Transporting from San Diego to New York

NiGHTSNiGHTS San Diego Icrontian
edited March 2005 in Hardware
In May, I'll have my first year of college under my belt (woohoo) and I'll be leaving my beautiful University of San Diego. My concern is this, I have to get my computer and monitor from point A, to point B. :(

I'm using a 17'' CRT monitor at the moment, which is easily like 40lbs by itself. Along with this, an Antec-look-a-like case, the chienbro one, full tower and goodies inside.

I'm guessing that I'll unmount my heatsink, and take my DVD-RW out of the case to ship seperately. I have most of the boxes for these parts, I know for sure I have the packaging for nearly all the components in my case (I'm a very through man.)

Now, what way is the easiest, cheapest, and SAFEST to get my components home to me in the condition I shipped them in. I see horror stories all the time, and I'd prefer not to become a statistic. As always, thanks for your time!

Comments

  • primesuspectprimesuspect Beepin n' Boopin Detroit, MI Icrontian
    edited March 2005
    Hahah I just drove 19 computers across town in the back of my toyota matrix, with no restraints. They were sliding around and bumping around a bit, but in the end --> no casualties..

    Just lay it down HS up, and put a thick blanket around all sides and the top, it'll be fine.
  • NiGHTSNiGHTS San Diego Icrontian
    edited March 2005
    Who do I ship it with though?

    Good idea with the towel tip, but I think I'd rather take the parts out and put them in their respective boxes. Then ship the case in one large box, and ship the other parts in another large box.

    There's no way I'll EVER drive from San Diego to New York. ;D
  • FlintstoneFlintstone SE Florida
    edited March 2005
    If it were me, I'd stay in San Diego!!
  • primesuspectprimesuspect Beepin n' Boopin Detroit, MI Icrontian
    edited March 2005
    Oh, I thought you were driving it :p

    good luck man, we've had some rotten luck with shipping computers around the country. I would ship each component seperately wrapped. The monitor's gonna cost you a pretty penny. Might be cheaper to sell it in cali and buy a new one at home.
  • TexTex Dallas/Ft. Worth
    edited March 2005
    Prime was right sell the monitor. It will cost a fortune and you will be lucky to ship it and have it live.

    I have had TERRIBLE luck shipping computers in the last 24 months. If it valuable consider double boxing it. On the inside box (at least 4 inchs bigger on each side) use a garbage bag filled with the foam you squirt from a can. Its like making a custom packing box with styro-foam thats a liquid and then hardens. A REALLy good packing place might have it also.

    Last time I had a successful shipment I double boxed adn the outside box I had cushioned with soft foam rubber out of some old sofa's that some one had left on the curb and we scarfed the foam cushions,

    neighber just shipped a tiny Dell computer I had repaired for her mom and shipped it to her mom in Nebraska (from CO) and she had it packed at a UPS drop off center by them and its not working when it got there and cost $60 to ship.

    Without original shipping container its a tough shipment and even when its insured its a beetch to collect because they screw you over making you prove it was working before you shipped it, and that THEY caused the damage etc...

    Your nightmare is just begining. Consider carrying it on your lap on the plane. Tell them its a REALLY big laptop.

    Tex
  • BlackHawkBlackHawk Bible music connoisseur There's no place like 127.0.0.1 Icrontian
    edited March 2005
    My $0.02

    Sell the monitor and the case if it's light. If you have important data on your hdd's, back up the data and ship it/them in a seperate box with lots of shock absorbing material. Wrap all the other parts individually and put them in a big box with lots of peanuts and bubblewrap. Ship it with FedEx or UPS and buy a crapload of insurance. You're gonna need it. Don't send the machine with the UPS store or FedEx counterpart cause they suck at packaging and I shipped my stuff from here in PR to SMLan '04 with the UPS store and it was horribly packed (IMO).
  • NiGHTSNiGHTS San Diego Icrontian
    edited March 2005
    I appreciate your help guys, definately some stuff I didn't think about, and some decisions I'll now have to make. Selling off the CRT isn't something I'd like to do, but it does give a good excuse to upgrade to an LCD.

    Well, since I'll be shipping some of my clothing via ground transport, I may just stick some of the components in between all my t-shirts and shorts that will get little use while I'm in NY. At least that will take some of the shock off their journey. I basically have everything covered except for the monitor and case, AFAICT.

    If I were to take the Hard Drives on the plane with me, what type of damage, if any, are they likely to get from the X-Ray's that are used to scan luggage. If it erases film, how much data will it erase from my HD's. I'd like to carry them on, but I may have some explaining to do at the gate (I might call ahead on that idea.)

    And as far as selling the monitor, I'm guessing you mean locally. I can't see the sence in selling it to someone a few states away and having me box the thing up anyway, only to have it DOA, with myself at a major loss for shipping, handling, insurance, and an overall bad deal to start off a brand new heatware...


    Edit: When I asked about the plane, I'm talking about packed luggage vs. carry-on luggage. What will the x-ray of the packed luggage scanner do to my HD's. I have a feeling carrying them on with me will be easier said than done without causing problems.
  • primesuspectprimesuspect Beepin n' Boopin Detroit, MI Icrontian
    edited March 2005
    I don't know about the XRays, but I don't think they'll hurt anything. I fly with a laptop, which has a HD in it, and it goes through whatever scanners they have, and it's always fine.

    I'd put the monitor on ebay with local pickup only, you really do need to get rid of it and buy a new one. It'll be pointless to ship that thing.
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