How many times have you watched your favorite geek struggle to crack open his or her gadgets, only to be thwarted by a smaller than usual, or worse - completely unusual - screw head design? NewerTech has a solution “for those occasions when a tech project beckons and the kitchen drawer screw driver just won’t do”: their 11 Piece Portable Toolkit.

Now before you sniff and say that any self-respecting geek would have a full set of Torx, mini screwdrivers
, and tweezers handy at all times, I’ll say perhaps. But if they are like mine, those sets are in separate kits which can mysteriously float from drawer to drawer; seemingly never handy when needed. Let’s face it, if you have to get up and go get it (or worse, try to find it), then it is not convenient. The solution is a compact, all in one tool kit which not only contains some of the more common Torx, straightedge, and Phillips head sizes, it also includes some other goodies… The kit arrives in a 7.75″ tall x 4.25″ wide x 1.25″ thick book-style, zippered nylon leather case. It’s a good size to keep in either a desk drawer or always with you in a gearbag.

Inside you’ll find:

Toolkit Contains:
• Straight Blade 1.8mm
• Straight Blade 3.0mm
• Phillips #00
• Phillips #2
• Torx T6
• Torx T8
• Torx T10
• Scissor Clamp
• Tweezers
• (2) Nylon Pry Tools (aka “Spudgers”)
• Nylon Carrying Case

These tools should be all you need to service or upgrade most computers; the “spudgers” are for prying open the cases on soft plastic items like iPods, and the scissor clamps…? I’ve never needed them, but I am sure that there are times they will come in handy. Has your favorite geek been putting off an iPod battery replacement service? Do you need to add some more memory to your laptop? Now there is no reason to fear the “cracking”. :-)

Worth mentioning is that unlike some cheap tools, NewerTech’s come with a one year repair/replacement. The only caveat to that warranty is spelled out on the NewerTech site: “Nylon Pry Tools are designed to be durable enough to pry open plastic items such as iPods, but will not last forever. Because they are nylon and the edge wears from use, these tools have a limited lifetime and are not covered by the one year warranty.”

Fair enough.

The NewerTech 11 Piece Portable Toolkit is available from Other World Computing and other retailers.

MSRP: $17.99

What I Like: Everything needed to crack open almost any gadget, in one portable package

What Needs Improvement: Nothing