best way to ship a computer?

[Jublian]

I'm checking my compubox case and everything inside it with my luggage on a flight... it'll be in a hard shell suitcase, and I can mark it for special handling, but I'm just wondering how I should prepare it. I'm particularly concerned about the HD and perhaps the heat sink shearing off and wrecking stuff up.

ibm hd
volcano 5 heatsink/fan on an asus mobo
various cards: soundblaster, radeon video, tv-wonder, NIC, 1 cd rom, 1 burner....

should I take all the cards out? forget the case and just get another one? what what....

Thanks

 

[Derango]

Don't worry about the hard drive, its going to die anyway Sorry, couldn't resist

Seriously, I'd possibly disconnect the heatsink from the motherboard and store it seperatly, that way it won't rip off. Same with all of the other components that might come loose and wreak havoc.

 

[mastertech01]

BY the time you wrap every individual piece for safety it will consume about as much space. I would remove heatsink and make sure all screws are tight.. and dont skimp on screws. One screw will not secure drives well at all. In any case, never power up any puter after shipping without a thorough inspection. Insulate the suit case with as much foam padding as you can too.

 

[Dreadogg]

Don't worry about the hard drive, its going to die anyway Sorry, couldn't resist

LOL man people will never forget about the IBM blues!

 

[Jublian]

heheh.... my drive is still going strong...

but yeah.. I think I'll do that.. remove the heatsink. Thanks..

any more suggestions?

 

[Slacker]

Consider this, computer manufacturers all over the world ship fully assembled computers, I see no reason to do anything different.

 

[boomerang]

I'm typing on a computer I built and shipped from Michigan to Wyoming right now. I sent it UPS as FedEx would not do home delivery in this area. I double boxed the computer itself and the monitor. UPS will only accept computers in the original factory box, or it must be double boxed. For my peace of mind, I had the computer and monitor in the original factory boxes and a second box also.

I watched luggage being loaded on several legs of my flight out here and I'll tell ya, I would be nervous letting those folks handle a computer.

You may want to check with the airlines as many of them are strictly enforcing both weight limits and number of bags on flights. You can bring extra/overweight bags, but they are charging very high fees.

I agree with others, don't worry about the HD. Heatsink yes, if it's big and heavy.

 

[grrl]

Slacker, how many OEMs ship using baggage handlers?

I second (third?) removing the heatsink. Double boxing wouldn't be a bad idea either.