<p>Needs it to watch movies (film major, relates to assignments to analyze films for papers). The laptop isn't good enough to determine fine points in the film, such as cinematography, lighting, sound.</p>
<p>What postage system (UPS, USPS)?</p>
<p>Let them pack it or me?</p>
<p>Use styrofoam pellets or something else?</p>
<p>System to keep a college mailroom student from taking it (we've already had a calculator nabbed this way at mailroom).</p>
<p>Mark it fragile electronics, or disguise its contents?</p>
<p>Any reason NOT to do this. I could insist he wait until December and take it back himself by plane.</p>
<p>In my experience, shipping computers doesn’t end well. It’s almost impossible to pack them well enough that the hard drive doesn’t experience a catastrophic failure. Or some other electronic part. If I had to do it, I’d go to a place that packs it for you and pay the extra insurance. And I’d just use a plain brown box (which is all that’s necessary, it’s the packing inside that matters).</p>
<p>It doesn’t make sense that he doesn’t want the monitor, which would be the part that would let him SEE the movies… unless he’s planning to get a new monitor? </p>
<p>If it were my kid, I’d point out that watching films, especially the older ones, really does need to occur on a larger screen than a monitor or a laptop (or an iPod).</p>
<p>My husband mails computers all the time and it works fine. You just have to pack it very carefully with a lot of styrofoam. He recommends wrapping in bubble wrap and then cover it in all directions with pellets. Separate the main unit from any accessories (power supplies etc).</p>
<p>We shipped S1’s computer cross country just fine, including monitor, using 3 boxes, one for computer, one for monitor and one for accessories. We used a combination of empty water bottles (recommended somewhere I read as a cheap alrernative), bubble wrap around the monitor and the big puffy air packs that come with some of the on line orders I receive. Very important, wrap the whole thing in a plastic bag for moisture. You never know when it will get caught in a downpour. But he had already prepared it, locking down the drives, before he left so I am not sure how you do that.</p>
<p>We mailed my daughters computer to her college and she mailed it back home a couple of times. We/She kept the box it came in, repacked it in the styrofoam and off it went. My son has traveled with his desktop computer many, many times and packs the monitor with a pillow.</p>
<p>If you ship a desktop computer (i.e. not a notebook) the recipient should check to make sure all the cards are firmly in their sockets when it is received. They could also look for cables that slipped at the same time.</p>
<p>This way, they avoid the most common reason for out of box problems (i.e. they turn it on and it does not run right) AND they avoid a small but real risk of frying some part that is loose.</p>
<p>Other than things shaking loose, there is little reason that these things can’t survive the trip. In fact, the parts of these machines are quite sturdy and shock resistant when they are off, even the hard drives. After all, how do you think the parts get to the assemblers? How do yo think the boxes get to the store or the customer?</p>
<p>Keep in mind too that the main reason they are packaged for shipping the way they are is to avoid cosmetic damage to the case. The stuff INSIDE the case can take a lot, probably more than the case can.</p>
<p>In fairness, there are exceptions. For example, if someone put in a monster heat sink on the CPU, it may be risky to move the box a few feet, much less across the country. But someone who is smart enough to put in such a heat sink probably knows the movement precautions, too.</p>
<p>You’ll have to use your judgement on adequacy of packing, but I think Fedex ground does the best job and has the best rates. It costs far less than you might think if you pack it yourself. You can use their online estimator to get the cost. UPS is also decent. Both will allow you to track the shipment to know when it will be delivered.</p>
<p>Use one of those pack and ship places that is local/privately owned, run by the same fella for years, who posts pictures in the store of the computers/antiques/whatnot that they have been successfully shipping for years. Let them pack and ship, get the best insurance. Use the carrier they have the best experience with.</p>
<p>We shipped a large computer (with no monitor) to college a month ago and it arrived all in one piece without being stolen. We packed it in the original box with the original styrofoam, and filled in all the empty spaces with bubble wrap etc. I then wrapped every inch of it in brown paper (from recycled grocery bags) to conceal all advertisement of computer contents on the box, and then hermetically sealed every seam with more than one layer of tape. I covered the address with tape also. We sent it via UPS because there was a store nearby. It was cheaper than I had expected it to be and took something like 5 business days.</p>
