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The details to look for in your next laptop

Looking for the same quality screen as you get in your television? Here's where to start

Thursday 12 July 2018 12:42 BST

How does your laptop screen compare to your TV? Is it as sharp? Are the colours as vibrant.

We’re used to demanding the best quality from our TV screens, but often we don’t notice how poor our laptop displays are — and it’s a screen we look at a lot.

Older computers often have low-resolution screens that can look blurry or make it more difficult to read text, particularly smaller letters. Switch to a new computer with a pin-sharp display and you really notice the difference (to the extent that going back to a lower quality screen can be hard to do).

A standout screen isn’t restricted to expensive laptops, though there are also high-price computers with merely average displays — so screen resolution is something to check when researching your next laptop.

High definition

The key words to look for are high definition (HD) and, even better, full HD. The term full HD means the screen resolution matches that of an HD television — in other words, 1,920 pixels along the long side of the screen and 1,080 pixels along the shorter side. That’s just over two-million pixels across the display, so no wonder it’s so richly detailed.

On a laptop such as the Dell Inspiron 13 5370, the 13-inch, full HD screen looks tremendous, with vivid colours and crystal clarity. This is a keenly-priced machine, but it has great build quality and is thin and lightweight.

Fast and powerful

That’s not least owing to the fact that, instead of the conventional hard drive that most older laptops contain, this has fast SSD storage that takes up less space. The SSD capacity is 128GB. Then there’s an Intel Core i3 processor too, and 4GB of RAM, which means his machine is a strong performer, whether you’re streaming video or surfing the web. Combine all this with the power of the Microsoft Windows 10 operating system and you’ll quickly see how a new computer like this can really transform your laptop experience.

One to consider...

Boasting a 13-inch, full HD screen, the Dell Inspiron 13 5370 is powered by an Intel® Core i3 processor with 4GB of RAM and 128GB of SSD storage. It also has up to eight hours’ battery life. Buy it now at Currys PC World for £449.99.

Browse the full range of laptops available in store or online, and let the experts help find the right model for you. Go to currys.co.uk for more information

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