how to replace lcd screen on laptop free sample

This article was co-authored by Matt Ham and by wikiHow staff writer, Nicole Levine, MFA. Matt Ham is a Computer Repair Specialist and the CEO and President of Computer Repair Doctor. With over a decade of experience, Matt specializes in Mac, PC, iPhone, iPad, and Smartphone repairs and upgrades. Matt holds a BS in Mechanical Engineering from North Carolina State University and an MS in Mechanical Engineering from Columbia University. Matt has expanded Computer Repair Doctor to seven different locations. He is also a Co-Owner of Repair Life, a full-scale marketing agency specializing in driving both online and offline leads to cell phone and computer repair shops and device retailers.

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Key TakeawaysLaptop displays start to flicker too after a few years. You may sometimes also notice the display turning blank even when the laptop is on. Alternatively, you might find some white lines running down the display.

To fixe a broken laptop screen you could try restarting your laptop, connecting an external monitor, updating video drivers, checking the backlight connections and more.

Even if you can repair your laptop, it can sometimes be more expensive to have it fixed than to buy a new model. You can weigh this decision once you have a proper idea of the broken laptop screen repair cost compared to buying a new computer outright.

Unplug your laptop power cable from the power source. Remove the battery as well and put it in a safe place not far from your working area as you"ll need it again.

Remove the bezel screws using a screwdriver. These are found at the front section of the frame. Remove all of them and put them together in a secure place.

Disengage the bezel from the screen. Remove the bezel by navigating your finger through the middle of the bezel and the screen. When there is enough space between them, pull the bezel off the screen. At this moment, the bezel should snap out freely. Otherwise, engage it gently from different angles until it comes out free.

Inspect from the screen angle to confirm that you had removed all the screws because If any bezel screw is still intact, the bezel won"t come out. If any, remove it using a screwdriver before attempting to remove the bezel again.

Find the video cable and remove the tape before disengaging the connector, which is found at the rear side of the screen. The video cable is the long ribbon wire attached to the backside of your screen.

Using your screwdriver, remove all screws holding the screen to the metal frame and put them where you can access them later. These screws may be lacking in some laptop models (see top thin laptops).

At this moment, the screen should be loosely attached and free to be removed. Remove it from the metal frame. Do this by gently tilting it forward and pulling it off.

Check at the back or side of the screen for the label. This label should contain the laptop model number of the screen and the manufacturer"s credentials below the operating system version. Another specific on the label is the barcode. Use this information to find a suitable replacement laptop screen for the one you"ve removed.

Get your screen replacement from a local electronics hardware shop or online vendors. You may need to confirm that the new screen is of the same laptop model number and from the same manufacturer as the old one to fit in your laptop easily. Depending on your laptop and the brand, acquiring the screen replacement will cost you as little as $100 or as much as $300 for a gaming laptop screen, for example.

Confirm that the screen you"ve installed works before you can fix the screws. Power on the Laptop to confirm if it starts and that the screen works correctly.

Physical causesDropping the laptop causing it to crackFalling objects hitting the screenApplication of excessive pressureObjects on the keyboard can cause distort the screenDistorted connector

Restart your laptop if your laptop screen develops issues. Some of these issues may stem from the operating system or other related issues, which can be resolved by restarting the laptop. If this fix fails to work, then try other fixes in this list.

Connect an external monitor to your laptop if the screen of your laptop has a black display. This will help you determine if the laptop has other issues or is simply in hibernation or sleep mode. If the second monitor wont turn on, your laptop has other problems that need to be fixed.

Update your video drivers if your laptop screen starts but shows visual defects. Updating the video drivers will fix the malfunctioning drivers, and your screen will work correctly after that.

You can unstick stuck pixels if you"re using stuck pixels. You can do so by using one of the apps that unstick stuck pixels. The app will initiate the pixel colors or will make a dead pixel to start operation again.

Open your laptop by removing the screws holding the bezel. Proceed to remove the bezel to expose the screen. Check on the back of the screen to ascertain that the backlight cables are correctly connected. Inspect other cables as well to verify that they are not damaged. But do not attempt this fix if you"re not well versed with the laptop"s anatomy (see also how to test for backlight bleeds).

Replacement screen is a solution if all of the fixes mentioned above fail to fix the screen. Replace a cracked screen, or the one that has black holes or has permanent vertical lines.

If your screen has a hairline crack along the edge, you can continue to use your laptop as usual, though it"s probably a good idea to avoid moving it, closing it, or traveling with it, because any pressure on the screen can cause the crack to get bigger.

Rotating the screen equipped with a rotation sensorRotate your Laptop to fix the issue if it happens. If the problem persists, then open the action center to ascertain if the rotation lock is enabled.

Click ctrl and alt and the down direction key to rotate the screen upside down. The reverse also applies. Press Ctrl and Alt and the left or right direction key to rotate the screen either right or left.

Perform this fix if the previous laptop screen fixes do not work. Depending on your cards, you may access this setting from the Graphics Options, Intel control center, or Graphics Properties.

You can modify the rotation settings in an attempt to fix your rotation issues. However, there are no preset menu settings for the graphics card menu. You can access the rotation settings from the Displays Manager menu.

To resolve laptop screen vertical lines, try the following fixes.Try updating your graphics driver.Try adjusting your screen resolutionUse cotton balls to wipe the screen.

Use cotton balls to wipe your laptop"s screen if the vertical lines result from a hardware problem. Attempt this when all the other methods prove ineffective.

If your screen freezes off, don"t do anything; wait for it to come back. Do not keep on clicking the mouse, as this will only extend the period your laptop (see travel laptops) will take to reform.

If you"ve attempted solutions 1 and 2 without any result, press ctrl+shift+esc to access your Laptop"s Task Manager. Go through the task manager to ascertain which program is consuming much RAM or CPU resources. Please select the program taking up many resources, and the task manager will refresh it to get your broken laptop screen working well again.

If all the mentioned fixes don"t work out, press the Windows button and Ctrl+Shift+B simultaneously to refresh the screen. This command allows the graphic card to reboot, allowing your screen to refresh. The laptop will beep instantly, and the screen will dim shortly before it gets to work again.

