PC On A Plane.....Yikes

GutsDozer

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So, my son got his first badass gaming PC for Christmas. Problem is he flies back to his mother's house in a week. I don't trust Baggage Handlers not to destroy it. Even though it would be packaged in a hard suitcase with the necessary bubble wrap and padding. I even have an internal pad designed to fit inside perfectly and protect the internals. My Question is have any of you checked a PC at an airport? And What was the outcome? Should I try to devise a way of making it a carry on? all suggestions and info is welcome.
 

skate323k137

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Yeah ship it insured, the airports are a freaking mess right now and even in normal circumstances larger carry on is a pain in the ass or gets checked at the gate anyway.
 

Tripredacus

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Taking a computer on a planet is a mistake, even if you carry on. Ship it instead.
 

LoneSage

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Computers are supposed to be carry on anyway. Just wrap up and carry it on.
 

skate323k137

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Computers are supposed to be carry on anyway. Just wrap up and carry it on.
A whole ass desktop? Unless I misunderstood the OP it's not a gaming laptop and any significant size case PC is going to be too big for carry on easily (even if it's within the limit it will suck)
 

RAZO

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I wouldn't advise shipping a pc unless you know how to pack it. Taking it on a plane is a big no no. You know that baggage is getting tossed.

Custom water cooled shit, no way jose, never.

I wouldn't do it but If I was shipping or taking on a plane I would remove anything that could come loose like GPU, AIO cooler. Power supply and motherboard should be fine. Removing the power supply wouldn't be a bad idea either though.. You pretty much don't want something coming loose and smacking around everything inside. Especially a hard to find gpu.
 

LoneSage

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A whole ass desktop? Unless I misunderstood the OP it's not a gaming laptop and any significant size case PC is going to be too big for carry on easily (even if it's within the limit it will suck)
Yup. I would pay the $30 extra carry-on baggage fee for peace of mind.
 

HellioN

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Ship it.
My understanding is you would have to unpack it anyway so it could be powered on so tsa can make sure it's not a bomb.
 
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skate323k137

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Ship it.
My understanding is you would have to unpack it anyway so it could be powered on so tsa can make sure it's not a bomb.
You might not HAVE to, but it's definitely a possibility
 

skate323k137

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Yup. I would pay the $30 extra carry-on baggage fee for peace of mind.
And when it doesn't fit in the bins or under the seat, they will "gate check" it and throw it under then plane anyway. Fuck that, I'm shipping it. I just UPSed a whole Ringedge triple boxed and insured for less than 30 dollars.
 

StevenK

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How do desktops get shipped to people when they buy one? Do that.
 

Heinz

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Yup. I would pay the $30 extra carry-on baggage fee for peace of mind.
giphy.gif
 

SignOfGoob

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How do desktops get shipped to people when they buy one? Do that.
If it was a Dell I’d say the same thing, put it back in the perfectly made box that it came in. Gamer shit though which came in a dozen individual boxes and was assembled in the US is now a different product and even if the box for the case is used, as has been said, cards and such can fall out of full sized PCs with not that much stress…gamer PCs are not new Thinkpads. You can’t really shake them around and stuff…

Bricks are easy to ship, but if you build a bridge out of those same bricks you suddenly find it much harder to move without breaking something. That’s where they are at. They built the 240 ton power transformer, now that have to haul it to the top of the mountain without dropping it into the chasm. Good luck!
 

StevenK

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If it was a Dell I’d say the same thing, put it back in the perfectly made box that it came in. Gamer shit though which came in a dozen individual boxes and was assembled in the US is now a different product and even if the box for the case is used, as has been said, cards and such can fall out of full sized PCs with not that much stress…gamer PCs are not new Thinkpads. You can’t really shake them around and stuff…

Bricks are easy to ship, but if you build a bridge out of those same bricks you suddenly find it much harder to move without breaking something. That’s where they are at. They built the 240 ton power transformer, now that have to haul it to the top of the mountain without dropping it into the chasm. Good luck!
Fair enough - I haven't actually bought a desktop PC since the 90s :oops:
 

Heinz

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If it was a Dell I’d say the same thing, put it back in the perfectly made box that it came in. Gamer shit though which came in a dozen individual boxes and was assembled in the US is now a different product and even if the box for the case is used, as has been said, cards and such can fall out of full sized PCs with not that much stress…gamer PCs are not new Thinkpads. You can’t really shake them around and stuff…

Bricks are easy to ship, but if you build a bridge out of those same bricks you suddenly find it much harder to move without breaking something. That’s where they are at. They built the 240 ton power transformer, now that have to haul it to the top of the mountain without dropping it into the chasm. Good luck!
This is you:
Please let me on the plane, my computer is too fragile.🥸

early-portable-computer.jpg
 

famicommander

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Just ship it, it'll be fine. Wrap the video card separately if you're that worried about it but it should be alright.
 

Mac91

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Book two Greyhound tickets. One seat for your son, and another for the PC.
 

GutsDozer

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Thank you for all the suggestions lads. They are much appreciated.
 
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