. I fully expected them to be beat to hell by the time I picked them up but they were flawless. I just wrapped them up in some towels before putting them in the bag. I would never do this with my own equipment though. The reason why we did it this way is because it was cheaper to buy me a round trip ticket and a hotel for a night than to ship them overnight.
 
Oh yeah, one more thing. If you end up shipping. Pack properly! I've seen plenty of damage claims denied due to poor packing jobs. (used to work for a carrier).
 
Alienwho said:
I went on a business trip recently where I had two large duffel bags with 4 Dell Slimline towers in each of them. I fully expected them to be beat to hell by the time I picked them up but they were flawless. I just wrapped them up in some towels before putting them in the bag. I would never do this with my own equipment though. The reason why we did it this way is because it was cheaper to buy me a round trip ticket and a hotel for a night than to ship them overnight.
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It's a hit and miss from my experience. Sometimes new luggage pieces will become useless after a single trip because of the handling. I think I'm gonna ship the case and remove some of the big components like my hsf and take them with me. I have the original packaging for most of this stuff so that should help.

Thanks to everyone for their input.
 
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