Holding down your laptop"s power button will force the laptop to shut down. But ensure you"ve saved your work before attempting this fix, as you can lose your unsaved work (see business laptops).

Wait for a few seconds, then turn on the laptop again. The frozen laptop screen should have gone by now. In addition, also closely related to graphic cards, screen tearing has been reported to happen mostly with a GPU Nvidia graphics card.

You can fix your laptop touchscreen issues by attempting the following fixes.Restart your LaptopRe-enable the touchscreenUpdate your touchscreen driverCalibrate your touchscreen

Press and hold the D key and turn on the laptop to enter built-in self-test (BIST) mode. Continue to hold the D key, until you see color bars on the screen. The screen displays multiple color bars and changes colors to black, white, red, green, and blue. Carefully inspect the screen for abnormalities.

If you are stuck on how to fix your broken screen, follow the guidelines given in this article to fix it. Also, if you experience any of the laptop screen problems listed in this article, follow the steps outlined to get your laptop running again.

Depending on the manufacturer, labor costs are usually $200 but can go as high as $400. Assuming that these are done by trained laptop technicians, it"s a guarantee that all repairs will be done professionally. Also, prices can vary at various authorized computer repair shops due to the availability of parts and manpower.

Unfortunately, repair expenses can sometimes exceed the cost of a new, better-functioning replacement screens. A good rule of thumb to follow is — if the cost of repairs is more than 50% of the cost of a new laptop, consider getting a new device. And sometimes, it"s just time for an upgrade.

Laptop displays are often scratch-resistant, but like smartphones, they can easily crack. If they are struck by something hard at the right angle, they"ll shatter like a mirror. You may still be able to see most of your desktop, but obviously not an attractive look.

If you don"t know a laptop screen"s gamut coverage, you can at least see if it is labeled as an IPS or OLED display. Better-quality laptop screens use IPS (in-plane switching) technology, which offers better viewing angles and more vibrancy than standard TN (twisted nematic) panels.

LCD screen has many complex components, so it"s not unusual for an LCD screen to encounter problems. Most issues short of serious physical damage can be repaired at home. Read the instructions carefully for your own safety, as some LCD screen repairs may expose you to risk of serious electric shock.

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A laptop is a type of computer that is portable enough to be used while traveling. Most laptops share a similar clamshell form factor with the top lid of the laptop housing a display and the bottom section containing a keyboard and trackpad. The two sections are connected by a hinge and when you travel, you can fold the two halves together to protect the screen and keyboard.

Manufacturers have also developed several other form factors for laptops which offer different features from the “traditional laptop” described above. Generic laptops usually have a screen size of about 11 inches (28 cm) to 17 inches (43 cm). Smaller, lighter laptops are available, however, and are often referred to as ""subnotebooks"" or ultraportables. While the hinges on most traditional laptops can only bend so far, some laptops—called convertibles, hybrids, or 2-in-1s—can fold all the way around. These laptops usually have a touchscreen so you can use your fingers to control the device when the keyboard is flipped onto the back. Here’s an informative hybrid laptop comparison video from The Verge. Detachable laptops take this concept further by allowing a user to remove the keyboard entirely. Some notable early examples include the Surface Pro and Surface Book which you can see in this demo from Fstoppers.

Laptops are distinct from desktop computers which generally stay in one place in a house or office. Compared to these larger machines, laptops generally use less power but provide less overall performance because they cannot deal with heat as well. While some laptops are upgradeable and repairable, desktop computers provide a simpler experience because parts are widely available and interchangeable.

You can usually identify the manufacturer of a laptop by looking for their logo on the outside of the laptop, either on the back of the display, below the display, or on the bottom of the device. The name of the specific model is usually printed on the bottom of the laptop directly on the case or on an attached sticker. Failing this, you can often find the serial number/service tag nearby. Search online for a “support” or “check warranty” page for your specific manufacturer and enter the serial number for more information on your device.

Sometimes the laptop is totally dead. Sometimes it’s just a simple issue. Follow the steps below for some troubleshooting ideas. This page from Laptop Repair 101 has more tips.

The first issue to check for is the battery. Does the laptop work like normal if it is plugged into the wall with a reliable charger? If so, your laptop likely has a bad battery. You can find battery replacement guides here on iFixit or elsewhere if nobody has made one yet (perhaps you can make your own guide). Make sure the power adapter you’re using works with your computer and puts out enough watts to power your specific model. You don’t want to be the person who goes into a store for a repair just to learn that you were using the wrong charger (I’m speaking from personal experience here). Tip: give the laptop a bit of time after it is plugged in before you try turning it on.

Does the laptop have any signs of life? These include spinning fans, blinking lights, or beeps. These beeps or flashing lights often correspond to a specific issue which you can fix. For example, two beeps when a Dell laptop starts up generally indicates an issue with the RAM.

Check for issues with the screen. It’s pretty easy to think your laptop isn’t working even if the issue is completely due to the screen. If the screen doesn’t turn on, try shining a flashlight into the screen and look for any images. If you can see dim images, the backlight in your screen is dead and you will need to replace the display. This video from Adrian Black shows this same troubleshooting step for a TV screen. Also make sure you haven’t just turned the brightness all the way down. Woops!

Can you get into the BIOS? The BIOS is the basic firmware that runs when you first start your computer. You can sometimes enter the BIOS setup when the laptop starts by holding F2, F10, or the delete key on your keyboard when you press the power button. See this article from Tom’s Hardware for a more comprehensive list of the keys used to enter the BIOS for each brand of laptop. If you can access the BIOS but can’t get any further with a regular boot (a.k.a. an attempt to turn on the computer where you don’t hold the BIOS key) your laptop probably works fine, but you have an issue with the operating system. Check these extra troubleshooting guides for what to do when Windows doesn’t start (or Linux if you have that installed).

If none of these steps work, you might need to replace the motherboard or take it to a repair shop that can work on the issue with the motherboard. If the laptop has a separate power input board that is attached to the motherboard with a cable, you could try replacing that part first. Sometimes the motherboard works fine but isn’t receiving any power because of a bad power port.

The general rule of thumb for troubleshooting is that you want to rule out all other issues before deciding to replace/fix the motherboard because it is one of the more expensive components.

