Laptops may come in the following LCD screen sizes: 10.4 inches, 10.6 inches, 11.3 inches, 12.1 inches, 13.0 inches, 13.3 inches, 14.1 inches, 15.0 inches, 15.2 inches, 15.4 inches, 15.7 inches, 16.0 inches, 16.1 inches and 17.1 inches. Some of the latest lightest units have 12.1" displays and many of the newer ones still have 14.1" displays.

Laptop displays can have lines in them, dead or missing pixels (1 or 2 may not matter as you might not see them, ten would be a problem), they can be dim, there can be spots or sometimes they can be cracked. Replacing a display usually is not cost effective, althought today with people selling them on www.ebay.com you can find one for $100 or perhaps $150 for a used one. It is not a trivial task to replace the display, so if you buy one and have someone replace it for you expect to pay $50 to $100 or more for the labor.

The presence of lines could indicate a problem with the screen, the video cable or the video card. You may or may not need a new LCD screen if the LCD screen is dim. If your LCD screen is dim it may be as a result of either 1) a faulty backlight or 2) a faulty inverter (usually the cause). The backlight is basically the light bulb in the laptop LCD screen which as one would suspect has an average useful life. The inverter, though, is a separate piece from the LCD screen. The inverter essentially 1) takes the DC power which the laptop runs off of and converts it into AC power and 2) steps-up the voltage to light up the cold cathode fluorescent backlight.

So, before buying a refurbished laptop be sure to check the vendors policy regarding displays to insure that they actually test the displays and include them in the warranty.

An all too common annoyance to users of laptops with Active Matrix Thin Film Transistor (TFT) Liquid Crystal Display (LCD) screens is the dreaded "dead pixel" phenomenon (lit or missing). This is because it is impossible to guarantee 100 percent perfection in all those millions of tiny transistors while keeping the price of the product affordable. Each manufacture has a different standard of what is acceptable regarding a certain number of sub-pixel anomalies (a pixel stuck on or off).

Dell's policy is that a screen is defective if it has seven or more faulty pixels, IBM allows 6-11 (depending upon the laptop), Toshiba five and HP/Compaq seven to nine (see attached table).

So, if you purchase a refurbished laptop and there are a few dead or missing pixels you most likely will have to live with the situation. In most cases you won't even notice that there are any problem pixels.

An all too common annoyance to users of computers with Active Matrix Thin Film Transistor (TFT) Liquid Crystal Display (LCD) screens is the dreaded "dead pixel" phenomenon. This is because it is impossible to guarantee 100 percent perfection in all those millions of tiny transistors while keeping the price of the product affordable.

Each manufacture has a different standard of what is acceptable regarding a certain number of sub-pixel anomalies (a pixel stuck on or off). Dell's policypolicy is that a screen is defective if it has six or more faulty pixels.