Dell 2001FP connected to Studio 1440 only displays 1280 x 720

I am using a Dell Studio 1440.

It is connected by an HDMI to DVI-D cable to a Dell 2001FP monitor.

The monitor is on the correct (DVI-D) input.

I installed the newest drivers for the NVIDIA 9400M video card.

The monitor will ONLY work in 1280 x 720.  Its native resolution is 1600 x 800 so everything looks distorted.  Even changing the scaling doesn't work as it should have some sort of letterbox effect. 

REVISED:

I recently found that it also works in 640 x 480, which would be fine if i was using a 14 inch monitor from 15 years ago...

FINALLY!  It works at 1152x864 at 75hz using the monitor's native scaling.... so odd... not the ideal resolution but it's at least acceptable