Dead pixels on a laptop screen look like dots that don’t change color no matter what they “should” display. Usually they are stuck fully white, black, red, green, or blue. You can sometimes ignore these screen pimples (I’ve got three on my display right now), but a large group can be super distracting. Use this dead-pixel checker webpage to find a stuck pixel.

This WikiHow guide provides some useful strategies for fixing a dead pixel, including flashing static on the screen via the JScreenFix website or applying slight pressure or heat to the stuck pixel area. If none of these fixes work, you can replace your display with some guides here on iFixit.

As explained in the “How a Laptop Works” section below, a computer produces heat which it MUST vent out. If your computer is hot, it’s not necessarily bad; the important statistic is the CPU temperature. If this reaches about 100 degrees Celsius, the computer will automatically shut off to protect itself. You can monitor the CPU temperature in Windows with a tool like RealTemp or on linux with the terminal command “sensors.”

The processor might be very hot if the heatsink or fan attached to it are clogged with dust. The best fix is to open up the computer and blow some compressed air into the fan to kick up the dust that builds up over years of use. You could also use a lint-free cloth or static-safe brush if you don’t want to hurt the environment. This iFixit news article explains some alternatives to compressed air (the “air” from a can of compressed air is really gaseous refrigerant chemicals which are pretty bad for the environment).

You might need a new battery. See the replacement guides here on iFixit or elsewhere on the web for instructions on removing the battery in your laptop.

Alternately, you might just be running intensive software on your laptop like a game, video editing suite, or a simulation program. These apps will eat through your battery like a teenager after a fast. You can check the current maximum capacity of your battery vs. it’s original maximum capacity using the “powercfg” command on Windows (guide here) or the “acpi” command on Linux (guide here).

Computers aren’t magic, though the power they provide is pretty magical. If you already know the ins-and-outs of computer tech, you can skip this section, but for the rest of the people out there this information might be helpful for the troubleshooting and repair tips shown in the section above. Much of this information is explained further on HowStuffWorks.

Let’s start on the outside of the laptop. The screen consists of an array of pixels which can each change their color individually. The resolution of the screen is measured as the number of pixels across the width and height of the display (e.g. 1920x1080 pixels). With some exceptions, the pixels in a display do not emit any light; instead, they change the color of light emitted by a backlight that sits behind the pixels. If either of these parts fails, they need to be exchanged in full.

On the inside of the laptop, the CPU (sometimes just called the “processor”) works as the brain of the machine. It executes all the code that comprises the programs you use everyday. The CPU generates heat which needs to be dissipated somehow—otherwise the computer overheats and shuts down. Lots of laptops have a heatsink to absorb heat from the CPU and a fan which blows cool air over this heatsink and moves warm air out the back/side of the device. If you remove the heatsink, you MUST apply new thermal paste to the CPU to allow for adequate heat transfer.

While the CPU works as the brain of the laptop, the motherboard is the nervous system. The motherboard is the thin board that takes up most of the space in the computer and is generally the largest component. It is made from fiberglass with tiny copper lines embedded in it that criss-cross the surface. These lines, usually called “traces,” allow the CPU to communicate directly with other pieces of the computer like the RAM and storage (see below). While some thick, older laptops have a socket for the CPU which allows it to be replaced, the two parts are often soldered together and cannot be replaced individually.

Before it is executed, the code used by the CPU is located in a temporary storage location called RAM. RAM components are either soldered directly to the motherboard (this makes repairers sad) or inserted into a slot on the motherboard (this makes repairers happy). In the second scenario, you can replace RAM that has gone bad or add more RAM to your computer; RAM soldered to the motherboard cannot be easily repaired except by a professional. This question on Quora explains why adding extra RAM isn’t always correlated to increased computer speed.

Your programs and documents are stored on a hard drive or SSD inside the laptop. Since hard drives literally consist of platters spinning at high-speed inside your laptop, they can eventually die or break with a sharp impact (shoutout to my resilient hard drive which survived being dropped down a flight of stairs). SSDs don’t share the same issues and are faster than hard drives, so performing a swap can make a big difference for your machine. Some SSDs, however, are soldered directly to the motherboard (not again!?) which makes it more difficult to repair without an expert technician.

The final component I’ll mention here is the battery. The battery provides power to the laptop when it is not plugged into the wall. The battery supplies this extra energy as the product of a chemical reaction that happens inside. Over time, this reaction produces unintended by-products and the battery wears out. Thus, the battery is fundamentally a consumable part and will need to be replaced after a certain amount of time. Some manufacturers glue down their batteries which (do you see a trend?) makes them harder to replace. If you’re feeling up for it, you can use some adhesive remover to remove this sticky manufacturing trick.

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No matter how careful you are, accidents can happen. This is why Dell offers Accidental Damage (Complete Care) at the time of purchase for Dell laptops, Venue phones or tablets.

If you happen to crack or break the LCD screen of your Dell laptop, Venue phone or tablet without having Accidental Damage coverage, you will have to cover the cost of repair yourself. For help with getting your device repaired, Contact Dell Technical Support.

Chromebook, G Series, Alienware, Inspiron, Latitude, Vostro, XPS, Retired Models, Mobile Devices, Latitude Tablets, Mobile Streak, Surface, Venue, XPS Tablets, Mobile Workstations

A laptop, laptop computer, or notebook computer is a small, portable personal computer (PC) with a screen and alphanumeric keyboard. Laptops typically have a clam shell form factor with the screen mounted on the inside of the upper lid and the keyboard on the inside of the lower lid, although 2-in-1 PCs with a detachable keyboard are often marketed as laptops or as having a "laptop mode".mobile use.lap when being used. Today, laptops are used in a variety of settings, such as at work, in education, for playing games, web browsing, for personal multimedia, and for general home computer use.

As of 2022, in American English, the terms laptop computer and notebook computer are used interchangeably;notebook computers or notebooks originally referred to a specific size of laptop (originally smaller and lighter than mainstream laptops of the time),notebook no longer refers to any specific size.

