Measure Your Laptop Computer

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Need to purchase a laptop bag? There's nothing more frustrating than buying a bag and realizing that your laptop doesn't quite fit. Accurately measuring your laptop ahead of time will save you a lot of headaches and trips back to the store.

Steps

Measuring the Screen

  1. Get a standard tape measure. Screens are typically measured in inches, though different regions will choose metric over Imperial. If you need to, you can convert your measurement after the fact.
  2. Find your starting measuring point. Screens are measured diagonally, so your starting point will be either the bottom-left or bottom-right corner of the screen. The measurement only accounts for the actual screen, not the enclosure, so start your measurement at the very corner where the visible part of the screen starts.
  3. Extend your tape measure to the opposite corner. Remember that you are measuring just the visible portion of the screen, not any of the enclosure.
    • Screens were originally measured diagonally to make the size sound more impressive.
  4. Convert your measurements to tenths of an inch. Most retailers advertise screens in tenths of inches (15.3", 17.1", etc.), but most tape measures are marked in 16ths of an inch. If you want to know the retail number that your screen would be labeled, refer to this chart of common sizes.
  5. Convert inches to centimeters (if necessary). If you need to know the size of the screen in centimeters but only have the inches measurement, multiply the inches by 2.54 to find the measurement in centimeters.
    • For example, a 13.3 inch screen is 33.8 centimeters (13.3 x 2.54 = 33.782).

Measuring the Height

  1. Close the laptop screen. The laptop's height is measured with a closed screen.
  2. Start your tape measure at the bottom of one of the sides. If your laptop slopes when closed, measure the thickest part.
  3. Measure up to the top of the closed screen. Laptops aren't usually taller than two inches.
  4. Convert inches to centimeters (if necessary). If you need to know the height in centimeters but only have the inches measurement, multiply the inches by 2.54 to find the measurement in centimeters.
    • For example, a 1.5 inch tall laptop is 3.8 centimeters (1.5 x 2.54 = 3.81).

Measuring the Width

  1. Start the tape measure at the front left or right corner. Measuring the front is easiest because there are no protruding ports.
  2. Measure straight across the front of the laptop to the other front corner. Make sure to measure all the way to the end of any rounded edges.
  3. Convert inches to centimeters (if necessary). If you need to know the width in centimeters but only have the inches measurement, multiply the inches by 2.54 to find the measurement in centimeters.
    • For example, a 14 inch wide laptop is 35.6 centimeters (14 x 2.54 = 35.56).

Measuring the Depth

  1. Start the tape measure at the back left or right corner.
  2. Measure straight down the side of the laptop to the front corner. Make sure to measure all the way to the end of any rounded edges.
  3. Convert inches to centimeters (if necessary). If you need to know the depth in centimeters but only have the inches measurement, multiply the inches by 2.54 to find the measurement in centimeters.
    • For example, a 12 inch deep laptop is 30.5 centimeters (12 x 2.54 = 30.48).[1]

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