lizardfuel55 on 10/5/2010 at 01:54
Heylo! I only have two more weeks in college before the end of this academic year. We have ridiculously long summers (almost 3 and a half months long), and since my parents live outside the US, I typically put all my stuff in storage and fly out of the country. But because I'm in my senior year, I have decided to stay part of the summer with my friend in LA, California. Right now, college is in Savannah, Georgia.
My major and minor makes me very technology-dependent (and not to mention it is technology-demanding too) and for this purpose, I have a custom built desktop. My life and work are on this machine, and since I'll be spending 2 months in LA, I feel like I'll need my machine with me to enhance my Animation portfolio and demo reel.
My desktop was ordered from cyberpowerpc.com last summer, and it was built keeping the next 10 years in mind. It's pretty expensive, almost 1400$, and so I'm kind anxious about getting it shipped.
Would anybody know how to go about this? When I first received the desktop, it came in a big black cardboard box, which contained another box for my desktop along with the keyboard and mouse. Do I ship it in this same big box, or the smaller box which held my desktop? All my boxes are in good condition. My desktop is a midtower btw. The big cardboard box weighed almost 65 pounds with the desktop, mouse, and keyboard in it. Also, I'll be shipping my 22" monitor as well.
If anyone has done this before (especially cross-country), are there any tips I can use, regarding packaging/price? Do I buy shipping insurance/pay extra to prioritize shipping and handling? Which mailing service would be better, and do I do it through Ground Transport? Please let me know. Thanks a lot!
P.S.--At the end of the two months, I'll be having it shipped back to Savannah.
Enchantermon on 10/5/2010 at 01:59
Keeping in mind that I have not done this myself, I would think that if you really depend on your machine as much as you indicate, I would take every precaution, meaning purchasing shipping insurance and paying any extra cash necessary to make sure it's treated with care and shipping is expedited.
Also, I'm sure you already do this, but just in case: you should obviously back up all of your important data, preferably to a media that can travel on your person.
TBE on 10/5/2010 at 02:27
I've shipped my PC across country before. Yes, original box is great for this. If you have heavy video cards and such, I'd recommend you throw some sort of packing material into your case to keep stuff from vibrating and jarring around.
I used UPS. They had a pretty good rate for shipping. Make sure you buy the extra insurance, and detail out what the hardware is. Maybe bring a spec sheet with you so you don't forget. Mention the processor, the motherboard, the video card, everything. This way if something does happen to your hardware, at least you'll make the claim you file much easier.
Also, put on the inside of the package your ship to address and the from address. People don't do that very often. I've seen the entire face of a box ripped off by conveyor belts and things. If there's no address in the box, they don't know who to send it on to. Trust me, this is something you should do for every box. Labels come up missing or not easy to read. The shipping people generally open the box and hope to find a shipping/package list with address.
Monitor might not be worth the shipping, as they break easy. If it's a nice one, really don't ship it. Send it to your home or next destination. Spend about $150-$200 and buy a nice 22-24 inch monitor that's good enough for your two months when you get there.
Thief13x on 10/5/2010 at 02:29
get a laptop bro, it's the 21st century;)
gunsmoke on 10/5/2010 at 02:35
Quote Posted by Thief13x
get a laptop bro, it's the 21st century;)
You're oh-so-fucking helpful.
Anyway, I always try to use my original packaging, whenever possible. If not, I go to FedEx/Kinkos and talk to the staff. I bring my fragile item, and explain just how important it is to me. They are pretty awesome in this dept. They have some excellent packing materials and advice on insurance and whatnot.
37637598 on 10/5/2010 at 03:46
Whatever you decide to do, back up your shit, and send your hard drive seperately. Or bring it with you, unless you're going on a plane, then I wouldn't risk it being perceived as a bomb, especially if you're brown, or even slightly off-white.
Aerothorn on 10/5/2010 at 04:11
I've shipped my PC cross-country in the original box and it's been fine. First, backup stuff. Second, you may want to get insurance on it.
But if you don't need it ASAP, ship it parcel post (or whatever it's called) - it saves you a lot of money.
BrokenArts on 10/5/2010 at 04:16
What ever you can carry and take with you, do that. You can check around and get various quotes. UPS, FedEx and a carrier I do trust is (
http://www.gonavis.com/) Navis. They ship nationally. I ship all over the US with my company. FedEx rolled a 30" x 30" crate, the art work inside was double boxed, packed to the hilt, and they still managed to break the damn piece. If they wouldn't of rolled the crate, it would of been fine. Ever heard of a dolly fedex?
Navis may cost a bit more, they do insure. You can be sure it will arrive safely. They will pack it for you, and pack it well. Go look at the fine print on UPS and FedEx's insure policy, on some items, only expect to get $100.00 back, regardless of what you insure it for.
If money is an issue, just be sure to pack it well, it should ship ok, but, as with anything, shit happens sometimes.
