PC going airborne as checked baggage?

[Guest]

I do believe I'm getting ready to blow this popsicle stand known as Thailand. I'm mulling how to get my PC [mid-tower] back to the US of A. So...

 

 

 

Is checking a PC with an airline a totally insane thing to do whether for reasons of possible theft, damage due to rough handling or decompression, or customs implications in the US?

 

 

 

Or has anyone actually ever sent a PC in the belly of an airplane and have a story to tell? Or recommendations?

 

 

 

If it makes a difference, the likely routing would be BKK-SEL [seoul, Korea]-HNL [Honolulu] on Korean Airlines.

 

 

 

My unit [the PC, not the other "unit"] won't reek of kim chee, will it? ;-)

 

 

 

I'm definitely not going to bother taking the monitor, modem, speakers or anything else, except the keyboard. The rest I can pick up for under US$200 so why bother shipping them...

 

 

 

Thanks in advance.

 

 

[adikgede]

I have done that before. I wrapped in one of those dense foam sleeping pads and carried th hard drive with me.

[Guest]

Cool. Did you go box PC-pad-box or PC-box-pad [working from inside out]?

 

 

 

I assume you yanked the HD out of fear of a head crash?

 

 

 

Also, you think it would be worth it to take the video card off the motherboard? It mounts at a right angle. Maybe bag it and tape it to the inside of the case?

 

 

[Guest]

Why do you want to take your pc back to the US? Why don't you sell it in BKK and buy a new one in the US? When your HD has sensitive information, remove the HD first or do a back-up and then erase the contents.

 

 

 

Or: Buy a notebook, this can be taken in the hand luggage without any problems.

[Guest]

Why spend money unneccesarily?

[whosyourdaddy]

I would leave the tower but remove the CD, video card, sound card, MAinboard, fans etc from the tower and pack them in a bag

[Guest]

I brought a mid tower PC to Thailand in a checked hard shell. The only precaution I took was shock mounting it by suspending it inside using bubble wrap on the 8 corners. My rationale is this is basically the way Dell shipped it to me so it seemed reasonable to follow the manufacturers shipping specs -- had no problems.

 

 

 

One interesting tidbit is I heard on this board you need to pay a duty if you bring a desktop to Thailand. I did not know this at the time, but might be good to be aware if you do this the other direction.

 

 

[Guest]

"My unit [the PC, not the other "unit"] won't reek of kim chee, will it? ;-) "

 

 

 

Good one DB! I think that it is safe from that in the baggage compartment.

 

 

 

I've taken 5 or 6 computers as extra baggage and they all arrived OK and all worked fine. They were new in their factory packaging. It is a bit nerve racking waiting for them to arrive thru the baggage chute though. I've heard of other people's computers disappearing. How's your insurance, and don't worry about it.

 

 

 

Taking the components out sounds like a good idea.

 

 

 

Handy

 

 

[Guest]

I got to thinking about this some more and realized that taking the PC is probably a sucker bet after all. I'll probably just pull the primary HD and video card and leave the rest in BKK for the wife to use with the second HD moved up and Win98 on it.

 

 

 

I'm already commited to buying a monitor and modem and what not in the US. So the only real variable is the cost of a PC. Replacing what I've got now -- in essence a last generation system 833Mhx P3, 133Mhz bus, Win98 -- would only cost $300 or $400 American. I've seen light-weight 'modern' systems -- 1.4 gig P4 at 166Mhz, WinXP -- going for $595 or less refurbished.

 

 

 

So, with 3 or 4 hundred out of pocket, I can probably save that much later between replacing some phone calls with emails, shipping costs of one or two sets of documents I'll be sending back to BKK [now I can email them as attachments instead], and the cost of shipping one other box or bag that I'll be able to take on the plane instead of the PC.