The LCDs on laptops really can't hold a candle to the desktop versions.  It isn't a size thing, so much as brightness, response rate and clarity.  Rather than depend on eyeballing to judge the difference, AnandTech tests 4 laptops against a Gateway desktop LCD.  The results are rather enlightening.

"Without even running any objective tests, most people could pretty easily tell you that the latest and greatest desktop

LCDs are far superior to any of the laptop LCDs currently available. While desktop LCDs have moved beyond TN panels to

such technologies as S-IPS, S-PVA, and S-MVA we are aware of only a few laptop brands that use something other than a TN

panel. (Unfortunately, we have not yet been able to get any of those laptops for review.) We have also complained about

desktop LCDs that have reached the point where they are actually becoming too bright, in an apparent attempt to win the

marketing war for maximum brightness. The same can't be said of laptops, as very few can even break the 200 cd/m2 mark.

Individual preferences definitely play a role, but outside of photography and print work most people prefer a brightness

setting of somewhere between 200 and 300 cd/m2."

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