While computers and laptops have become a crucial part of our lives, their effect on our health is often seen as well. Many students are less active due to their needs to work with their school notebook computers for extended hours at a time. The convenience and power of a computer to change your day to day life is certainly unquestioned. But overuse can result in damage to the eyes.
Eye strain can be especially troubling for younger people and students. Eye strain can get in the way of studying and education. Picking a laptop becomes important. You want to find the best laptop or tablet for school, but what if it will hurt your eyes? School based laptops and notebooks should be safe on the eyes to allow a student to spend as much of their time studying as they wish. By learning more about eye strain, it’s possible to reduce it and make the most of your screen time.
How Screens Damage Eyes
Eye strain has been known for a long time. It used to be common in long haul drivers who were staring ahead while driving long distances. Now the most common way that eye strain appears is from using a laptop or tablet for extended periods of time. People who suffer from eye strain will suffer from a few different symptoms. They include:
- Uncomfortable Eyes - Eyes can be watery, dry, tired, sore, itchy or feel like they are burning. They may also feel sensitive to any light.
- Headaches
- Trouble With Concentration
- Blurred Vision
- Double Vision
- Sore Back, Shoulders and Neck
While computer screens produce eye strain, the good news is that there are several ways in which people can reduce the strain on their eyes. The other good news is that eye strain isn’t long term. It’s unpleasant and can be really annoying when trying to be productive, but it won’t damage health long term.
Ways to Protect Your Eyes
The good news is that there are several ways that you can help yourself and your eye health. There are steps you can take to reduce the strain on your eyes. The first step is altering your surroundings. This usually means adjusting your lighting. Bright lighting directly behind or in front of a laptop monitor can increase the strain the eyes are under. Try closing blinds and adjusting so that the display is at a 90 degree angle from windows. If you are working or studying near fluorescent lights, turning those off often really helps.
The next thing you can do is things for your computer itself. Laptop monitors can usually adjust the brightness to a lower setting. This can reduce eye strain. Don’t overdo it however. Going too far results in eyes having to strain to see in the darkness. There are also computer programs which can be run that will access the monitor and reduce eye strain. They do this by filtering out short wavelength light, or “blue light” from the monitor. This is more comfortable for long term viewing.
Best Laptops To Reduce Eye Strain
Ideally, people want to find the best of something. Whether it’s the best laptop or tablet for school, the best laptops for work, or the best screen protector, they can help your eyes and eyesight remain vivid.
- Dell XPS 9570 FHD - There are many people happy with a Dell. School laptops should be smooth on the eyes and a dell school laptop or notebook works well in this regard. The Dell XPS 9570 FHD version takes all the incredible power and processing of the XPS 15 9570, but it adds in an FHD matte viewscreen. It’s matte, but retains a great contrast ratio.
- Apple MacBook Pro 15 - Apple is well known for their incredible displays, and their notebook offerings often make for a good school notebook. The Pro 15 is pixel dense (220 PPI) and has plenty of brightness options that can be reduced. While it’s a glossy finish monitor, it’s one of the best ones possible.
- HP EliteBook 840 G5 - This laptop may be the best of the bunch for eye strain. It’s pixel dense (157 PPI), has a matte screen and features accurate colors. It’s properly backlit, so it provides a clear picture with almost no reflections.