Taking computer parts on a plane

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Le037

Limp Gawd
Joined
May 21, 2008
Messages
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Sup guys I live in Argentina. I study software engineering and use a pentium 4 that I've had sinde I was 14. I wanna build myself a new computer, but here in south america it's hard to find good parts. My little sister's going on a shopping trip to miami in june, and I would love it if she could bring some basic hardware parts such as:

- A Pentium Core 2 Extreme Processor
- XFX 790i ultra
- One (or two?) XFX 9800GX2

The thing is all those boxes won't really fit into her backpack. Is placing them in a suitcase dangerous? It would be a hard one stuffed with clothes, but you know how airport employees toss suitcases around. I wonder if the foam packaging in the boxes is enough to protect the parts. I wouldn't like my sister to unbox the parts in order to be able to keep them in her backpack either. She'd probably break them and who likes someone else having the fun of unboxing their hardware right? I'd appreciate any adivse. Thanks, peace.
 
I'm sure she could find a nice carry-on bag that would fit those 3 components....
 
if they are bought new in the box, she should not have much problems...but if they are OEM in a static bag, good luck
 
Suppose my sister puts the boxes in her backpack: would the motherboard and GPU boxes fit? I dont really have an idea how big they are. There's no way the motherboard and TWO 9800 GX2 boxes would fit right?
 
A carry-on bag isn't the same as a backpack right? Do they let you take a carry-on with yourself into a plane?
 
I wouldn't have a problem putting them in a suitcase, as long as they are retail boxed. It's not like they haven't been shipped before, and I don't think ups/fedex/dhl/whomever is any nicer than the airport throwers. As long as they are just tossed in a suitcase, sandwiched in there, they should be fine.
 
I honestly would ship them. There is a huge difference between shipping something UPS and taking it on a commercial flight with you. First thing though if I were you, I would call the airport she would be flying out of and ask them your questions. They will give you straight forward answers. Also you sister is going to want to give herself PLENTY of extra time at the airport for security becuase of the parts. I travel about 50% of the time for my job around the country and I have been stopped at security about 30% of the time because the idiots at the TSA have no idea what an external HDD is. They see if in the xray and ask me if I have DVD player in my bookbag, they then empty it, I explain its a hard drive. Half the time the call in support, and occasionally I get taken to another room for questioning for about 10 mintues so I can explain to them about technology. I end up making some good aquaintances because I always keep a good attitude about things (they are doing their job). It is to the point where I now use the company FEDEX account to next day my pc parts except my laptop and thumbdrive to whereever my destination is.

Moral of the story: Its pretty much 100% up to the TSA officer screening the stuff.

I would just ship the shit FEDEX and put that is junk pc parts on the customs label, claim its value at like $50.
 
DON'T HAVE HER TO GO TO TIGERDIRECT.

I live in Miami, and they have a few stores here. They advertise heavily in the herald, and other local papers. They sell total crap. Most of the stuff they have in stores, looks like it was returned. I know a bunch of people who have bought stuff there who open it up and its missing stuff and/or doesn't work.
 
Shipping them through FEDEX sounds like a nice idea. I'd buy it all the next few days and have them ship it, no waiting for my sister. I was thinking compusa.com or newegg.com. Do you guys recommend them? My father is director of a pretty important company maybe he could help me using the company FEDEX account like you do neogenesis2004 if such an account has privileges. Then again my relationship with him isn't very nice. I was gonna buy all the parts with my credit card behind his back.

Is there really such a thing as labeling the parts worth 50$ and avoiding the importing taxes? Wouldn't customs try opening everything? Gotta remember I'd be shipping the stuff from the US to Argentina. How much does a company like FEDEX take to ship things between countries? I love this shipping idea, as I would then be able to buy everthing from the US, and not have to build my computer off south american outdated and expensive garbage.

Darkangelamd it makes me feel more secure if u say they shouldnt get damaged. Id have no problem with having my sister put everything in the suitcase. My only worry is if they'd see the boxes through x-rays and have me pay taxes for all the parts. It would be 50% on the overall value. Not cheap considering the parts I mentioned.
 
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