Hi friends, 

 

Currently living in Sweden I'm about to live for the next 7 months in Thailand, working as a video editor for a European co. These are heavy duty tasks and I need my desktop computer. The monitor/screen I would need, but it's not over-the-top expensive to buy one for 7 months. 

 

What are my options to ship a desktop computer? Is it deadly expensive? 

 

For the very sake of this discussion, lets assume I need my desktop computer and I would be very much grateful if we skip the "do you really need a desktop computer", putting the discussion in the wrong tracks (As so often happens on the internet). Bless! 

 

 

Sell or leave the bulky parts, take the GPU, RAM, CPU and maybe motherboard (if it fits) with you and buy anything else you need here?

Yup, strip the beast down to mainboard, drive and any plug in cards, buy a cheap box and PSU here.

1 hour ago, Crossy said:

Yup, strip the beast down to mainboard, drive and any plug in cards, buy a cheap box and PSU here.

 

1 hour ago, Roger That said:

Sell or leave the bulky parts, take the GPU, RAM, CPU and maybe motherboard (if it fits) with you and buy anything else you need here?

I will pleasantly admit, I like both your ideas. I usually travel light in cabin and I could probably fit GPU, CPU, RAM, SSD there (and I guess it's legal since it's not heavy batteries). 

Admittedly I don't want to make this a computer forum, but - from the top of your head, any particular bags/bagging technique I should think of? Keeping the gear safe 

2 hours ago, aldriglikvid said:

What are my options to ship a desktop computer? Is it deadly expensive? 

Courier companies.  Best to ask them what their charge would be as no one here will know that but there will be 7% VAT on the assessed value.   There may also be import duty if desktops are not exempt, as laptops are.

I shipped my iMac desktop from Northern Thailand to Canada last week, as part of my checked baggage. Original box, put some fuzzy blankets for padding and tapped the heck out of the box. Cost me 2750 baht in extra baggage weight and I'm using it right now in Canada, with a 110v-220v transformer bought from Amazon for 40 bucks.

1 hour ago, aldriglikvid said:

Admittedly I don't want to make this a computer forum, but - from the top of your head, any particular bags/bagging technique I should think of? Keeping the gear safe 

I would bubble wrap each item and try to fit inside a carry-on bag or case so that there would not be any pressure on any components that might bend or break any connectors or pins.

 

My first choice would to be like others said and only bring the essential parts (HDD/SSD, Ram, MB, CPU, GPU) with you, bubbled wrapped and boxed, and you can buy and build the rest. Hopefully customs won't give you a problem.

 

The 2nd option is learn about desktop remote access and set up your desktop with with programs like: Anydesk or Google's Chrome Remote Desktop or TeamViewer or VNC Viewer, leave your desktop at home and bring a laptop with you, then access your desktop from the laptop overseas.  

 

If you have Windows 10 Pro;

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/how-to-use-remote-desktop-5fe128d5-8fb1-7a23-3b8a-41e636865e8c

 

 

 

2 hours ago, aldriglikvid said:

 

I will pleasantly admit, I like both your ideas. I usually travel light in cabin and I could probably fit GPU, CPU, RAM, SSD there (and I guess it's legal since it's not heavy batteries). 

Admittedly I don't want to make this a computer forum, but - from the top of your head, any particular bags/bagging technique I should think of? Keeping the gear safe 

I did exactly this last year and it worked well for me.  I had my MB-CPU-RAM-SSD in my carry-on luggage.  PSU and GPU in checked luggage.  On my second day in ASQ I ordered a new case and monitor.  Putting it back together gave me something to do plus I was able to play some games afterwards.  No problems other than having to pull out the board a couple of times for security to examine.

1 hour ago, kwonitoy said:

I shipped my iMac desktop from Northern Thailand to Canada last week, as part of my checked baggage. Original box, put some fuzzy blankets for padding and tapped the heck out of the box. Cost me 2750 baht in extra baggage weight and I'm using it right now in Canada, with a 110v-220v transformer bought from Amazon for 40 bucks.

I have brought desktop computers and monitors over the years as part of my checked luggage. Wrap it up in bubble wrap and put in a double walled cardboard box. Tape it up and put some FRAGILE stickers on it. When you go to check-in, tell the staff you have a fragile item. Never, ever had a problem. Make a back-up of your drive and carry with you onboard.

