Travelling overseas with a desktop
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- Fabricio
Hello friends.
I am about to start a little international journey next November (will stay 3 months in each country), and my main concern is the current desktop I have: two gpus.. perfect for my 3D projects, gpu renders, etc... but the thing is HUGE!Has any of you travelled long distances by plane, and carried your desktop with you?
If so, any advice for me? Disassemble the parts?I tried looking for a laptop that has a nice gpu, but unfortunately, havent found anything good for production level...
- err0
- yuekit0
Hmmm what if you packed into into a carry on bag and checked in everything else? Could be a better option than trusting the airline to handle it carefully...
- utopian0
Whatever you do...do not fly American Airlines!
- d_gitale0
9 years ago I travelled on a 12h nonstop flight with an iMac checked in. Temperature in the loading bay and tropical climate at destination did not go well with the screen. It was still working, but had built up condensation inside, which resulted in a slight foggyness in some areas of the screen, from which it never fully recovered. But I still used it for almost 5 years after that. I used the original packaging, but maybe vacuum wrapping could have helped. The handling by the Airline (Singapore Airlines) was not the problem as far as I can tell. It was handled as fragile, separately from normal luggage. Anyway, sounds like you are not taking a screen.
- RumperChunk0
Get a Razer Blade and a couple of external GPUs? - Razer make these as well...
- shapesalad0
Cheap(or fairly decent) light laptop and then use a GPU render farm?
In terms of cost - think of it like this:
A) bring a heavy desktop =
Worry about it breaking during flight. Pain in ass to move around. If you disassemble it, then you got the time factor of that and assembling it, plus risk factor if shorting something. If you bring a large suitcase for your clothes+stuff you're going to put your desktop where? In a carry on suitcase? You then might not have space to carry on additional valuables, headphones, camera etc. And you should always carry on sanitary kit+spare clothes in case your main suitcase goes missing or is delayed arriving (speaking from experience you do not want to arrive with nothing and have to wait 4 days for your missing suitcase to arrive, major pain in ass having to shop for clothes and claim back insurance). So you might need to pay extra to check-in two suitcase. Then you got the worry that the one with your desktop in gets damaged/goes missing.
Overall it's a cost of time, extra money and worry.
B) bring a decent inexpensive, easily replaceable laptop and subscribe to a decent render farm =
Easy to pack up and move. Don't need to pay for an additional checked in suitcase. Don't need to waste time disassembling it / assembling it. Easy to carry on your laptop to the flight and be worry free that it's ok and not going to get damaged / lost. Easy to replace if it gets damage - you can by a laptop anywhere. Easy to hide in your accommodation / lock away, so less like to be stolen when you go out and leave it at home (personally I leave my laptop in the oven under a baking tray = last place a burglar is going to look. Just remember to take it out before you preheat the oven). Don't need a monitor. Don't need to carry a keyboard.
Downside is, you'll need a decent internet connection and laptops are easy to steal if you go to a cafe or carry it around in a backpack. Cost of render farm.
Overall I'd go with B and save time, stress and travel lighter. The cost of the render farm might balance out in comparison to the time costs involved in A and the additional checked in suitcase costs.
- also what about voltage across difference countries? You might need a heavy power adapter transformer for your desktop.shapesalad
- antimotion1
I moved to Japan and packed a 27in imac 5K using cardboard shipping case from OWC and it was like 69 bucks. Just call airline and make sure the size is okay - and get insurance for sure.
There's also this company called Pelican that makes really dope hardcases, but they're pretty expensive and for us, too big for the small apartments here.
- https://www.pelican-…
other site is mac sales - they wont let me paste url for some reasonantimotion
- https://www.pelican-…
- BH260
Depending which countries you are going to. You can look into- monthly rentals- several companies rent to businesses, startups etc. or also buy and return.