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Need advice with bringing a SFF computer on international flight

SumGhai
By SumGhai
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Hi there, kinda new here and was getting a bit desperate in finding help on this topic.

 

I'm about to fly internationally from the US to Malaysia (with stops in Germany and Singapore) to visit relatives. I'll be there for a long time and I wanted to bring my Node 202 computer with me so I can continue gaming, 3d-modeling, and animating while I'm away from home. However, I'm quite worried about trying to bring the Node 202 with me aboard an international flight, given that it's a plastic/steel box with wires connecting PCBs to each other. I feel like it'd attract some unwanted attention from TSA agents during baggage checks.

 

Anyone that's flown with a desktop computer internationally, is there any advice you could give? Any precautions and steps I should take to make the trips through airport security much smoother?

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7 minutes ago, SumGhai said:

Hi there, kinda new here and was getting a bit desperate in finding help on this topic.

 

I'm about to fly internationally from the US to Malaysia (with stops in Germany and Singapore) to visit relatives. I'll be there for a long time and I wanted to bring my Node 202 computer with me so I can continue gaming, 3d-modeling, and animating while I'm away from home. However, I'm quite worried about trying to bring the Node 202 with me aboard an international flight, given that it's a plastic/steel box with wires connecting PCBs to each other. I feel like it'd attract some unwanted attention from TSA agents during baggage checks.

 

Anyone that's flown with a desktop computer internationally, is there any advice you could give? Any precautions and steps I should take to make the trips through airport security much smoother?

yes treat is like a laptop and it should be ok. also be per paired for them questioning you. 

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make sure you take the GPU out before taking it with you

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17 minutes ago, SumGhai said:

Hi there, kinda new here and was getting a bit desperate in finding help on this topic.

 

I'm about to fly internationally from the US to Malaysia (with stops in Germany and Singapore) to visit relatives. I'll be there for a long time and I wanted to bring my Node 202 computer with me so I can continue gaming, 3d-modeling, and animating while I'm away from home. However, I'm quite worried about trying to bring the Node 202 with me aboard an international flight, given that it's a plastic/steel box with wires connecting PCBs to each other. I feel like it'd attract some unwanted attention from TSA agents during baggage checks.

 

Anyone that's flown with a desktop computer internationally, is there any advice you could give? Any precautions and steps I should take to make the trips through airport security much smoother?

Not internationally, but I have on occasion taken one on domestic travel. Take it completely out of its bag and set it on the belt, and do not enter the metal detector/scanner until you see it go into the X-ray. It will be flagged for a bag check, you will have to explain what it is to someone with all the mental acuity of a circus peanut, and you will be quizzed on, and I quote, "If this is a computer, then where's the screen?!". You'll then be asked why anyone would travel with a desktop instead of taking a laptop, to which you'll need to reply that laptops just aren't as capable as desktops, and your occupation demands that you have a powerful PC available to you at all times. That will probably take care of it. I mean, it's not like you're trying to bring a bottle of water with you or anything.

 

If you're thinking about checking it, don't. It will be "lost" or "confiscated for reasons of national security".

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