Laptops combine many of the input/output components and capabilities of a desktop computer, including the display screen, small speakers, a keyboard, data storage device, pointing devices (such as a touch pad or pointing stick), with an operating system, a processor (Central processing unit (CPU)) and memory into a single unit. Most modern laptops feature integrated webcams and built-in microphones, while many also have touchscreens. Laptops can be powered either from an internal battery or by an external power supply from an AC adapter. Hardware specifications, such as the processor speed and memory capacity, significantly vary between different types, models and price points.

Design elements, form factor and construction can also vary significantly between models depending on the intended use. Examples of specialized models of laptops include rugged notebooks for use in construction or military applications, as well as low production cost laptops such as those from the One Laptop per Child (OLPC) organization, which incorporate features like solar charging and semi-flexible components not found on most laptop computers. Portable computers, which later developed into modern laptops, were originally considered to be a small niche market, mostly for specialized field applications, such as in the military, for accountants, or traveling sales representatives. As portable computers evolved into modern laptops, they became widely used for a variety of purposes.

As the personal computer (PC) became feasible in 1971, the idea of a portable personal computer soon followed. A "personal, portable information manipulator" was imagined by Alan Kay at Xerox PARC in 1968,Dynabook".IBM PALM processor.IBM 5100, the first commercially available portable computer, appeared in September 1975, and was based on the SCAMP prototype.

As 8-bit CPU machines became widely accepted, the number of portables increased rapidly. The first "laptop-sized notebook computer" was the Epson HX-20,Suwa Seikosha"s Yukio Yokozawa in July 1980,COMDEX computer show in Las Vegas by Japanese company Seiko Epson in 1981,LCD screen, a rechargeable battery, and a calculator-size printer, in a 1.6 kg (3.5 lb) chassis, the size of an A4 notebook.

The portable micro computer Portal of the French company R2E Micral CCMC officially appeared in September 1980 at the Sicob show in Paris. It was a portable microcomputer designed and marketed by the studies and developments department of R2E Micral at the request of the company CCMC specializing in payroll and accounting. It was based on an Intel 8085 processor, 8-bit, clocked at 2 MHz. It was equipped with a central 64 KB RAM, a keyboard with 58 alphanumeric keys and 11 numeric keys (separate blocks), a 32-character screen, a floppy disk: capacity = 140,000 characters, of a thermal printer: speed = 28 characters / second, an asynchronous channel, asynchronous channel, a 220 V power supply. It weighed 12 kg and its dimensions were 45×45×15cm. It provided total mobility. Its operating system was aptly named Prologue.

The Osborne 1, released in 1981, was a luggable computer that used the Zilog Z80 CPU and weighed 24.5 pounds (11.1 kg).cathode-ray tube (CRT) screen, and dual 5.25 in (13.3 cm) single-density floppy drives. Both Tandy/RadioShack and Hewlett-Packard (HP) also produced portable computers of varying designs during this period.flip form factor appeared in the early 1980s. The Dulmont Magnum was released in Australia in 1981–82, but was not marketed internationally until 1984–85. The US$8,150 (equivalent to $22,880 in 2021) GRiD Compass 1101, released in 1982, was used at NASA and by the military, among others. The Sharp PC-5000,Gavilan SC released in 1983. The Gavilan SC was described as a "laptop" by its manufacturer,Toshiba T1100 won acceptance not only among PC experts but the mass market as a way to have PC portability.

From 1983 onward, several new input techniques were developed and included in laptops, including the touch pad (Gavilan SC, 1983), the pointing stick (IBM ThinkPad 700, 1992), and handwriting recognition (Linus Write-Top,i386SL, were designed to use minimum power to increase battery life of portable computers and were supported by dynamic power management features such as Intel SpeedStep and AMD PowerNow! in some designs.

Common resolutions of laptop webcams are 720p (HD), and in lower-end laptops 480p.1080p (Full HD) webcams like the Samsung 700G7C were released in the early 2010s.

Optical disc drives became common in full-size laptops around 1997; this initially consisted of CD-ROM drives, which were supplanted by CD-R, DVD, and Blu-ray drives with writing capability over time. Starting around 2011, the trend shifted against internal optical drives, and as of 2022, they have largely disappeared, but are still readily available as external peripherals.

While the terms laptop and notebook are used interchangeably today, there is some question as to the original etymology and specificity of either term. The term laptop appears to have been coined in the early 1980s to describe a mobile computer which could be used on one"s lap and to distinguish these devices from earlier and much heavier portable computers (informally called "luggables"). The term notebook appears to have gained currency somewhat later as manufacturers started producing even smaller portable devices, further reducing their weight and size and incorporating a display roughly the size of A4 paper;notebooks to distinguish them from bulkier mainstream or desktop replacement laptops.

Since the introduction of portable computers during the late 1970s, their form has changed significantly, spawning a variety of visually and technologically differing subclasses. Except where there is a distinct legal trademark around a term (notably, Ultrabook), there are rarely hard distinctions between these classes and their usage has varied over time and between different sources. Since the late 2010s, the use of more specific terms has become less common, with sizes distinguished largely by the size of the screen.

There were in the past a number of marketing categories for smaller and larger laptop computers; these included "subnotebook" models, low cost "netbooks", and "ultra-mobile PCs" where the size class overlapped with devices like smartphone and handheld tablets, and "Desktop replacement" laptops for machines notably larger and heavier than typical to operate more powerful processors or graphics hardware.gaming laptop" or a "mobile workstation" for professional use.

The latest trend of technological convergence in the portable computer industry spawned a broad range of devices, which combined features of several previously separate device types. The hybrids, convertibles, and 2-in-1s emerged as crossover devices, which share traits of both tablets and laptops. All such devices have a touchscreen display designed to allow users to work in a tablet mode, using either multi-touch gestures or a stylus/digital pen.

Convertibles are devices with the ability to conceal a hardware keyboard. Keyboards on such devices can be flipped, rotated, or slid behind the back of the chassis, thus transforming from a laptop into a tablet. Hybrids have a keyboard detachment mechanism, and due to this feature, all critical components are situated in the part with the display. 2-in-1s can have a hybrid or a convertible form, often dubbed 2-in-1 detachable and 2-in-1 convertibles respectively, but are distinguished by the ability to run a desktop OS, such as Windows 10. 2-in-1s are often marketed as laptop replacement tablets.

