Cost effective way to ship computer?

[bassballboy]

A friend of mine is moving from Indiana to L.A. and we're trying to figure out the best way to ship it. Also, what kind of prep should be done to make sure it's safe?

 

[draken24]

Unless u have access to that amazing foam in a bag that has to be activated.... I would go get some foam packaging from anything u have ordered in the past.. Like lcd monitor.packaging.. Ur gonna.break this stuff.apart and wedge.it.between.components... So a piece under the gpu nice and tight but not so big that its gonna put stress on the bus connection.. Piece on top... If its got a big heat sync same thing there and so on and so forth.. U basically wanna make it so that everything attached to the mobo doesnt shake and move around...


Another option is to take the gpu and large hs and stuff out of the pc and package it separatelly... Lije in the original boxes...



This is all of course how u should prep it.... As far as cheapest... Usps is prob cheapest if they have a flat rate box big enough for that case and some.insulation... Next.is problably ups and last but best insured/safest incase something.happens is gonna.be.fedex

 

[investinwaffles]

Honestly, the best thing to do is remove heavy and ill-secured components such as the video card, CPU Heatsink, and anything else that is heavy and at risk of breaking loose. Might not be necessary if his stuff is low end (stock hsf, small video card).
Pack them separately in bubble wrap and tape them inside the case, or pack them separately if they are higher end/expensive.

I would also be worried about the HDD;s as well and if he is moving its worth it to remove them and hand carry.

I packed my computer completely full of t-shirts and clothes when I shipped it (didnt even think about removing my 4890). Packed everything extremely tight, put the case in the original Lian-Li box, then inside another box with a good amount of packing peanuts and shipped it. I did remember to remove the HDD's though.

Everything made it through perfectly, but in hindsight I would definately remove the heatsink and GPU.

 

[plugwash]

Be careful what you use for packing inside a computer. IIRC expanded polystyrene is notorious for generating static.

 

[mloiterman]

DEFINITELY remove the Hard drives and pack separately. A few bad experiences not following this simple advice.

 

[Uncle Humjaba]

I believe Office Depot sells anti-static bubble wrap. Take out your GPU, and stuff your case full of the stuff. Ship your GPU separately in the box it came in, if or wrap it in bubble wrap and stuff it in your case as well.

 

[ghost6303]

Always remove the CPU heatsink. you can not ship a computer with it attached and expect it to be working when it comes out the other end of UPS. even stock heatsinks. also remove hard drives and video cards. heatsinks and video cards can be wrapped up and shipped with the case, but ship hard drives completely seperately in their own box.

shipping facilities WILL drop your packages from heights up to 6 feet. its just how the conveyor systems work, its not necesssarily someone throwing your package (although that happens too). If you feel uncomforable standing on a chair and dropping the package from chest height onto a concrete floor, its not packaged well enough.

 

[zeroyon]

I probably went about this the wrong way, but I moved from Colorado to Hawaii last year and shipped my computer with USPS. It cost about $100 shipped IIRC.

Here's what I did:
- Took out all HDDs and brought them with me on the plane.
- Put computer into a big blue ribbermaid bin, emptied a whole large bag of green styrofoam packing peanuts from Home Depot in-between the case and the rubbermaid bin.
- Put rubbermaid bin into a cardboard box, and put another 2 large bags of packing peanuts inbetween the box and the rubbermaid bin.
- Sealed the box up with some staples and 2 layers of packing tape.

When I picked it up in Hawaii about 30 days later, the corners were all rounded on the box and it had obviously seen a lot of abuse despite it having "FRAGILE" stickers all over it. I put my hard drives back in and turned it on, but it immedately gave a CPU overheat error and shut down. I noticed that the clips had come off the CPU heatsink, so I removed it, reapplied thermal paste, re-installed the heatsink, and it worked fine. I've been using it for a year now since then and no problems so far.

I should have removed the CPU heatsink and video card, but I wasn't really thinking too much about it at the time. If I were you I would do what I did but put packing inside the computer itself and remove the graphics card and heatsink.

 

[dukerjames]

when I transfer my PC, I put the whole system in the case shipping box with forms, it's a perfect fit, duh.

I guess you can try get a box from someone who just bought a new case.

 

[cj3waker]

easiest way, if you still have the box for the case, use that. or go to any computer store and see if they have boxes from display pcs that are around the same size. worst case just put it in a box with healthy packing.

For the inside, use any type of foam, packing peanuts will work but are a bit of a hassle, and cram all the open space with your packing material, put the case door back on, put it in your box, and you are good to go.

 

[aphasia]

depends on how far you're moving. when i've moved in the past, my computer and network gear always came with me. so the short answer is my pc was in the front seat of the car, secured with a seat belt. course if you're not driving, not really an option.

dukerjames & cj3waker mentioned the best way to pack your pc for longer moves. use the original packaging the case came in. everyone else covered 'gut the case of all the heavy/expensive shit and pack separately'.