I've done two cross-country moves since graduating college. The first one, going to grad school, was on a tight budget. I sold all of my furniture, drove the car, and shipped everything else UPS "book rate". Amazingly enough, everything came through (with fragile-ish stuff in the car).

The second time, was starting my "real" job, and I had an actual relocation budget. Still, I sold all of my furniture. The biggest thing left, aside from the car, was a 27" TV set. I used a commercial mover. They came in, packed everything in a few hours, and were gone. They later showed up at my new place and dropped off a million boxes. (Note to self: next time, run around with a marking pen to label every box as it's being packed.) The only damage, in that move, was a CD player that gave up the ghost. They gave me some grief about it being possibly busted before they packed it and they cannot be responsible for yadda yadda. How much stink are you going to make over a 5-disc CD changer that you can replace for $150?

Commercial movers, assuming they're within your budget, really can do a good job. The trick is finding one you're willing to trust. Keep in mind that any legit moving company will send out somebody to look your place over and give you a quote. Feel free to get multiple quotes and, in this modern Internet world, do some searching for happy / unhappy customers. Or, just go old school and ask around.