2-in-1s are often very thin, around 10 millimetres (0.39 in), and light devices with a long battery life. 2-in-1s are distinguished from mainstream tablets as they feature an x86-architecture CPU (typically a low- or ultra-low-voltage model), such as the Intel Core i5, run a full-featured desktop OS like Windows 10, and have a number of typical laptop I/O ports, such as USB 3 and Mini DisplayPort.

2-in-1s are designed to be used not only as a media consumption device but also as valid desktop or laptop replacements, due to their ability to run desktop applications, such as Adobe Photoshop. It is possible to connect multiple peripheral devices, such as a mouse, keyboard, and several external displays to a modern 2-in-1.

Microsoft Surface Pro-series devices and Surface Book are examples of modern 2-in-1 detachable, whereas Lenovo Yoga-series computers are a variant of 2-in-1 convertibles. While the older Surface RT and Surface 2 have the same chassis design as the Surface Pro, their use of ARM processors and Windows RT do not classify them as 2-in-1s, but as hybrid tablets.mobile operating system, such as Android. These include Asus"s Transformer Pad devices, examples of hybrids with a detachable keyboard design, which do not fall in the category of 2-in-1s.

A rugged laptop is designed to reliably operate in harsh usage conditions such as strong vibrations, extreme temperatures, and wet or dusty environments. Rugged laptops are bulkier, heavier, and much more expensive than regular laptops,

The basic components of laptops function identically to their desktop counterparts. Traditionally they were miniaturized and adapted to mobile use, The design restrictions on power, size, and cooling of laptops limit the maximum performance of laptop parts compared to that of desktop components, although that difference has increasingly narrowed.

In general, laptop components are not intended to be replaceable or upgradable by the end-user, except for components that can be detached; in the past, batteries and optical drives were commonly exchangeable. This restriction is one of the major differences between laptops and desktop computers, because the large "tower" cases used in desktop computers are designed so that new motherboards, hard disks, sound cards, RAM, and other components can be added. Memory and storage can often be upgraded with some disassembly, but with the most compact laptops, there may be no upgradeable components at all.

Internally, a display was usually a Liquid-crystal display (LCD) panel, although occasionally organic light-emitting diode (OLED)s are used. Since 2020, more and more laptops with OLED screens are being released relative to models with LCD screens.

In the past, there was a broader range of marketing terms (both formal and informal) to distinguish between different sizes of laptops. These included Netbooks, subnotebooks, Ultra-mobile PC, and Desktop replacement computers; these are sometimes still used informally, although they are essentially dead in terms of manufacturer marketing.

As of 2021, mainstream consumer laptops tend to come with 11", 13" or 15"-16" screens; 14" models are more popular among business machines. Larger and smaller models are available, but less common – there is no clear dividing line in minimum or maximum size. Machines small enough to be handheld (screens in the 6–8" range) can be marketed either as very small laptops or "handheld PCs," while the distinction between the largest laptops and "All-in-One" desktops is whether they fold for travel.

Having a higher resolution display allows more items to fit onscreen at a time, improving the user"s ability to multitask, although at the higher resolutions on smaller screens, the resolution may only serve to display sharper graphics and text rather than increasing the usable area. Since the introduction of the MacBook Pro with Retina display in 2012, there has been an increase in the availability of "HiDPI" (or high Pixel density) displays; as of 2022, this is generally considered to be anything higher than 1920 pixels wide. This has increasingly converged around 4K (3840-pixel-wide) resolutions.

External displays can be connected to most laptops, with most models supporting at least one.USB4 (section Alternate Mode partner specifications)|DisplayPort Alt Mode]] has been utilized to charge a laptop and provide display output over one USB-C Cable.

The earliest laptops known to feature a display with doubled 120 Hz of refresh rate and active shutter 3D system were released in 2011 by Dell (M17x) and Samsung (700G7A).

A laptop"s CPU has advanced power-saving features and produces less heat than one intended purely for desktop use. Mainstream laptop CPUs made after 2018 have at least two processor cores, often four cores, and sometimes more, with 8 cores becoming more common.

For the low price and mainstream performance, there is no longer a significant performance difference between laptop and desktop CPUs, but at the high end, the fastest desktop CPUs still substantially outperform the fastest laptop processors, at the expense of massively higher power consumption and heat generation; the fastest laptop processors top out at 56 watts of heat, while the fastest desktop processors top out at 150 watts (and often need water cooling).

There has been a wide range of CPUs designed for laptops available from both Intel, AMD, and other manufacturers. On non-x86 architectures, Motorola and IBM produced the chips for the former PowerPC-based Apple laptops (iBook and PowerBook). Between around 2000 to 2014, most full-size laptops had socketed, replaceable CPUs; on thinner models, the CPU was soldered on the motherboard and was not replaceable or upgradable without replacing the motherboard. Since 2015, Intel has not offered new laptop CPU models with pins to be interchangeable, preferring ball grid array chip packages which have to be soldered;

In the past, some laptops have used a desktop processor instead of the laptop version and have had high-performance gains at the cost of greater weight, heat, and limited battery life; this is not unknown as of 2022, but since around 2010, the practice has been restricted to small-volume gaming models. Laptop CPUs are rarely able to be overclocked; most use locked processors. Even on gaming models where unlocked processors are available, the cooling system in most laptops is often very close to its limits and there is rarely headroom for an overclocking–related operating temperature increase.

On most laptops, a graphical processing unit (GPU) is integrated into the CPU to conserve power and space. This was introduced by Intel with the Core i-series of mobile processors in 2010, and similar accelerated processing unit (APU) processors by AMD later that year.

Before that, lower-end machines tended to use graphics processors integrated into the system chipset, while higher-end machines had a separate graphics processor. In the past, laptops lacking a separate graphics processor were limited in their utility for gaming and professional applications involving 3D graphics, but the capabilities of CPU-integrated graphics have converged with the low-end of dedicated graphics processors since the mid-2010s.

Higher-end laptops intended for gaming or professional 3D work still come with dedicated and in some cases even dual, graphics processors on the motherboard or as an internal expansion card. Since 2011, these almost always involve switchable graphics so that when there is no demand for the higher performance dedicated graphics processor, the more power-efficient integrated graphics processor will be used. Nvidia Optimus and AMD Hybrid Graphics are examples of this sort of system of switchable graphics.

