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Shipping Hardware Cross-Country?
ae0nflx asks: "I just graduated from High School and the computer that my parents gave me four years ago has finally died. I've decided to spend all that money that I've been hoarding for a few summers on a new G5. The problem lies in the fact that for college I'll be moving to the East Coast (Upstate New York), from the foggy shores of the San Francisco Bay. Does anyone have any insight on how to ship my brand new machine cross country? Cheap would be good. I'll be flying back in late August and I don't think that I'll be able to take her back with me because I'm assuming she'll be a little big for the overhead bin... I'm not sure if I can trust this to the Postal Service alone." It may not be the same as shipping the big iron, but when you trust your hardware to any shipping company, be it Federal Express, or UPS, you do have the expectations that what you ship, will get to where it's going, and hopefully get there in one piece. Which shipping companies would you recommend for this job? For those who have done this, what experiences have you had, and what suggestions can you pass on to ae0nflx?
I'm going to college half way across the country in September (from VA to Chicago), and i'm driving it myself. I'm shipping things like clothes and anything that isn't fragile, but my computer equipment is coming with me in the car. Air conditioned, with me at all times, much less prone to damage.
Admittedly, I know nothing about Apple hardware, but generally speaking the packing materials that it came in should be more than sufficient to make the trip via FedEx or UPS. I shipped literally hundreds of PC's this way and never had one damaged.
you should have bought a laptop! No need to ship it, just carry it along on the plane. Plus, you can take it with you to class. Not very helpful now, I know, but maybe it will make someone else think about getting a laptop for school instead of a desktop system.
Back up your hard drive, either to another HD, or tape, or DVD. Remove the hard drive, carry it with you. Leave the backup with someone trust worthy. Ship the machine UPS or Fedex, insured for enough to replace it. The hardware is basically worthless, it's your data that has value. As long as the machine is at all replaceable, you have no worries.
But losing your pr0n collection, *that's* bad.
Pull the hard drive, then ship it UPS (or Fedex, or UPS) insured. About 50% of the time they'll trash your computer but they'll give you cash equal to what *you paid* for your computer, not what it's worth today. Think of it as regular free upgrades.
As long as you don't trust them with your data this is a much easier policy than trying to figure out a safe way to ship it.
As far as packaging, I've had good luck double boxing it (put computer inside tight fitting box packed with foam, put box inside larger looser box packed with styrofoam peanuts). The outside box ends up looking trashed but the inside box is fine. Again this is with pulling the harddrives and carrying those personally.
It may seem awkward to keep a large cardboard box, styrofoam moldings, and large plastic bags, but unless you plan on driving cross country with it in your trunk, those are the best tools in which to ensure that your baby gets to its destination safely, while in someone else's hands. If you have already disposed of the original packaging, you may be able to drop by the local Apple store, and ask if they kept the original packaging for one of display units that you could have.
As an alternative, you may be able to partially disassemble your machine based on what might get damaged if part of the internals of your computer came apart during shipping. For example: Pull out the hard drive, and keep that with you (as it has all of your important data), while pulling out all internal cards (PCI, AGP, ISA, etc) and putting them in seperate protective containters.
When Intel had their cartrige processors (during Pentium 2, and early Pentium 3 days), the massive cartrige and its heat sink had a tendancy to come off during transport, and flop about wildly inside the computer case during transport - damaging just about everything inside of a computer. If you feel that your heat sink/fan is too big you may consider removing those, along with your processor, and placing them in protective containers as well.
This way, you reduce the chance that one breakage would destroy the entire computer, and help to minimize your costs to repair/replace parts. As well, you also maximize the survivability of your important information.
I haven't lost my mind!
It is backed up on disk...somewhere...
First, just hold off on that purchase until you move. That'll eliminate the problem entirely.
If you're not willing to do that, save the boxes. Most machines (and Macs for certain) come in large styrofoam-lined boxes that can handle a lot of abuse.
When you ship, the important rules are:
Rattling is your enemy.
Rigid and brittle is your enemy.
Make sure that nothing in the box can bang into anything else in the box. Gently loosen (but don't remove!) any non-critical screws that make the inside more rigid (add-on card screws, for example), but ensure that anything that holds important parts in place (hard drive screws, etc.) is tight.
