Transporting PC/Electronics During Vacation

[Callisto]

This summer I'll be heading to Vegas, and there's a chance I'm going to want to bring my home PC/monitor with me. I've only flown a few times and always only had to bring clothes/toiletries with me, and I've never really taken my full PC with me outside of the house. Can anyone give me some tips for transporting it so that it doesn't get destroyed in the process? Looking for ways to pack it up, costs involved, potential issues with airport security, etc.

[Pyro]

Short of driving it yourself, there is a high chance it will get damaged. Even though they don't have the greatest track record either, I'd suggest UPS or FedEx over checking it as baggage on an airline because they will most definitely fuck it up. I tend to keep the original box and styrofoam packing material that the case came in and put it in there. It's designed to hold it snugly and you're not going to find anything else that it fits in that well. Take the components that are subject to shock damage like hard drives and remove them and put them in your checked baggage surrounded by clothing or carry that shit on your person through security. The monitor is another story and if you don't have the original box and packing material for it then I have no clue where to start.

Also, ESD bags for any components you take out and put in your baggage.

[Sonomaa]

take your computer apart (carefully, and take pics), package it up in the boxes you bought it in, static bags and the like. make sure to put backup disks and such in there. package it, sans case, into a well contained UPS box, ship it to arrive after you are there. go to best buy or some place, buy a case, assemble computer, continue gaming.

the other option is to screw everything down as tight as you can, pack internals with newspaper or something similar, pack it carefully in the box it came in, then repack it in a larger box, ship UPS with full insurance to arrive after you have

Never, EVER ship anything USPS that you want to get there safely, I dont trust fedex personally. Ive built computers for friends and BG linkshell and forum members and shipped them all UPS without issue. Careful packing and taking pictures before hand make all the difference in the world.
if you have a huge baller video card, take it out and pack it separately so it wont fall off, same with any huge heatsinks

[bungiefan]

Absolutely don't check it as baggage. If the case is small enough, take it as a carry on. One of my friends moved here and checked his desktop. They dented the case, and fried the motherboard and power supply. They claimed to not be liable too, so he had to buy new parts himself.

If you know the address you will be staying at and can wait to receive shipment, Sonomaa's recommendation is best.

If it's a carry-on, you may need to disassemble it in front of security, since there's so many layers of circuit boards and they don't like that in the X-Ray machines. Moving an assembled desktop is a pain.

[greenhills]

take your computer apart (carefully, and take pics), package it up in the boxes you bought it in, static bags and the like. make sure to put backup disks and such in there. package it, sans case, into a well contained UPS box, ship it to arrive after you are there. go to best buy or some place, buy a case, assemble computer, continue gaming.

^ best option. never ever check anything that it's possible to ship or carry on, my broken and ripped luggage is a testament to that. i have taken pc parts in checked baggage and been ok, i just put them in a static bag then bubble wrapped them and kept them at my feet the whole flight as things can get jostled pretty bad in the overhead.

[bluefan]

If it's small enough to carry on, do it that way. If not, I suggest just taking it apart, putting them in anti-static bags and then cushion them up.

I have a shit ton of anti-static bags if you want me to send you some. They're 25cm x 31cm. Or in your weird USA measurements, 10" x 12".