When upgradeable, memory slots are sometimes accessible from the bottom of the laptop for ease of upgrading; in other cases, accessing them requires significant disassembly. Most laptops have two memory slots, although some will have only one, either for cost savings or because some amount of memory is soldered. Some high-end models have four slots; these are usually mobile engineering workstations, although a few high-end models intended for gaming do as well.

The earliest laptops most often used floppy disk for storage, although a few used either RAM disk or tape, by the late 1980s hard disk drives had become the standard form of storage.

Between 1990 and 2009, almost all laptops typically had a hard disk drive (HDD) for storage; since then, solid-state drives (SSD) have gradually come to supplant hard drives in all but some inexpensive consumer models. Solid-state drives are faster and more power-efficient, as well as eliminating the hazard of drive and data corruption caused by a laptop"s physical impacts, as they use no mechanical parts such as a rotational platter.terabyte) drives have converged; larger capacity drives remain more expensive than comparable-sized HDDs.

Since around 1990, where a hard drive is present it will typically be a 2.5-inch drive; some very compact laptops support even smaller 1.8-inch HDDs, and a very small number used 1" Microdrives. Some SSDs are built to match the size/shape of a laptop hard drive, but increasingly they have been replaced with smaller mSATA or M.2 cards. SSDs using the newer and much faster NVM Express standard for connecting are only available as cards.

As of 2022, many laptops no longer contain space for a 2.5" drive, accepting only M.2 cards; a few of the smallest have storage soldered to the motherboard. For those that can, they can typically contain a single 2.5-inch drive, but a small number of laptops with a screen wider than 15 inches can house two drives.

A variety of external HDDs or NAS data storage servers with support of RAID technology can be attached to virtually any laptop over such interfaces as USB, FireWire, eSATA, or Thunderbolt, or over a wired or wireless network to further increase space for the storage of data. Many laptops also incorporate a SD or microSD card slot. This enables users to download digital pictures from an SD card onto a laptop, thus enabling them to delete the SD card"s contents to free up space for taking new pictures.

Optical disc drives capable of playing CD-ROMs, compact discs (CD), DVDs, and in some cases, Blu-ray discs (BD), were nearly universal on full-sized models between the mid-1990s and the early 2010s. As of 2021, drives are uncommon in compact or premium laptops; they remain available in some bulkier models, but the trend towards thinner and lighter machines is gradually eliminating these drives and players – when needed they can be connected via USB instead.

Interfaces on a ThinkPad laptop (2011): Ethernet network port (center), VGA (left), DisplayPort (top right) and USB 2.0 (bottom right). Due to the trend towards very flat laptops and the widespread use of WLAN, the relatively high Ethernet socket is no longer mandatory in today"s devices, as is the technically outdated VGA.

An alphanumeric keyboard is used to enter text, data, and other commands (e.g., function keys). A touchpad (also called a trackpad), a pointing stick, or both, are used to control the position of the cursor on the screen, and an integrated keyboard

An external keyboard and mouse may be connected using a USB port or wirelessly, via Bluetooth or similar technology. Some laptops have multitouch touchscreen displays, either available as an option or standard. Most laptops have webcams and microphones, which can be used to communicate with other people with both moving images and sound, via web conferencing or video-calling software.

Laptops typically have USB ports and a combined headphone/microphone jack, for use with headphones, a combined headset, or an external mic. Many laptops have a card reader for reading digital camera SD cards.

On a typical laptop there are several USB ports; if they use only the older USB connectors instead of USB-C, they will typically have an external monitor port (VGA, DVI, HDMI or Mini DisplayPort or occasionally more than one), an audio in/out port (often in form of a single socket) is common. It is possible to connect up to three external displays to a 2014-era laptop via a single Mini DisplayPort, using multi-stream transport technology.

Apple, in a 2015 version of its MacBook, transitioned from a number of different I/O ports to a single USB-C port.aftermarket adapters. Apple has since transitioned back to using a number of different ports. Google, with its updated version of Chromebook Pixel, shows a similar transition trend towards USB-C, although keeping older USB Type-A ports for a better compatibility with older devices.Ethernet network port are rarely found on modern laptops, due to widespread use of wireless networking, such as Wi-Fi. Legacy ports such as a PS/2 keyboard/mouse port, serial port, parallel port, or FireWire are provided on some models, but they are increasingly rare. On Apple"s systems, and on a handful of other laptops, there are also Thunderbolt ports, but Thunderbolt 3 uses USB-C. Laptops typically have a headphone jack, so that the user can connect headphones or amplified speaker systems for listening to music or other audio.

In the past, a PC Card (formerly PCMCIA) or ExpressCard slot for expansion was often present on laptops to allow adding and removing functionality, even when the laptop is powered on; these are becoming increasingly rare since the introduction of USB 3.0. Some internal subsystems such as Ethernet, Wi-Fi, or a wireless cellular modem can be implemented as replaceable internal expansion cards, usually accessible under an access cover on the bottom of the laptop. The standard for such cards is PCI Express, which comes in both mini and even smaller M.2 sizes. In newer laptops, it is not uncommon to also see Micro SATA (mSATA) functionality on PCI Express Mini or M.2 card slots allowing the use of those slots for SATA-based solid-state drives.

Since the late 1990s, laptops have typically used lithium ion or lithium polymer batteries, These replaced the older nickel metal-hydride typically used in the 1990s, and nickel–cadmium batteries used in most of the earliest laptops. A few of the oldest laptops used non-rechargeable batteries, or lead–acid batteries.

Battery life is highly variable by model and workload and can range from one hour to nearly a day. A battery"s performance gradually decreases over time; a noticeable reduction in capacity is typically evident after two to three years of regular use, depending on the charging and discharging pattern and the design of the battery. Innovations in laptops and batteries have seen situations in which the battery can provide up to 24 hours of continued operation, assuming average power consumption levels. An example is the HP EliteBook 6930p when used with its ultra-capacity battery.

