Aer Lingus check-in baggage (desktop computer?)

Crimsonforce

Hi

sorry if its the wrong forum

I have to fly to europe next week and I have to bring a desktop machine with me. can anyone tell me if they know if aer lingus will allow me check in a box with a desktop machine in it?

Dimensions 19.00 x 5.25 x 20.80 inches

Thanks

According to their website:http://www.aerlingus.com/travelinformation/knowbeforeyoufly/baggageinformation/#d.en.1217

Carriage of Electrical Equipment
The following items may be carried when travelling with Aer Lingus. Normal checked/cabin baggage rules apply. There is no requirement to advise Aer Lingus beforehand that you are carrying these items. It is the passenger's responsibility to ensure they are packed in order to prevent damage.....................
PC's
PC's are not permitted to be used on board.

So from my understanding, PC's are ok to check-in, not ok to use, but will probably cost you, if it is over your baggage allowance.

UDP

It could be worth costing couriering the desktop over to where you are going beforehand.

Crimsonforce

UDP wrote: »

It could be worth costing couriering the desktop over to where you are going beforehand.

the problem is the system is currently being shipped to me so im not sure when i'll actually get it, hence why i wanted to bring it with me as cabin baggage..

zagmund

Note that it will need to be packed particularly well in order to survive the fun that is airline handling. You may want to take the hard drive out and carry that with you. It's possible some security person may object to the hard drive, but they can't exactly be on the banned list as every laptop on every plane has one.

I hope you're not thinking of also bringing a monitor with you. That would be very, very, very unlikely to survive unless packed in original packing material and protected very well.

z

Crimsonforce

zagmund wrote: »

Note that it will need to be packed particularly well in order to survive the fun that is airline handling. You may want to take the hard drive out and carry that with you. It's possible some security person may object to the hard drive, but they can't exactly be on the banned list as every laptop on every plane has one.

I hope you're not thinking of also bringing a monitor with you. That would be very, very, very unlikely to survive unless packed in original packing material and protected very well.

z

Thanks, yes Im not bringing a screen, i just dont think it would survive..
i think ill take the drive out, good thinking!

coylemj

Crimsonforce wrote: »

Thanks, yes Im not bringing a screen, i just dont think it would survive..
i think ill take the drive out, good thinking!

You do not need to take out the hard drive. The read/write heads on a hard drive are parked away from the recording surface when the disk is powered down so when switched off the disk can take reasonable G-forces without suffering damage. It's more likely that after the trip the memory cards will need to be reseated or some other connections will work loose but the HDD should be ok.

zagmund

That's pretty reckless advice in my opinion. Can you define "reasonable G-forces" in the context of aircraft luggage handling?

If it was me and I was going to bring a desktop with me, the one thing I might work on protecting was the hard drive and the data on it. When I get to my destination I can get a new power supply, I can get a new motherboard, I can get a new graphics card, I can get new memory, I can get almost everything I need other than the data on the hard disk.

And before you say it, if it's as simple as backing the data up just in case anything happens, then why would the OP bother bringing the device at all?

z

coylemj

zagmund wrote: »

That's pretty reckless advice in my opinion. Can you define "reasonable G-forces" in the context of aircraft luggage handling?

Assuming he packs the PC with a reasonable amount of padding, no amount of punishment it gets from baggage handlers will threaten the HDD.

As an example, Seagate Desktop HDDs are designed to withstand a force of 300Gs when in 'non-operating' mode i.e. switched off. For the hard drive to get that type of shock the desktop would have to be dropped from a considerable height onto hard concrete.

Click on the 'Specs.' tab at this webpage and scroll down....

http://www.seagate.com/em/en/internal-hard-drives/desktop-hard-drives/desktop-hdd/

zagmund

coylemj wrote: »

would have to be dropped from a considerable height onto hard concrete.

All I'll say is that the apron at an airport is made out of hard concrete, and the luggage does indeed get to quite a height when being loaded into a plane sitting on the apron.

This could go on forever, so I'll leave the OP to determine which option is the safest bet.

z

coylemj

zagmund wrote: »

All I'll say is that the apron at an airport is made out of hard concrete, and the luggage does indeed get to quite a height when being loaded into a plane sitting on the apron.

The only way the OP's desktop PC could hit the tarmac with a force greater than 300G is if it fell out of the plane after take-off. You asked for G forces and I gave you your answer, clearly you haven't a clue what that number means.

The HDD is probably the most resilient component in a PC because it's designed to spin for several years at a few thousand revolutions per minutes. Something else will break before the HDD if the PC is dropped so taking the HDD out for a plane trip is a complete waste of time.