General Purpose Tools

26 Bit Driver Kit for Electronics

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Most commonly used bits for phones, laptops and other electronics

This is a Cool Tools reader favorite from 2015 – MF

This a driver kit that comes with a small magnetized screwdriver handle. It has bits that are very specific to opening up modern electronics, laptops, cellphones, and cameras routers. I often find I want to open these things up because there’s something small that’s broken that’s really easy to fix.

I had a collection of weird tiny screwdrivers that were easy to lose and the bits were low quality. Something would go wrong — either they wouldn’t fit or they would strip, but these iFixit ones are just fantastic. They are incredibly well-tempered and they have all the weird star shapes that you need to get basically anything open.

Just last week my son was out in the backyard. He had been doing some gardening. He had his cheap RadioShack camera and he was taking some pictures of the plants as they were growing to make a stop motion video. He tripped over something and went sprawling and the camera crashed to the ground and cracked open about a half-centimeter. And I thought to myself “that will actually pop back together.”

One component was sticking out but I had to get it open and it turned out they have some sort of weird proprietary screw, but the iFixit had the right bit for it. Open up the camera, shove the component back in. Snapped it shut, done! I only use it once a month but whenever I use it it’s the only thing that will fix whatever stupid little electronic thing has fallen apart.

-- Clive Thompson 07/14/21

(This is from the Cool Tools Show podcast. See all of Clive's picks here. – Mark Frauenfelder — editors)

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