A laptop"s battery is charged using an external power supply, which is plugged into a wall outlet. The power supply outputs a DC voltage typically in the range of 7.2—24 volts. The power supply is usually external and connected to the laptop through a DC connector cable. In most cases, it can charge the battery and power the laptop simultaneously. When the battery is fully charged, the laptop continues to run on power supplied by the external power supply, avoiding battery use. If the used power supply is not strong enough to power computing components and charge the battery simultaneously, the battery may charge in a shorter period of time if the laptop is turned off or sleeping. The charger typically adds about 400 grams (0.88 lb) to the overall transporting weight of a laptop, although some models are substantially heavier or lighter. Most 2016-era laptops use a smart battery, a rechargeable battery pack with a built-in battery management system (BMS). The smart battery can internally measure voltage and current, and deduce charge level and State of Health (SoH) parameters, indicating the state of the cells.

Historically, DC connectors, typically cylindrical/barrel-shaped coaxial power connectors have been used in laptops. Some vendors such as Lenovo made intermittent use of a rectangular connector.

Some connector heads feature a center pin to allow the end device to determine the power supply type by measuring the resistance between it and the connector"s negative pole (outer surface). Vendors may block charging if a power supply is not recognized as original part, which could deny the legitimate use of universal third-party chargers.

With the advent of USB-C, portable electronics made increasing use of it for both power delivery and data transfer. Its support for 20 V (common laptop power supply voltage) and 5 A typically suffices for low to mid-end laptops, but some with higher power demands such as gaming laptops depend on dedicated DC connectors to handle currents beyond 5 A without risking overheating, some even above 10 A. Additionally, dedicated DC connectors are more durable and less prone to wear and tear from frequent reconnection, as their design is less delicate.

Waste heat from the operation is difficult to remove in the compact internal space of a laptop. The earliest laptops used passive cooling; this gave way to heat sinks placed directly on the components to be cooled, but when these hot components are deep inside the device, a large space-wasting air duct is needed to exhaust the heat. Modern laptops instead rely on heat pipes to rapidly move waste heat towards the edges of the device, to allow for a much smaller and compact fan and heat sink cooling system. Waste heat is usually exhausted away from the device operator towards the rear or sides of the device. Multiple air intake paths are used since some intakes can be blocked, such as when the device is placed on a soft conforming surface like a chair cushion. Secondary device temperature monitoring may reduce performance or trigger an emergency shutdown if it is unable to dissipate heat, such as if the laptop were to be left running and placed inside a carrying case. Aftermarket cooling pads with external fans can be used with laptops to reduce operating temperatures.

A docking station (sometimes referred to simply as a dock) is a laptop accessory that contains multiple ports and in some cases expansion slots or bays for fixed or removable drives. A laptop connects and disconnects to a docking station, typically through a single large proprietary connector. A docking station is an especially popular laptop accessory in a corporate computing environment, due to a possibility of a docking station transforming a laptop into a full-featured desktop replacement, yet allowing for its easy release. This ability can be advantageous to "road warrior" employees who have to travel frequently for work, and yet who also come into the office. If more ports are needed, or their position on a laptop is inconvenient, one can use a cheaper passive device known as a port replicator. These devices mate to the connectors on the laptop, such as through USB or FireWire.

Laptop charging trolleys, also known as laptop trolleys or laptop carts, are mobile storage containers to charge multiple laptops, netbooks, and tablet computers at the same time. The trolleys are used in schools that have replaced their traditional static computer labsclassrooms so that all students and teachers in a particular building can access fully charged IT equipment.

Laptop charging trolleys are also used to deter and protect against opportunistic and organized theft. Schools, especially those with open plan designs, are often prime targets for thieves who steal high-value items. Laptops, netbooks, and tablets are among the highest–value portable items in a school. Moreover, laptops can easily be concealed under clothing and stolen from buildings. Many types of laptop–charging trolleys are designed and constructed to protect against theft. They are generally made out of steel, and the laptops remain locked up while not in use. Although the trolleys can be moved between areas from one classroom to another, they can often be mounted or locked to the floor, support pillars, or walls to prevent thieves from stealing the laptops, especially overnight.

In some laptops, solar panels are able to generate enough solar power for the laptop to operate.One Laptop Per Child Initiative released the OLPC XO-1 laptop which was tested and successfully operated by use of solar panels.OLPC XO-3 laptop with these features. The OLPC XO-3 can operate with 2 watts of electricity because its renewable energy resources generate a total of 4 watts.Samsung has also designed the NC215S solar–powered notebook that will be sold commercially in the U.S. market.

A common accessory for laptops is a laptop sleeve, laptop skin, or laptop case, which provides a degree of protection from scratches. Sleeves, which are distinguished by being relatively thin and flexible, are most commonly made of neoprene, with sturdier ones made of low-resilience polyurethane. Some laptop sleeves are wrapped in ballistic nylon to provide some measure of waterproofing. Bulkier and sturdier cases can be made of metal with polyurethane padding inside and may have locks for added security. Metal, padded cases also offer protection against impacts and drops. Another common accessory is a laptop cooler, a device that helps lower the internal temperature of the laptop either actively or passively. A common active method involves using electric fans to draw heat away from the laptop, while a passive method might involve propping the laptop up on some type of pad so it can receive more airflow. Some stores sell laptop pads that enable a reclining person on a bed to use a laptop.

Some of the components of earlier models of laptops can easily be replaced without opening completely its bottom part, such as keyboard, battery, hard disk, memory modules, CPU cooling fan, etc.

Some of the components of recent models of laptops reside inside. Replacing most of its components, such as keyboard, battery, hard disk, memory modules, CPU cooling fan, etc., requires removal of its either top or bottom part, removal of the motherboard, and returning them.

Productivity: Using a laptop in places where a desktop PC cannot be used can help employees and students to increase their productivity on work or school tasks, such as an office worker reading their work e-mails during an hour-long commute by train, or a student doing their homework at the university coffee shop during a break between lectures, for example.

Up-to-date information: Using a single laptop prevents fragmentation of files across multiple PC"s as the files exist in a single location and are always up-to-date.

Connectivity: A key advantage of laptops is that they almost always have integrated connectivity features such as Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, and sometimes connection to cellular networks either through native integration or use of a hotspot. Wi-Fi networks and laptop programs are especially widespread at university campuses.

