bought a tool kit at best buy?

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So i bought a computer tool kit at best buy, anyone know why they put pliers and ic pulliers in it? From my understanding you dont use those to fix computers anymore.

Thanks

It can be quite useful to have those if you need to work on old hardware. You can't really have too many tools when fixing things.

The kits you're talking about are generally filled with low-quality, plastic tools. With tools, you definitely get what you pay for. I would rather pick up higher quality tools for computer repair, since these tools tend to be small and precision. The higher quality brands tend to keep their shape longer. Things like Phillips and Torx screwdrivers can easily become messed up if they're not made out of good metal. I tend to get Craftsman or similar brands. If pliers aren't useful, you don't need a toolkit. One of the few tools I've spent money on is a pair of Knipex precision electrical pliers. The metal is better in them and holds its shape. YMMV - just depends on what you need to fix and how much you livelihood depends on fixing it.

The kits are also out of date. They were designed for early 1990s computers. IC pullers, POT adjusters, etc were once useful. Now that motherboards are disposable and use surface-mount technology, they are less so. I haven't done anything to a motherboard with a tool, other than screw it into a case, in years. (Even cases don't have as many screws as they used to. A lot of the drive bays have clip-in rails.) You're paying for an assortment of tools you'll probably never use.

I think the kits have never been updated simply because you don't really fix computers these days. They're designed to be disposable. Only hardcore people still build their own, and even then a Gigabyte motherboard is indestructable, can't really be repaired, and will be obsolete before anything goes wrong with it.

(I'd return the kit to BB for a refund, and get a few Craftsman tools. A precision screwdriver set with Phillips and regular ends, a set of their precision pliers, and maybe some precision Torx screwdrivers. You'll also want a power supply tester, but you'll have to get that from newegg or someplace.)

ok cool thanks for the info. i fix computers more as a hobby than anything. i have been told that in todays computers magnets don't harm hard drives as much cause they are made better and cause of solid state ones. Is this true? if so would it be OK to have a small magnet to pick up screws that fall into the case and cant be grabbed with my hands?

For picking up screws, nothing beats a small claw grabber.

Here's an example:



http://www.tedpella.com/tools_html/tool1.htm#_99_15330

This is the only picture I can find online. I don't know what these are called. And I can't vouch for this web site or brand.

Sears has, or at least used to have, a higher quality metal one in stock, in their precision tools section. I don't know if they still do.

You can also get long, flexible claw grabbers - having one of these has gotten me out of bad situations more than once. One time I took down a wall light fixture which had been improperly installed without the wires being mounted on anything, and the wires sank back into the wall. There was no way to get them out, except I stuck the claw grabber in the hole and pulled them back.