How should I ship a computer?

Maybe I'm lucky that we manufacture electronics at my work, but we have pink bubble wrap and I've used it many times to send PC's across the country, and I've never had a complaint about damage. I just pack it around the equipment pretty tightly. I never save original cartons because I have no place to store them.

Stop by a local Staples or other PC retailler and ask if they have any scrap packaging. Go to the back of the store near the stock area and find a kid walking out of the back. Don't ask an assistant manager, he'll probably be too busy and tell you they don't have any.

http://www.cameronpackaging.com/computerboxes.html#CPU

Spendy, but includes pretty much everything you need.

As the old saying goes, "Ya, gets wot ya pay for." Being thrifty on the packaging/carrier/insurance and you may be surprised at how many pieces a machine can break down to. Question is, can you afford to throw away $800 or would you sooner lose $100 on shipment costs?

Recently had to ship a mission-critical complete machine across the Atlantic and the carrier would only insure it if they did the packaging - they made a purpose-built wooden crate on-site in the end with the machine bolted to the internal framework. On the other hand I usually ship non-critical machines wrapped in at least 3 or 4 layers of bubble wrap on all surfaces, placed in a box with at least 4 inches space all around it with screwed up bubble wrap in the cushion-space.

IMPORTANT: Don't just plug the machine in and go when it gets to the other side - seen too many burnt circuit boards and dead drives for that. Open the case and make sure everything is still fitted properly and especially that all those unused power connectors are not touching anything.

First of all, find a box company in your local area. For instance, here in Atlanta, we have a company called CutRate Box Co. They have overruns, specialty boxes, etc... You can get just about any type of box as long as you don't care what it looks like. (It may have been printed to ship soup, but it will hold computers and their parts just fine). The boxes there run from $0.60 - $1.75 in most cases.

Then you need a garbage bag in which to wrap the computer to seal it from the next ingredient...your trash.

Not the kitchen trash...every company has a shredder. Most personal homes have a shredder. We use shreddings to ship PCs. It recycles the quality junk mail we get into useful packing materials. Not including shipping, our total packing costs usually hovers around $3.00.

For laptops, we either use the same method, or we'll utilze the specialty boxes put out by FedEx, that are designed to specifically ship laptops.

My two cents, hope that helps.

Like a number of people have said, it comes down to a few things:

1. Pack it well
2. Insure It.
3. Inpect it when it gets there.

Lets face it, we only pack the outside. The UPS/FedEx/Airborne person doesn't know whether you're shipping books or a computer or glass. They presume you've packed it well enough to survive how they transport it.

I usually let UPS pack it and have the customer do a basic inspection when it arrives: Check processor, video card, RAM and connections.

I do disagree a lot with those that say UPS is terrible. They've done me no better or worse than FedEx and usually save on cost, not to mention packing it for me for free a couple of times (maybe as a good customer?), though FedEx has recently come out with some lower costs. The three of them (FedEx, UPS, and Airborne) are paid to get things there fast, not to pretend they're shipping a 25 lb box of eggs. IF you want them to treat it better, label it fragile, but they tell you when you ship it that you are responsible for packing to their shipping methods, not the other way around.

I'd err on the side of caution, to the extent of double-boxing it... You want it not to shift around in the container, but still have sufficient packing to absorb the inevitable shocks.

Any shipper can have a bad day, but I also strongly recommend (and agree with the earlier posting) that you should avoid UPS - I think their unofficial motto is "If we can break it, you didn't pack it right - and we can break an anvil!"

boviwan is right. You can have a mishap with shredded material if you don't use enough. You need 2 inches around all areas of the unit, and you have to make sure that when it settles (as it will during shipment) you don't have any areas that will become unprotected. The object is to slow the impact created by a fall. Sudden deceleration is what causes damage. If you can spread the deceleration over time, you've acheived the goal.

The amount of packing also depends on the value of the equipment. (boviwan's $150 box example along with my comment on laptops).

We've shipped hundreds of PCs this way, and only had one instance where there was damage. And that was the last time we ever used UPS to ship a PC.

Incidentally, that PC was crushed by a broken avil. (tharper, "Go for overkill" that post is hilarious).

I would support or remove the heatsink or any other heavy items -- fix it like a LAN party rig, maybe, with locks & supports for heatsinks and cards. Reseat everything at the other end before powering up.

So far as packing, I once sent a big rackmount unit to the head IT office in two boxes separated on all sides by rolls of toilet paper -- that because we had cases of it sitting around. They sent it back the same way. To pack the space full, used bagged shreddings. It made a good isolation package, albeit unusual. But not very professional! Could be taken as a comment about the equipment, which was, indeed, s***.

I used to ship lots of computers at my last job and we used blankets. Particularly those cheap "veluxe" ones you get at wal-mart. wrap it with about 2 or 3 of those bad boys, in a big box, with some more blankets on the side and nothing short of a 10 story drop will hurt it.

In addition, i'd remove the memory, hard drive, cd rom, and cpu (if your family members are tech savvy) and put them in a seperate box in bubble wrap, and put that box on the inside. Or if they're not at least zip tie the drives in, screws are notorious for coming loose.

This is the shipping method recommended to me by the manufacturer when I needed to return my system for repairs.

How to Overbox
? Before overboxing, make sure that the inside box is in good condition
and that the internal foam is not cracked or broken. If the foam is
damaged, replace it with new foam inserts or repair with two-inch (5.08
cm) wide pressure sensitive tape.
? Select a new shipping container that is at least six inches (15.24 cm)
longer, wider, and higher than the inside box
? Fill the new shipping container with at least three-inches (7.62 cm)
of foam-in-place, foam corner or edge pads, inflatable packaging,
loosefill peanuts, or other suitable dunnage materials. Do not use
crumpled or shredded paper.
? Place the inside box on top of the cushioning material and in the
center of the shipping container, allowing for at least three inches
(7.62 cm) of cushioning around the remaining five sides of the package
? Fill the remaining empty space in the package with foam-in-place, foam
corner or edge pads, inflatable packaging, loosefill peanuts, or other
suitable dunnage materials.
? Seal the shipping container with either two inches (5.08 cm) or more
width of pressure-sensitive or nylon-reinforced tape, or 60-pound, three
inch (7.62 cm) wide water-activated reinforced tape. Close the box
securely, applying three strips of tape to both the top and bottom of
the box so the middle and two edge seams are sealed.

Thank You
S
Vision Support

By USPS but you need to check every thing before you pack it. Be sure all the drives are securied with all screws tight, you could even put bubble wrap or paper inside the computer. To be sure nothing comes out during shipping.
This says alot about our shippers, if we do not trust how a package is shipped how do we get a new computer to a user?

Hi Jef,

Asking IT people how to ship something safely is like asking someone at a lingerie convention to change the tire on your car.
The most important part of shipping a computer or monitor is to make sure the unit stays securely CENTERED in the middle of the box. How you do that is up to you, but packing along won't work. The unit will migrate towards a side of the box where it will be damaged by shock, punture, moisture, or probing. You have to create some kind of secure framework to hold the unit still - then put the packing in. UPS will damage it for sure, so FEDEX is the better choice from my experience. Some cheap stick lumber would build a nice frame to hold the computer - like scrap lumber at Home Depot - thin stuff - half an inch by one inch.
Regards,
Buddy

Its cheap and environmental and probably as soft as the alternatives..

Bag the computer itself (to keep popcorn out of the insides). Bag the popcorn on each of the 6 sides of the machine so that it doesn't "sink" to the bottom.