If you're a fan of low-end Macs, there's a pretty good chance that
you also like to do at least some of your own hardware upgrades and
maintenance. If so, NewerTech's new
11 Piece Portable Toolkit includes everything you will probably
need to service, add memory, and upgrade other internals of both
desktop and laptop computers, as well as small consumer electronics
devices like iPods.
Having an adequate set of tools to
work with is absolutely key to making computer do-it-yourself projects
satisfyingly successful rather than hair-tearingly frustrating, as I
don't need to tell you if you're a Mac laptop user and you've ever had
to come up with a TORX
T8 screwdriver when some mission-critical piece of hardware needed
attention or upgrading.
If you're not familiar, the TORX fastener drive system was developed
by Camcar LLC of Acument Global Technologies (formerly Camcar Textron)
in Rockford, Illinois, as an improvement over the long-established
Phillips head and slot-head (flathead) screws - and also the more
recent Canadian square drive Robertson
type. Phillips head screws can be problematical in that they easily
"cam out" under high torque; they were designed to do so as a
preventative to over-tightening. This feature quickly morphs into being
a bad one if the fastener becomes corroded or rusted.
TORX heads, by contrast, are designed specifically to prevent
cam-out, which Camcar LLC claims can increase tool bit life by ten
times or more, not to mention the frustration of galled-out fastener
heads. A downside of the TORX system is that you really need the right
size driver, and while if the torque necessary to remove or set the
fastener is really light you might get away with a snug-fitting slot
screwdriver jammed into the driver aperture, it's not recommended. In a
pinch, we've also had success with manually filing a makeshift
triangular head on the sawed-off shaft of an old screwdriver.
TORX screws were first embraced by the automobile industry (my Mazda
B4000 4x4 pickup has a bunch of them), and it has also been latched
onto by tech industries, where it is used in hard drives, computer
systems, and other consumer electronics. Apple has used an odd mixture
of TORX and Philips fasteners in its computers for many years, starting
with the original
Macintosh. For example, to swap the hard drive in a Pismo PowerBook, you have to
remove and replace three Philips and six TORX (T8) screws.
TORX head
sizes are designated by "T" followed by a number, and range from
the ultra-tiny T1 through the humongous T100. Sizes from roughly T6
through T15 are commonly found in computer hardware.
Happily, the
Newertech kit includes the legendary and often difficult to find T8,
bracketed by T6 and T10 sizes, plus Philips #00 and #2 and 1.8mm and
3.0mm straight blade screwdrivers. Also in the set are a locking
scissor clamp (similar to a surgical clamp, it lets you instantly lock
on to and then relax finger/thumb pressure on a small object), a set of
tweezers, and two nylon pry tools (a.k.a. "spudgers") that can be very
helpful in opening recalcitrant device enclosures such as iPod housings
without causing damage. It should be noted, however, that nylon Pry
Tools are designed to be durable enough to pry open plastic items such
as iPods, but because they are nylon and the edge wears from use, these
tools have a limited lifetime and are not covered by the rest of the
kit's one year warranty.
The whole works is housed in a
lightweight nylon zip-closure case with internal foam block padding
that has custom-shaped cutout apertures to fit each of the tools snugly
and securely.
The screwdrivers all have swivel-tip handles that facilitate keeping
a steady pressure on the fastener while you turn the tool to tighten or
loosen it, and the screwdriver tips are magnetized, which can be
extremely handy if you have to maneuver a fastener into a cramped,
hard-to-reach spot, or retrieve one that's been dropped in an
difficult-to-access place.
The NewerTech 11 Piece Portable Toolkit is priced at $19.99, which
is only few bucks more than I have seen single TORX T8 screwdrivers
advertised for, so it's a pretty good deal.