When you ship, take it to a mailing place like Mailboxes Etc. They'll charge you $30 for a box and shipping material, but then they'll pack it well and ensure that it's shipped with appropriate labels. For a $3000 computer, that's a bargain.
Finally, do a thorough inspection of your machine when it arrives. Ensure that every internal cable is attached, every screw is in place and tightened, every bit of packing material is removed, etc.
Forward, retransmit, or republish anything I say here. Just don't misquote me.
Airborne is late more often the FedEx who is late more often then UPS. Personally, I'd ship it UPS, and add $3K in insurance. I'd ship it ground, (it'll probably end up on a plane, but if you can deal with not having it for 5-6 days it's a lot cheaper).
Get it ensured. Keep the insurance slip. Make sure it's a must be signed for shipment, and call UPS to have it be arrange for pickup if you don't get it the first time they attempt to deliver it.
If it's not there, and you don't have a note, call UPS. Check the website.
If it's not there within 3 business days of the scheduled delivery date, you are screwed, call UPS, file a tracer. Start the process of getting your insurance money.
Every Tom, Dick and Harry on here is going to tell you their personal story about how they got screwed by carrier X, and how they will never use carrier X again. They think the carrier has some personal vendetta. It's comical. All of the carriers move millions of items a week. An success rate of 5 9's, still means a lot of screw ups a week. Make sure you have the documentation, make sure you take care of it quickly, make sure you follow up with them. You can successfully get your refund if it gets lost or damaged, sometimes it takes a little while, if you can't deal with that rent a car, drive the damn thing.
Kirby
I often wonder how the hell things like this actually get posted, but oh well...
Keep the original packaging. Preferably all of it, but at the very least the box and styrofoam inserts. And if you ever think you'll need to ship it again afterwards then you'd better continue to keep that box.
If the box is in crap condition, or you're just overly paranoid, then pack it again in a second, slightly larger box cushioned with styrofoam peanuts. If you're looking to get these on the cheap, go to a local recycling center -- mine will provide styrofoam peanuts for free. You may be able to pickup a good box for free as well, but they usually crush them pretty rapidly.
Prior to shipping, make a backup, or just accept that you may never get the data back -- misdelivery, crashed drive (highly unlikely), etc. It's not a high likelihood, but if you're paranoid...
When you receive it, unpack it carefully and then open the case. Make sure all the cards and the CPU are seated securely. Make sure fans are plugged in. Only after that should you turn it on... modern heatsink/fans are so large they often cause the CPU to become unsocketed or wiggle the fan connector lose (which leads to a dead CPU in no time).
Who to ship with? FedEx or UPS. Doesn't matter. I've had problems with both, and I've had excellent experiences with both. Don't use the USPS, and don't use 3rd or 4th tier providers. They're really not all that expensive. Pack it yourself, take it to a local facility (not Mailboxes, etc (which is now owned by UPS) or similar). Yes, there's one near you unless you live in the boonies -- where do you think they deliver from in the first place? If you go online and have your package weight, dimensions, and declared value you can get a good idea how much it'll cost too -- although the last time I did this it cost me less than what the estimate said.
During delivery keep a sharp eye on the tracking number -- you can use a phone if you don't have a computer. If something looks wrong (like they say it's delivered, but it's not) then start complaining -- preferably at the local delivery center in person.
Make sure you require a signature. Make sure you're there to get the delivery. Or simply request it be held at the delivery center and go pick it up yourself (which is what I prefer to do).
Oh, and if you don't have the original packaging -- well, don't expect much. I wouldn't trust it to a delivery company at that point, and even if you put insurance on it you won't be able to collect since they'll very easily be able to claim improper packaging. Start seriously considering a cross country road trip.
That's all that needs to be said. It will cost quite a bit more than UPS ground, but you have a 99 percent chance of it arriving undamaged and a 100 percent chance of having any damaged covered by the insurance. That's way more than you can say for UPS.
"Eve of Destruction", it's not just for old hippies anymore...
1) Forget cheap. You get what you pay for. Sorry.
