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Local Computer Expert Warns Of Heat Wave's Potential To Damage GPS, Laptop, Cell Phone

ST. DAVIDS, Pa. (CBS) - We're in the midst of another summer heat wave (see related story) -- and while you try to do what you can to keep yourself cool, are you doing enough for your electronics?

In the parking lot of the Micro Center in St. Davids, Pa., the sun was baking the temperature inside the trunk of one car to 114 degrees F.

But it was much cooler inside the computer store, where tech support specialist Jeff Kemper (below right) was fixing gadgets suffering from heat stroke.

kemper
(Jeff Kemper)

"I've seen melted screens, I've seen dead screens," he says.  "People swear up and down they didn't bang it, crush it, it didn't fall on the floor."

But often, he says, they admit to leaving their laptop, GPS device, or smartphone for hours in the stifling heat of a car, where extremes can ruin those screens, warp components, and put batteries on the permanent DL.

Kemper advises keeping electronic devices in the much cooler passenger compartment, not in the trunk, while you're driving

And when you leave the car?

"Take it with you," Kemper stresses.

Reported by Ian Bush, KYW Newsradio 1060

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