<p>Somewhat to my surprise, it was there in the mailroom of the dorm when we went to look for it on Registration Day. The mailroom clerk complimented us on the packing job.</p>
<p>(However, the person at the UPS store wasn’t happy about the brown-paper wrapping, warning us that it might get caught on the machines and rip, and that we should have just mailed it in the box without any paper. When I worried aloud that then people would know it was a computer, she scoffed and said everybody mails stuff in recycled computer boxes – no one expects a computer box to actually have a computer in it.)</p>
<p>Maybe we were just lucky, but our method worked.</p>
<p>If your son is buying a new monitor, won’t his laptop run it as an auxiliary monitor ?(most will) If there’s some fancy film analyzing program that he already owns on the desktop can you find the CD’s and mail them? Seems like sending the entire computer to play films is overkill. Maybe I’m missing something, none of mine are film majors.</p>
<p>I’ve shipped computers lots of times and haven’t had too many issues if it’s properly packed. It needs to be packed so that there’s no movement of it within the box and so it’s surrounded by some cushioning material. The best is what the manufacturers use, customized styrofoam fillers, but most people can’t use that. I’ve found bubble wrap works best. Make sure the PC is completely surrounded by the bubble wrap and that once it’s in the box it’s tight and can’t move. Just assume the corners of the box will take a hit so make sure there’s adequate padding. I have seen problems if the unit isn’t tight in the box.</p>
<p>Before placing the PC in the bubble wrap make sure it doesn’t have any loose cards, etc. This usually isn’t a problem for factory-built PCs but can be for home-builts. The suggestion of inspecting it for loose cables, etc. on receipt before powering it on is also a good one.</p>
<p>Remove expansion cards to be shipped separately, ship the computer in a well-padded box that has some kind of protection from wetness.</p>
<p>Checking for loose wires really isn’t necessary - loose wires inside a case won’t harm anything. The only really conceivable harm would come from expansion cards breaking off. Also, if you have a large heatsink/fan on the CPU that could come loose, so be careful, and if it’s really large and heavy it might be worth simply removing prior to shipping.</p>
<p>I’m so appreciative of all these tips; will let the thread settle down, then harvest everyone’s advice to create a good package with good company. </p>
<p>I wish I could better answer WHY my S feels he so needs this, but it’s just beyond the scope of my understanding. I’m trusting his judgment that it matters academically, aesthetically or whatever. Certainly the computer’s doing no good upstairs in his room, and H and I are all set. We almost took it when we all went there in Sept by plane, but couldn’t fit in that plus all the other dorm-gunk in our 6 suitcases. Ah well. </p>
<p>If it’s packed well in bubble wrap it’ll be waterproof. I’ve never had a problem with the expansion cards unless it was a home-built. Make sure the bubble wrap is at least 3 inches thick.</p>
<p>I shipped my freshman D’s desktop across the country to campus last month. We did not have original packing because she built the computer herself. She took the hard drive with her on the airplane. I bought a box with double-thick cardboard from a moving store (like a dishpack, but a better size and shape). I wrapped the computer in bubble wrap and packed it in a box from some other electronics. I packed the monitor in its original packing (styrofoam holders in the cardboard box). I filled the bottom of the large double-cardboard box with styrofoam peanuts, about 2-3" deep. I put the boxed computer in lying down on its side, then put another 2-3" of peanuts on top, then put the boxed monitor in, then filled the rest of the box with stryofoam peanuts. (Knew I had been saving those packing peanuts for something!) I shipped the box FedEx ground. The box weighed 40 pounds. My employer has an account, so although I paid for the shipping, I got the discounted company rate. It ended up being about $25 for the coast to coast trip. Box arrived in the promised 4 business days. D took it out, put the hard drive back in and plugged it in and it worked. Thank goodness. </p>
<p>I spent a fair amount of time researching how to pack a computer on the web before I did this. There is consistent advise out there not to use UPS. FedEx was highly recommended. People also had good luck with USPS. I insured the package for replacement value (had my D price it out on Dell’s website).</p>