2) Insure it. Pay the extra money to insure it up to 3 grand (your time invested is worth $$ too). And pack it insanely well. Assume they're going to punt it out of the truck into a puddle.
3) Ship it Fed Ex "Signature Required", then if you aren't home when it arrives they'll keep it at a Fed Ex pick up location. Very safe, although you'll have to go a mile or 3 to get it.
Fed Ex is the only carrier I have NEVER had a problem with. UPS is choice number 2. There is no chioce number 3.
Man how bored do you have to be to post shipping instructions to Ask Slashdot? How slow does the world have to be moving for Cliff to post this?
Oohhh neat, there's a puffy cloud outside that sort of looks like the internet.
Operator, give me the number for 911!
First off, the estimated ship date for the new machines is August. My experience with Apple is that these dates are often wishful thinking, so there is a good chance you will get to school before it is ever shipped. So since you'll likely arrive at school before your system, have it delivered there, or better yet just pick it up from a local dealer.
Second, you may wish to wait and check with your school. Many universities have arrangements with Apple as well as some other vendors. You may be able to purchase your system through the campus bookstore at a discount, and without the aggravation of shipping.
Assuming you do actually take delivery at home and then need to ship, save ALL of the original packing materials. These are good enought to ship in. In addition some carriers, UPS in particular will try to wiggle on an insurance claim if they damage your system and its not packed with the original materials.
As far as carriers go, I've used them all to ship systems as well as a variety of other items. UPS is by far the hardest on packages. I've had good results with FedEx (their ground service is just as cheap as UPS), DHL (now part of Fedex), and Airborne Express. Depending on where you are, how fast you need it, and your budget, any of these should be fine. My personal choice would be Fedex, as I've had very few problems ever with them.
Finally as has been mentioned by others, if you do insist on shipping, declare the full value on the manifest and pay the extra few bucks for insurance up to the full replacement cost of the system.
If privacy had a tombstone it would read "We did it for your own good" . -- John Twelve Hawks
Being that you live in San Francisco, contact your local drug dealer. Have him/her add your computer hardware to the weekly cross-country drug run. Drug runners can get things there in a hurry, and they usually avoid police entanglements, in case your computer is hot. (And I'm not talking Athlon hot.)
One future, two choices. Oppose them or let them destroy us.
Um, you do realize that if you wait until you're a student, if it's a large-enough school, you'll get a 10-15% educational discount on the machine. That alone (plus the fact that it'll be shipped there, plus the fact that it won't ship until August, and that's if you've already ordered one) is worth the wait.
Join the Apple Student Dev. program for an even larger discount, or make friends with someone who had/has an internship/job at Apple for more discounts.
That being said, I think the recommendations for a laptop make a lot more sense at college. You'll have more than enough desktops around the various computing labs I assume the school has, so be smart and get a laptop you can take anywhere, anytime. They really are desktop replacements these days, even the not-so-hefty ones. Get a 12" PowerBook or something.
Oh, and the other opporitunity here is to find a professor to do research/work for, and have him get you a kickass machine/laptop to "work" on.
Ok first of all, regardless of who you ship with, get insurance, and make sure that the person receiving the package has to sign for it, preferably while providing ID. Airborne in my experience has been the best here, as the UPS driver just leaves any package in front of the door, rings the doorbell, and runs back to his truck. If you run to the door, you may catch him leaving, but if you aren't home, anyone could pick up your package.
Either way, you should make sure you are there to pick up the package when it arrives, check the box requiring signature, insure it, and if convenient, tell the shipper to hold your item for pickup at their location. If they lose it at their location, you win. If you didn't sign for it, you win. All shippers have some bad drivers/handlers, and even if you know the particular driver for the destination, you should ALWAYS protect yourself from theft, damage, or other problems. Everything will probably be fine, but when it isn't, those who were the most cautious get their stuff back, and those who said "ship this here" will have a hard time getting anything back.
--That's the point of being root, you can do anything you want, even if it's stupid.
Yes, when you consider that he's making this trip in late August and the G5 he's purchasing isn't available until September 1 it seems pretty silly to worry about shipping an item he won't have yet to ship!
Assuming it was an issue, my advice would be to ship ground in the original packaging. With insurance.