But is a pre-heater really needed just to remove one IC?
No it's not required.
But if you intend to do lots of rework they are valuable.
One thing that has not been mentioned in this thread is lead free solder and the increased temp needed to melt it.
Nearly all commercial manufacture is done with it today.
But this stuff doesn't make rework as simple as it should be.
I personally curse the stuff because of the additional thermal stress everything must suffer, not to mention how easy leaded solder is to use by comparison.
But of course Lead is a noxious element
that we must avoid for our good health's sake.
Never mind it has been part of history for 1000's of years and it's affects well known for most of modern time.