Traveling with Desktop PC

[Arif_Sohaib]

I am not sure if this is the section to ask this but AirBlue did not give me a proper answer.
I am traveling from Karachi to Lahore tomorrow and I think that we would be staying at the house for long periods so I want to take my gaming PC, which is of tower or mini-tower size(I am not sure).Keep in mind that I don't want to take the LCD or anything else, just the desktop and perhaps headphones. Can I take it as carry-on or do I have to check it in luggage? If it has to be checked in, will it be safe? Will marking it as 'fragile' help in this case?

 

[Zantos]

It's probably too big to take as a carry on, but give it it's own suitcase with plenty of padding (styrofoam 'S', bubblewrap, towels, etc.) and mark it fragile, it should be fine. Never taken a PC on a flight but I've taken plenty of musical instruments and they've come out unscathed.

Just make sure before you turn it on at the other side you open it up and check all the cables and heatsinks are secure.

 

[Skorpyo]

It's probably too big to take as a carry on, but give it it's own suitcase with plenty of padding (styrofoam 'S', bubblewrap, towels, etc.) and mark it fragile, it should be fine. Never taken a PC on a flight but I've taken plenty of musical instruments and they've come out unscathed.

Just make sure before you turn it on at the other side you open it up and check all the cables and heatsinks are secure.

I'd go with this advice, though I would take it a step further and remove the Power supply and processor heat sink, storing them in anti-static bubble wrap bags securely taped to the bottom of the inside of the case, or preferably somewhere OUTSIDE the case.

Having the heavy power supply balanced on four weedy little screws while in transit is an awful idea, and processor heat-sinks are notorious for snapping off the mounting areas of your mobo when jostled around too much.

 

[Jamash]

To be honest, I don't think it's worth the risk of losing your PC and all the data contained on it.

No amount of padding and securely is going to stop it looking like a bomb on the airport security scanners, and in light of the recent bomb placed in a printer, they're not going to risk opening your suitcase and checking to see whether it's just someone's PC, it'll be destroyed in a controlled explosion.

If you were going to take a PC in your luggage, I'd imaging you'd have to get it checked and verified by security well in advance of your departure, so you've probably left it too late.

If PCs are shipped via air, they're usually packaged in shipping boxes and are checked by customs or the appropriate authorities beforehand. A metallic box with lots of wires and electronic components in someone's luggage is just too suspicious.

 

[Phisi]

To be honest, I don't think it's worth the risk of losing your PC and all the data contained on it.

No amount of padding and securely is going to stop it looking like a bomb on the airport security scanners, and in light of the recent bomb placed in a printer, they're not going to risk opening your suitcase and checking to see whether it's just someone's PC, it'll be destroyed in a controlled explosion.

If you were going to take a PC in your luggage, I'd imaging you'd have to get it checked and verified by security well in advance of your departure, so you've probably left it too late.

If PCs are shipped via air, they're usually packaged in shipping boxes and are checked by customs or the appropriate authorities beforehand. A metallic box with lots of wires and electronic components in someone's luggage is just too suspicious.

This is a good point, you may be able to phone the airport to find out about security checks or verification as they would do that instead of the airline. May also want to do that for you return journey and any other airports you'll be stopping at.