Shipping old heavy stuff

FedEx 3-days service or FedEx freight is more expensive than UPS, but they take much better care of your stuff. I recently shipped my IBM 5100 cross-country by UPS and had bad results. I heavily wrapped the unit in bubble wrap, put it in a 275 lb test large box full of styrofoam popcorn, and then put that box in a larger 275 lb test box full of styrofoam popcorn. It arrived badly banged up, and half the cards had fallen out of the backplane. What shipping methods do people prefer for shipping larger (say > 100lbs, large deskside, small mini type) systems. If you send it through ups are you just guaranteeing it'll get banged up? What alternative, relatively inexpensive methods are available? George