If I had to check a desktop, my number one thing I would do is remove the hard drive and carry it in my hand luggage. In anything happens to the beige box, you have the important bit with you.

Ah, that makes sense. Thanks for clarifying.

+1

Of course, even if you carry the whole desktop on in a rollaboard, I'd still reccommend taking the HDD ouf and carrying it separately in a padded case. The HDD is probebly the single most sensitive component of a desktop PC because of the moving parts and the precision needed for the heads to properly align with the platters. Modern HDDs are surprisingly robust, but it never hurts to be a little extra careful.

Can you at least get away with ONLY taking the box with you, and finding a monitor/keyboard/mouse at your destination? I'd be pretty nervous about carrying a monitor, and the kb/mouse are just extra weight.

If you're going to carry it on, you could also try a gamer's harness, or a full PC travel bag.

A gamer's harness is a harness made from nylon or polypropylene webbing, designed to wrap around a mid-tower case and give you a carry handle on top and a place to clip a shoulder strap. Most don't give any padding or protection, but they do make it a lot easier to transport the case.
http://www.amazon.com/GearGrip-Deskt.../dp/B00021UJ62

There are also some travel bags available for PCs:
http://www.frozencpu.com/cat/l1/g31/Travel_Cases.html

http://www.lansoft.ca/products.html

And lastly, crazy as it may sound - scour your company, neighborhood, and friends/family for a physically smaller, lighter case, perhaps a mini-tower, into which you could transfer your PC. It's the same computer, but if you can squeeze it into a smaller case for the duration of your trip, it will be easier to fit into overhead bins and lug through airports. The transfer is mostly just turning screws and plugging in cables, and can typically be done in less than an hour.

Why do you "have to" take the desktop? Can't you use your laptop or a computer at the other end? Or are you traveling somewhere that there won't be one available (still could use your laptop?)?

Actually taking 2x desktops on TATL next week. FYI - replacement machines for UK office.

Just have both in card boxes with plenty of bubble wrap and then in my hard shell suitcase and make sure they are well secured and can't move around. Luckily I have free access to lots of shipping supplies.

IMHO I don't see much difference between a domestic move via FedEX/UPS and the TATL. Done this a few times with no issues so far.

Fedex and UPS would likely cover any damage they caused to them.

The airlines probably not.

That's easily the biggest difference.

Other than the keyboard set up, I would agree - it's far more likely to get damaged at either end in the airports, rather than sitting in a baggage hold for either 2 hours or 10 hours.

On a separate matter, I would imagine that TSA would make you get the computer out of your hand luggage, much as they do with a laptop. So you would probably need to be ready to repack it after inspection.