deskthority

I try to find out how much shipping of big keyboards,
like the 122 key terminal emulators will be?

I had one Unicomp SpaceSaver shipped to me by iMav via USPS, but I don't remember the shipping price.
Perhaps in the $40 range? Bah, I can't be really helpful, nor do I keep any history.

But if you still decide to order from Unicomp, drop me a line - I am thinking about On-the-ball.
Their 122 key is ISO. Gaaaah.

woody wrote:I had one Unicomp SpaceSaver shipped to me by iMav via USPS, but I don't remember the shipping price.
Perhaps in the $40 range? Bah, I can't be really helpful, nor do I keep any history.

But if you still decide to order from Unicomp, drop me a line - I am thinking about On-the-ball.
Their 122 key is ISO. Gaaaah.

Can be modded!

Like with the 101/102 key Model Ms, the buttons are already there to do the mod.

Ask Half-Saint, he offers to do the mod the other^wwrong way round.

ps: I'm afraid the larger and heavier keyboards are more expensive. We will see.

I have never had any problems with parcels shipped via USPS to Sweden. Only when things have been shipped in a padded envelope has anything got missing.
If you are not interested in any special services (tracking, insurance, etc) then paying extra for Express Mail Service might not give you anything extra that is worth the extra cost. Shipments to my location from the US has always taken the precise amount of time with "regular" letter-post or parcel-post as with EMS.

BTW, I have never bought any keyboard from the US, but I have received both large and lightweight and small and heavy packages. Over thirty of them in the last decade.

Findecanor wrote:I have never had any problems with parcels shipped via USPS to Sweden. Only when things have been shipped in a padded envelope has anything got missing.
If you are not interested in any special services (tracking, insurance, etc) then paying extra for Express Mail Service might not give you anything extra that is worth the extra cost. Shipments to my location from the US has always taken the precise amount of time with "regular" letter-post or parcel-post as with EMS.

BTW, I have never bought any keyboard from the US, but I have received both large and lightweight and small and heavy packages. Over thirty of them in the last decade.

Thanks!

I just investigated USPS prices and found $49.9 for 1 keyboard (3.6kg) and $70.55 for 2.
More keyboards would cost the same and the risk of loss and customs messing up with them is higher.

Does anybody have actual prices, experience with other carriers?

YMMV, USPS is slow here, EMS is fast. USPS does a tour through the US and does not buy enough customs capacity in various countries, then blames customs for the delays. Which can take weeks. USPS is outdated, irrelevant, and about to go to way of the Dodo. Their old world of normal mail delivery is crumbling, while they are not capable when it comes to the new world of ecommerce. Really, when my package is still touring the US from hop to hop and USPS complaining about their fate, if I order an item in China it is here in 24 hours. The Chinese understand ecommerce. That's how lame USPS is and how hard they are being spanked.

The only reason to use USPS is for non-commercial shipping from the US. Then the competition is way too expensive. But if the one that sends the mail has a business deal with UPS, FedEx or EMS, pricing is competitive, and I'd pick any of those over USPS.

Tracking/insurance is mainly a mechanism for the sender to get a confirmation and proof it was delivered. Otherwise the receiving end might claim nothing was received. The idea they will give you money if you insured your package and they damaged a keyboard is pure fiction. Their damage account managers are paid on the premise how much they can fuck you up, and the design is to take it through many months of form filling and waiting and not getting any. That is, if it is not snubbed at once because of the fine print. The fine print which didn't prevent them from not selling insurance to you and taking your money. Fine print such as about second hand items without receipt. You send out an expensive IBM Model M15 and insured it? Think again. Fine print such as what "damage" means. For USPS, it is not defined as damage, but as complete destruction or loss. If your keyboard is merely damaged, it is not insured for damage.

webwit wrote:USPS?

OK, I get the point.

But I'm still looking for the cheapest way to get the stuff ...

Size and weight:
60cm x 26cm x 9cm, ~4kg

7bit wrote:But I'm still looking for the cheapest way to get the stuff ...

I have received various stuff (like old computers) via USPS, Priority Mail International or Express Mail International.
No complaints so far.

I got my 122-key F (all 4.5kg of it + packaging) shipped over for about $60-70 via USPS, IIRC.

Not as much as a beam spring board

Yeah.

I'm somewhat dreading my inevitable acquisition of one