How to get better whites/colors on laptop?

I have a refurbished laptop (Dell Latitude D600- great shape) that I got as a gift. It was $450.

But the whites are not white in general on the screen. They are greyish and and sometimes I feel like it is driving me mad.

I hooked up a "Envision" 19 in flat screen monitor, and realize now how much I hate laptop screens. But I cannot carry around a 19 in monitor when I meander... And I dont want to buy a new laptop for 2 years, when I transfer. Money is a bit tight right now

I read something about how to "Calibrate" a laptop. But it was $250 for the Chromix an eye-one display (whatever that is). I believe it is a download.

I played with the display from control panel (under display<settings<advanced<color) to see what I could do manually, but it doesn't do a whole lot to make the whites look white, and the colors look.. well... colorful?

Is there a way to download something off the net to help this problem?

Please dumb-it-down as much as possible. Computers are like a second language to me.

You can pm me too

Thanks bunches to all who take the time to respond.

You need a colorimeter to calibrate your monitor. Eyeballing it will NOT work. This is much more necessary since laptops have limited ranges too. Laptops aren't really idea for image editing. Anyways, I would try the simplest solutions: Spyder2 Express or Huey (skip Huey Pro and get a Spyder3 if you ever upgrade). They're both the cheapest, entry level products with high reviews each. They will set the standard for you (usually 6500K, gamma 2.2).

I do a great deal of editting on a Dell laptop too.

I tried a regular Huey and finally gave up after 3 bad copies. Sooner or later I will get around to picking up a Spyder.

I think the best thing to do is to compare you images in real time with a high quality calibrated monitor (by either using a hosting site or intranet). This way you can compare what the photos really look like compared to your laptop so you get a general idea where the issues are.

For example, I know my laptop shows images slightly brighter and with less contrast/ saturation than my calibrated monitor. With this knowledge, I can typically get very close to where I need to be for general (non critical) editting.

Have you made sure you're not in like 8bit color mode or something? (Right click on desktop, Properties, Advanced) Maybe upgrade your video drivers?

Get a calibrator. I would not recommend the Huey. IMO Spyder is the minimum.
iOne display is better, but costs more.

A laptop screen is not as good as a decent monitor, whatever you do.

I can understand your reluctance to buy a monitor calibration system that will see very little or limited use.

For a quick fix, try to find a local photo lab or photo printer. Chances are good that they have these tools available and could do the calibration for a small fee.

While many folks recommend calibrating a monitor monthly, unless you are doing critical printing, this is seldom necessary. For your needs, it sounds like a simple once and done calibration may get you going.

Wow everyone!

Thanks for your quick and informative replies!

I have a few options now, and hoping one will do the trick and be friendlier to my eyes on the laptop.

hommedars wrote in post #5795945
I can understand your reluctance to buy a monitor calibration system that will see very little or limited use.

For a quick fix, try to find a local photo lab or photo printer. Chances are good that they have these tools available and could do the calibration for a small fee.

While many folks recommend calibrating a monitor monthly, unless you are doing critical printing, this is seldom necessary. For your needs, it sounds like a simple once and done calibration may get you going.

Hommedars- where do I find a 'local photo lab' who can do this?

Or what part of Yellow pages I guess do I search under?

Thanks ton!

napoleonDM wrote in post #5798767
Hommedars- where do I find a 'local photo lab' who can do this?

Or what part of Yellow pages I guess do I search under?

Thanks ton!

I would do a Google Local Search ( http://local.google.co​m/ ) for "photo printers" or "photo lab" in your zip code. Any of them should have calibrated displays, and while it might be an unusual request from a customer, they could do it for you. I would definitely try the smaller labs rather than big shops like at Costco or Walmart.

hommedars wrote in post #5798818
I would do a Google Local Search ( http://local.google.co​m/ ) for "photo printers" or "photo lab" in your zip code. Any of them should have calibrated displays, and while it might be an unusual request from a customer, they could do it for you. I would definitely try the smaller labs rather than big shops like at Costco or Walmart.

Thanks for that local google search site. I had not thought about that.

We have a Walgreens on every corner, and while they are smaller than Walmart, I don't think they would do it?

We also have http://www.reedyphoto.​com/, and zebracolor.com

And a far away one (1 h 15 mins) lakeshorecamera.com

Do you think any of these could do this, or would know how to do this?

You'll never know for sure until you give them a phone call.

Hmm, I had good results with the Huey. Maybe I got lucky and got a good one. I see NO color cast on my monitor at all.