Anyone have any experience with shipping/travelling

[Stealthedbear]

Moving to the other side of the country, and want to bring my desktop, monitor (the two things I'm most worried about) with me.
Has anyone had any experiencing with taking your computer in a suitcase, with monitor, and such? I am afraid of it getting broken because of a scan, and especially the monitor I don't want to get cracked. That and how faulty airline carrier luggage is sometimes.

The other option I am think of is shipping, but same problem of monitor breaking I am afraid of. Anyone have any suggestions with either please? Thanks.

[Deleted]

never moved myself
but when my friend moved he took stuff like that in his own car, although it was only him not a whole family. and it wasnt as far as moving other side of USA. :|
wouldnt the carrier be responsible if anything breaks while they are moving it?

---------- Post added 2011-09-19 at 01:30 AM ----------

with screens, just wrap them well, make sure they cant roll around or have a heavy object fall on them.

[Deleted]

I do a fair amount of shipping as I use eBay quite a lot, in the UK.
I'd reccomend sending your PC via courier rather than taking it in your luggage. The reason for this is that most luggage in domestic flights is not fragile, and thus the bags are treated rather poorly. Loaders need to work to a schedule and so your bags can be thrown around a lot, which is not good for your PC/Monitor.

If you're definitely travelling via plane, send your stuff via courier. You'll be able to send them relatively cheaply (hell, you might even save some money if you have to pay for additional airline luggage - expensive!) but the best thing is that it can also be insured for a little extra money. Couriers such as UPS are able to ship your item anywhere fairly quickly. I'd imagine since your items aren't leaving the country, it will be fairly cheap. This is the case for the UK, but America is a lot, lot bigger. An example of shipping costs in the UK would be, from the North to London, for a 20kg PC in a large box, it cost me a paltry £13, awesome! It's likely to be more expensive as you're travelling a greater distance, but you get the idea.

If you send it via Courier, they're rather strict with their logistics employees. Items are loaded and handled carefully, and providing you've packaged your item properly (lots of bubble wrap, polystyrene,) you're very unlikely to damage your items. In the event your items are damaged, the insurance you purchase fully covers you for the price of the item, or the price of repair.

One thing, make sure you and the courier are on the same page as to what consitutes damage. If their insurance doesn't cover you for superficial damage, or something you feel should be included - shop somewhere else. I can't really say anything for companies in the US, but shop around and find a price and schedule that works for you.

Make sure you package your item well with 2-wall cardboard boxes (reinforced cardboard boxes,) wrap your items in bubble wrap and some polystyrene, and you should be set! Good luck!

[Skelly]

A scan won't harm your PC. Physical damage on the other hand, is a real problem. I think most airlines only insure up to like $100 per bag, as do couriers if you don't buy separate shipping insurance.

[Burnster]

I would recommend shipping via courier. My dad used to build model air planes and would ship the entire build model on a stand in a box, if you pack it well, you shouldn't have any problems with damage. If you really concerned you can always buy extra insurance on your packages. I dunno about the states, but in Canada you can ship anything inter country in 2-3 business days, usually 2. maybe some offer same day delivery but i dunno. And yeah, like Nehran said, it would probably be cheaper then paying for an extra suitcase at the airport lol.

[Tavros87]

id ship it as fragile. wouldn't put it in a suitcase ... have you seen luggage handlers ? not good ^^