Do smaller laptop screens have better resolution for your eyes?

There is no such thing as a better resolution for your eyes really as different people like different settings. I support a large network and some of our users use a font that I would need a magnifying glass to use, others prefer much larger lettering it is horses for courses really. One thing to note though, although many people will tell you different most notebook screens are designed to work best on one resolution. Mine is designed for 1024x768 but I took delivery of one for my site director the other week and despite having the same 15" screen size his is designed for 1280x1024. Although you can use them at other resolutions text and finer graphics do appear clearer at the normal setting which leads to you straining your eyes less. If you are worried about eye strain then the refresh rate of the display is just as important as the resolution really I would recommend around 75Mhz wherever possible, slower refresh rates can lead to tiredness if you use a screen for a long period of time.

Your assumption is incorrect. The screen size on a computer does not define the resolution. If you were using a desktop and your had a 30" display you would notice that focusing on something closer is different than something in an upper corner. With a portable the size range is not that high and the display resolution is what will define the maximum possible. The software configuration lets the user set a resolution that is a good deal lower than what the hardware's maximum.