Size: Laptops are smaller than desktop PCs. This is beneficial when space is at a premium, for example in small apartments and student dorms. When not in use, a laptop can be closed and put away in a desk drawer.

Low power consumption: Laptops are several times more power-efficient than desktops. A typical laptop uses 10–100 W, compared to 200–800W for desktops. This could be particularly beneficial for large businesses, which run hundreds of personal computers thus economies of scale, and homes where there is a computer running 24/7 (such as a home media server, print server, etc.).

Quiet: Laptops are typically much quieter than desktops, due both to the components (often silent solid-state drives replacing hard drives) and to less heat production leading to the use of fewer, sometimes no cooling fans. The latter has given rise to laptops that have no moving parts, resulting in complete silence during use.

Battery: a charged laptop can continue to be used in case of a power outage and is not affected by short power interruptions and blackouts, an issue that is present with desktop PC"s.

All-in-One: designed to be portable, most modern laptops have all components integrated into the chassis. For desktops (excluding all-in-ones) this is usually divided into the desktop "tower" (the unit with the CPU, hard drive, power supply, etc.), keyboard, mouse, display screen, and optional peripherals such as speakers.

The majority of laptops released in 2022 are capable of common tasks such as web browsing, video playback, and office applications, even at the low end. That said, performance of desktops often surpass comparably priced laptops. The upper limits of performance of laptops remain lower than desktops, due to mostly practical reasons, such as decreased battery life, increased size and heat, etc.

The upgradeability of laptops is very limited compared to thoroughly standardized desktops, due to technical and economic reasons. In general, hard drives and memory can be upgraded easily. Due to the integrated nature of laptops, however, the motherboard, CPU, and graphics, are seldom officially upgradeable. Some efforts towards industry standard parts and layouts have been attempted, such as Common Building Block, but the industry remains largely proprietary and fragmented. There is no industry-wide standard form factor for laptops; Moreover, starting with 2013 models, laptops have become increasingly integrated (soldered) with the motherboard for most of its components (CPU, SSD, RAM, etc.) to reduce size and upgradeability prospects.

Prolonged use of laptops can cause repetitive strain injury because of their small, flat keyboard and trackpad pointing devices.ergonomic keyboards and pointing devices is recommended to prevent injury when working for long periods of time; they can be connected to a laptop easily by USB, Bluetooth or via a docking station. Some health standards require ergonomic keyboards at workplaces.

A laptop"s integrated screen often requires users to lean over for a better view, which can cause neck or spinal injuries. A larger and higher-quality external screen can be connected to almost any laptop to alleviate this and to provide additional screen space for more productive work. Another solution is to use a computer stand.

A study by State University of New York researchers found that heat generated from laptops can increase the temperature of the lap of male users when balancing the computer on their lap, potentially putting sperm count at risk. The study, which included roughly two dozen men between the ages of 21 and 35, found that the sitting position required to balance a laptop can increase scrotum temperature by as much as 2.1 °C (4 °F). However, further research is needed to determine whether this directly affects male sterility.Fertility and Sterility found that men who kept their laptops on their laps experienced scrotal hyperthermia (overheating) in which their scrotal temperatures increased by up to 2.0 °C (4 °F). The resulting heat increase, which could not be offset by a laptop cushion, may increase male infertility.

Laptops are less durable than desktops/PCs. However, the durability of the laptop depends on the user if proper maintenance is done then the laptop can work longer.

Because of their portability, laptops are subject to more wear and physical damage than desktops, additionally hindered by their integrated nature. A liquid spill onto the keyboard, while a minor issue with a desktop system, can damage the internals of a laptop and destroy the computer, result in a costly repair or entire replacement of laptops. One study found that a laptop is three times more likely to break during the first year of use than a desktop.microfiber cloth for the screen and keyboard, compressed air for getting dust out of the cooling fan, and a cleaning solution. Harsh chemicals such as bleach should not be used to clean a laptop, as they can damage it.

Laptops rely on extremely compact cooling systems involving a fan and heat sink that can fail from blockage caused by accumulated airborne dust and debris. Most laptops do not have any type of removable dust collection filter over the air intake for these cooling systems, resulting in a system that gradually conducts more heat and noise as the years pass. In some cases, the laptop starts to overheat even at idle load levels. This dust is usually stuck inside where the fan and heat sink meet, where it can not be removed by a casual cleaning and vacuuming. Most of the time, compressed air can dislodge the dust and debris but may not entirely remove it. After the device is turned on, the loose debris is reaccumulated into the cooling system by the fans. Complete disassembly is usually required to clean the laptop entirely. However, preventative maintenance such as regular cleaning of the heat sink via compressed air can prevent dust build-up on the heat sink. Many laptops are difficult to disassemble by the average user and contain components that are sensitive to electrostatic discharge (ESD).

Battery life is limited because the capacity drops with time, eventually warranting replacement after as little as 2-3 years. A new battery typically stores enough energy to run the laptop for five to six hours or more, depending on usage and the battery size. The battery is often easily replaceable and a higher capacity model may be obtained for longer charging and discharging time. Some laptops do not have the usual removable battery and have to be brought to the service center of their manufacturer or a third-party laptop service center to have their battery replaced. Replacement batteries can also be expensive, depending on the availability of the parts.

Because they are valuable, commonly used, portable, and easy to hide in a backpack or other type of bag, laptops are often stolen. Every day, over 1,600 laptops go missing from U.S. airports.identity theft, credit card fraud, breach of privacy), can be many times the value of the stolen laptop itself. Consequently, the physical protection of laptops and the safeguarding of data contained on them are both of great importance. Some laptops, primarily professional and educational devices, have a Kensington security slot, which can be used to tether them with a security cable and lock. In addition, modern operating systems have features such as Activation Lock or similar that prevents the use of the device without credentials. As of 2015, some laptops also have additional security elements added, including biometric security components such as Windows Hello or Touch ID.

Software such as GadgetTrak and Find My Mac have been engineered to help people locate and recover their stolen laptops in the event of theft. Setting one"s laptop with a password on its firmware (protection against going to firmware setup or booting), internal HDD/SSD (protect