iMac Resilience

[groove-agent]

Hey all,

I was thinking about using iMacs for teaching classes and ideally put them in some flight cases to carry from city to city. Do you think they can handle the constant transportation? Does anyone have similar experience that they can share?

Thank you.

 

[MacAndy74]

Hey all,

I was thinking about using iMacs for teaching classes and ideally put them in some flight cases to carry from city to city. Do you think they can handle the constant transportation? Does anyone have similar experience that they can share?

Thank you.

No problem at all, as long as they are well packed in sturdy flight cases with customized foam packaging to stop the computers 'traveling' while packed.

 

[sotov]

Those baggage guys can be quite rough. If the imacs are packed as MacAndy74 said, nothing should crack. However the compounded jolting and impacts over time would be awful for the imac's standard hard drive. My gut tells me you are playing with fire. I would reccomend a laptop with a solid state hard-drive (what ipod's have!) for such "rough stuff." If you're the adventurous type you could try installing one in the imac and have it all.

 

[groove-agent]

Those baggage guys can be quite rough. If the imacs are packed as MacAndy74 said, nothing should crack. However the compounded jolting and impacts over time would be awful for the imac's standard hard drive. My gut tells me you are playing with fire. I would reccomend a laptop with a solid state hard-drive (what ipod's have!) for such "rough stuff." If you're the adventurous type you could try installing one in the imac and have it all.

Fortunately there are no plans to take them on a plane. We'll be driving from city to city and the iMacs will be handled by myself or people employed by me.

 

[sushi]

Fortunately there are no plans to take them on a plane. We'll be driving from city to city and the iMacs will be handled by myself or people employed by me.

I have a soft case iLugger that I use to carry various iMacs from place to place.

I use it occasionally. It works well. Here is a video of how it works.

If I were moving a group of iMacs, I would be tempted to use this type of case. It's very easy to use. Allows you protection from desktop to desktop. It's easy to store when not in use with our without an iMac in it. You can easily carry two at a time using the shoulder or hand straps. When I carry it in my car, I lay it down on the back seat. You could carefully stack them a couple high, or set them upright between the back and front seats. Or if you were using a van type vehicle, I would construct a cheap wood/metal holder in the back so that I could set them upright.

Hard cases are expensive, heavier, bulkier, and harder to move. Plus with hard cases, you may not be able to get close to the table where you are setting them up, which means you will be handling the iMac out of case over a distance. IMHO, iMacs are slippery suckers. I feel much more comfortable moving them with the soft case carrier.

YMMV.

 

[skubish]

Fortunately there are no plans to take them on a plane. We'll be driving from city to city and the iMacs will be handled by myself or people employed by me.

This may be worse. The constant vibration from driving around will sure destroy those HDDs. I would recommend a MB plus monitor because you can easily replace the HDD in a MB or MBP (15").

 

[sushi]

This may be worse. The constant vibration from driving around will sure destroy those HDDs.

I would disagree with this.

The iMacs will be shut off. The HD heads will be parked.

Don't see this as an issue.

 

[jtgotsjets]

This may be worse. The constant vibration from driving around will sure destroy those HDDs. I would recommend a MB plus monitor because you can easily replace the HDD in a MB or MBP (15").

What the hell? You people get so paranoid sometimes—a new technology gets released and all of a sudden you're convinced that the older technology is fragile and delicate, despite all the years of research and development that has gone into it?

Anyone that has ever owned a laptop prior to, what, like two years ago? will tell you that a HDD will be fine.

 

[myuserid08]

This may be worse. The constant vibration from driving around will sure destroy those HDDs. I would recommend a MB plus monitor because you can easily replace the HDD in a MB or MBP (15").

I wonder how they get from China to your front door

 

[J&JPolangin]

I wonder how they get from China to your front door

...elves assemble them on your doorstep

 

[sushi]

My organization shipped an iMac to an overseas location. It was handled very roughly. We shipped in the original box. The foam was severely cracked when it arrived -- an indicator of very rough treatment. Well the motherboard was broken. However, the HD still worked fine.

So I wouldn't worry about the HD.

 

[robotartfashion]

go to bhphotovideo.com and search for the tenba air case for imac, it's a very sturdy case without much weight

they can be expensive but they are fantastic and will hold up FOREVER

great stuff

 

[groove-agent]

I've been looking at the iLugger. I wish it had more pockets to carry things. Also, I worry about transporting the iMac upside down. Doesn't seem right somehow.

I have a soft case iLugger that I use to carry various iMacs from place to place.

I use it occasionally. It works well. Here is a video of how it works.

If I were moving a group of iMacs, I would be tempted to use this type of case. It's very easy to use. Allows you protection from desktop to desktop. It's easy to store when not in use with our without an iMac in it. You can easily carry two at a time using the shoulder or hand straps. When I carry it in my car, I lay it down on the back seat. You could carefully stack them a couple high, or set them upright between the back and front seats. Or if you were using a van type vehicle, I would construct a cheap wood/metal holder in the back so that I could set them upright.

Hard cases are expensive, heavier, bulkier, and harder to move. Plus with hard cases, you may not be able to get close to the table where you are setting them up, which means you will be handling the iMac out of case over a distance. IMHO, iMacs are slippery suckers. I feel much more comfortable moving them with the soft case carrier.

YMMV.