 

12 minutes ago, Chris.B said:

I have brought desktop computers and monitors over the years as part of my checked luggage. Wrap it up in bubble wrap and put in a double walled cardboard box. Tape it up and put some FRAGILE stickers on it. When you go to check-in, tell the staff you have a fragile item. Never, ever had a problem. Make a back-up of your drive and carry with you onboard.

 

You're all life-savers here guys, thanks for the input! 

I got some free-time over since my original post so I decided to check if my desktop ("tower") would fit in my 75l hard-bag (accounting for some extra layers of bubble wrap, and it very much seemed so. I then figured the next move of least resistance would be to ship it as an extra bag of luggage. I contacted my airline, Finnair, and they said on their online chat that desktop computers are explicitly denied. 

 

I'll try to contact them tomorrow to get it confirmed, and then I'll try to contact another airline as a backup. 

 

If not - I'll pick out the essentials and go with that plan. 

15 minutes ago, aldriglikvid said:

You're all life-savers here guys, thanks for the input! 

I got some free-time over since my original post so I decided to check if my desktop ("tower") would fit in my 75l hard-bag (accounting for some extra layers of bubble wrap, and it very much seemed so. I then figured the next move of least resistance would be to ship it as an extra bag of luggage. I contacted my airline, Finnair, and they said on their online chat that desktop computers are explicitly denied. 

 

I'll try to contact them tomorrow to get it confirmed, and then I'll try to contact another airline as a backup. 

 

If not - I'll pick out the essentials and go with that plan. 

I use Thai Airways and it was never a problem with them.

 

If you do decide to bring/ship the beast as a complete unit and have a high end GPU I would unplug it, bubble wrap it and pack it separately or put it loose inside the case with more bubble wrap.

 

These things are pretty heavy and not well supported when in their slots. A slight misinterpretation of "Fragile" as "Football" may result in it ripping off the main board connector or snapping the GPU board at its own connector (or both), neither of which is good.

 

It might also be worth removing the CPU heatsink for similar reasons although they are usually rather better fixed.

 

Also, although it won't apply to our OP since he's in Sweden, if you come from a 120V country make sure your PSU is set to 220V or is of the "universal" 100-250V type before plugging it in.

11 hours ago, kwonitoy said:

I shipped my iMac desktop from Northern Thailand to Canada last week, as part of my checked baggage. Original box, put some fuzzy blankets for padding and tapped the heck out of the box. Cost me 2750 baht in extra baggage weight and I'm using it right now in Canada, with a 110v-220v transformer bought from Amazon for 40 bucks.

 

All iMacs (at least all iMacs post G5) use universal power adapters, there's no need to an external transformer.

 

Not if there 13 years old

I brought my desktop across last month using the above mentioned "motherboard & PSU only" method.

 

Mine's a fairly low spec with no external GPU and a low profile CPU cooler.  I wrapped it in an anti-static mat (more for padding than anything else) and put inside a 3" high cardboard box original used to ship a laptop.

 

I still haven't got round to buying a case yet...

 

11 hours ago, ed79 said:

I brought my desktop across last month using the above mentioned "motherboard & PSU only" method.

 

Mine's a fairly low spec with no external GPU and a low profile CPU cooler.  I wrapped it in an anti-static mat (more for padding than anything else) and put inside a 3" high cardboard box original used to ship a laptop.

 

I still haven't got round to buying a case yet...

 

Plenty of ventilation. No need for more fans.

 

 

13 hours ago, ed79 said:

I still haven't got round to buying a case yet...

 

Love the airflow in that set up. Bet your temps don't rise a tick. ????

On 10/27/2021 at 3:46 PM, bbko said:

My first choice would to be like others said and only bring the essential parts (HDD/SSD, Ram, MB, CPU, GPU) with you, bubbled wrapped and boxed, and you can buy and build the rest. Hopefully customs won't give you a problem.

 

The 2nd option is learn about desktop remote access and set up your desktop with with programs like: Anydesk or Google's Chrome Remote Desktop or TeamViewer or VNC Viewer, leave your desktop at home and bring a laptop with you, then access your desktop from the laptop overseas.  

 

If you have Windows 10 Pro;

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/how-to-use-remote-desktop-5fe128d5-8fb1-7a23-3b8a-41e636865e8c

 

 

 

Latency from Thailand > Europe makes any kind of Remote Desktop a fairly unpleasant experience.