Resolution displays too large, incorrectly

The ONLY resolution at which and LCD is going to look good is its native resolution. So, stick with that.

If you want your resolution at 1024 x 768, than buy a laptop with a native resolution of 1024 x 768.

I realize that the native resolution is what I should keep it on. That is not the issue unfortunately.  

I have a 15 in. SXGA display. According to the Dell docs I've read the native res is 1400x1050. But when I see that the native resolution should be 1400x1050, I expect it to look like it IS that resolution not 800x600. I was bringing up the examples of the other resolutions to show that none of the resolutions appear as they should. Thanks though. Any more ideas? Is there anything else I can do besides getting a different monitor (besides, going on what 1024x768 looks like on my display, I would only want a display with that base res if I read large-print books)?

It just seems somewhat ridiculous to me that only the highest res available would be the only res that shows the entire desktop, not just a quarter of it. Also, one of my friends just got a Dell laptop and agrees that something is screwy with the display. Please help.

I am still not understanding what you are trying to say. What you described is heavily reliant on how it looks to you. I and no one else can see what you are looking at. You aren't giving us many details to go on... we are shooting blind here.

How exactly does the screen look like at 1400 x 1050 that makes it look like at 800 x 600? Are the fonts large? Buttons too big? Can you see the entire taskbar? Do the other resolution "fill up" the entire LCD? Are there large black bars around the image at non-Native resolutions?

we NEED details if you want us to help... vaguness doesn't help us.

I don't want to frustrate people but I don't really know how better to describe it.

Everything about my display at native res is crystal clear (no pixelization, no black bars, etc.) and everything (icons, taskbar, explorer windows) is proportional in my display but I guess I expected all of the above things to shrink to an almost illegible size at a resolution of 1400x1050 as it does in my experience on desktop monitors. I like my icons, windows, text, etc. small so that I can see more of a document, picture, etc. What I want to know is why a 15in. lcd laptop set to 1400x1050 has the same size of icons, taskbar, text and windows as a 15in. lcd desktop monitor set to 1024x768. Are the pixels smaller on a laptop?

Heh... this is the opposite complaint of the usual one we get, which is "I bought a WUXGA screen and everthing is small! I want it to look like 800x600!"

I would suggest that you try changing your DPI setting, in Display Properties - Settings tab - Advanced button. I believe that "normal" is 96 DPI, so try setting it to something like 80, and see if that gets you the extra real estate you're looking for. But it sounds like you might be better off buying a laptop with a UXGA or WUXGA screen... something that's capable of displaying 1600x1200 or 1920x1200, since that's a surefire way to increase your real estate.

"Are the pixels smaller on a laptop?"

I meant "Are they larger?"

The question: "Are [laptop pixels] larger" can't be answered. First reason is because LCD have physical pixels, and thus, the LCD cannot change the size of a pixel. A CRT doesn't have physical pixels, and as such can look good at pretty much any supported resolution.

LCDs:
WUXGA: 1920 x 1200, 13" in width = 125 pixels per inch; pixel width = 0.008"
WXGA: 1280 x 800, 13" in width = 85 pixels per inch; pixel width = 0.011"
Your SXGA+: 1400 x 1050, 12" in width = 0.0085" (Not sure about the width of your screen... this is an estimation).

CRTs:
My work 17" Monitor @ 1280 x 1024, 12.5" in width = 105 pixels per inch; pixel width = 0.009".
My work 17" Monitor @ 800 x 600, 12.5" in width = 64 pixels per inch; pixel width = 0.015".

So, laptop pixels aren't necessarily smaller or larger than desktop "pixels." As a previous poster said, you may want to check your dpi settings and ensure they are set to no more than 96dpi. Also, make sure Windows is not set to use "Large Fonts" or even "Extra Large Fonts". You could try reloading the default Windows themes, which should also load the default window sizes and title bar sizes etc. I personally cannot imagine how a SXGA+ screen at 1400 x 1050 on a 15" LCD (and based on my calculations, a similar pixel size to my WUXGA) looks like a desktop monitor set at 800 x 600. Thus, my (and the previous poster) thoughts that a dpi setting must be messed up, or windows has been set to use large versions of everything.

Thanks so much spikedmartini and cademetz! I'll try adjusting the dpi...if that doesn't work I can learn to live with it or look into a UXGA.

Heh I feel pretty silly now! All I had to do was adjust my dpi from 120 to 96 and now it looks the way I want. Sorry for all the frustration and thank you both so much!

Glad to help, and no need to feel silly - it's far better to ask the question and end up happy than keep quiet and be upset with your new notebook!