Im thinking about writing an opinion on condoms as I struggle to get ones big enough to fit......nuf...
Im thinking about writing an opinion on condoms as I struggle to get ones big enough to fit......nuff said.
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There are lots of little jobs that need to be performed in IT and many of them are hardware related. These jobs range from fitting additional memory to complete motherboard replacements. But whatever you are about to do to your PC, you are going to need specifit tools for the job. So I figured I would wade in and give you a bit more info into a lifesaver of a product for the budget concious IT people out there.
Yes, im talking about the Belkin 36 piece professional Tool Kit for IT.
Packaging/Casing. All 36 items are housed in a neat little zip up wallet that is the size of a child's shoe box. Its Faux leather appearance is fooling no one! Its water resistant and well made. Inside the components are all retained by elastic straps and velcro so it is a very secure and tidy way to carry
your tools.
Contents. Varied and comprehensive. Most jobs can be undertaken using the kit. There is a soldering iron and a canister of solder for the more intricate electrical repairs.To go with this is a solder "sucker" and a soldering remover. All soldering items seem of decent quality and we have used these for some cabling repairs. (and fising my Xbox 360 headset!)
For cabling, there is a handy set of adjustable wire strippers as well as a pair of small wire snips. They are nice and sharp and again do a good job. The wire snips have a spring loaded middle so make snipping easier as you dont need to reopen them after the cut. The long nose pliers are good for getting to hard to reach parts but due to their size, are unable to exert enough torque or grip for bigger jobs. Again these are spring loaded and have a wire cutter built in.
The Craft knife/scalpel is an unusual addition but has proved essential on several occasions. You would not believe the times I have needed it in an IT environment when you would not think its required! Its sharp and quite delicate to use.
Rather than loads of different screwdrivers in the case, they have included an adjustable screwdriver along with interchangeable bits for it. However there are only a couple of flat head and phillips screw bits. The majority are specialist Star and Square heat attachments for the more unusual screws found in PCs today. Basically, if there is a screw on or in your PC, this should be able to get it out. Add to this the 10 sockets in both imperial and metric sizes, most bolts are also catered for. Thes attach to the adjustable screwdriver with an adapter included. There is also a long screwdriver bit for hard to reach screws that is flat on one end and phillips on the other. This again fits into the screwdriver. The ratchet screwdriver itself feels very cheap and plastic. You can feel it is not the strongest of devices when using it and there is plenty of play in its action. I think this will eventually fail. Also included are the fine electrical screwdrivers which tackle screws that you would find in your glasses frame or even holding your hard drive together! This comes in a handy pouch so you dont lose all of the attachments ends for it. The penultimate items are a set of Allam keys. They are presented on a keyring for ease of securing them together and total 8 of the 36 itelms! The last item is again a great idea. A mini Pen Torch. It comes with a battery included so works straight away. It is activated by twisting the lens to turn it on. This is a bit of a pain as i often find it turns on as i close the case up. All of these items in the case have been made already demagnetised so that they do not damage your data storage devices such as your hard disk. The last thing you want to do is wipe your hard drive thanks to an unknown magnet!
The parts all come with a lifetime warranty but I think I will be putting that to the test soon as the screwdriver itself does feel a bit loose when using it.
Overall a real bargain for £30. Ive listed some of the jobs that it copes well with.
Removing the sides of PC Cases - Yep, normally Phillips screws holding the side on. Copes easy.
Removing a PCI card from the motherboard - Yep, easy again as its just unscrewing the Phillips screw holding it in.
Removing my laptop casing to replace Bios Battery - More challenging but thanks to the star bits, it was simply to remove the screws and separate the case.
Fitting the new server into the server rack - simple. The hexagonal bolts that mount the server into the rack were catered for by the socket set. Fitted tight with plenty of torque on the grippy screwdriver handle, suprised me!
Removing Hard drive retention screws in my laptop. - Easy. The door that holds this in place is a tiny screw which was easy to undo thanks to the mini screwdriver bit set.
Replacing the faulty Power socket on a laptop. Required soldering to the motherboard. More complex but had the tools to complete it thanks to the toolkit. The pointed and fine tipped soldering iron allows for intricate work and the solder sucker was able to remove the residue.
I hope that gives you some background into my IT toolkit and helps with your decision making when buying an IT toolkit!
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