The Notebook Review forums were hosted by TechTarget, who shut down them down on January 31, 2022. This static read-only archive was pulled by NBR forum users between January 20 and January 31, 2022, in an effort to make sure that the valuable technical information that had been posted on the forums is preserved. For current discussions, many NBR forum users moved over to NotebookTalk.net after the shutdown.
Problems? See this thread at archive.org.

    How do you adjust screen resolution on a laptop

    Discussion in 'Dell' started by jacatone, Jan 19, 2008.

  1. jacatone

    jacatone Newbie

    Reputations:
    0
    Messages:
    5
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    5
    Bought my first laptop, a refurbished Dell Inspiron 8100 and I can't figure out how to adjust the screen resolution. It's set a some really high number when 800X600 would be preferable. When I set it at 800X600, the desktop image is real small so I'm wanting to know how to expand it out to the full screen dimensions. I'm running XP Pro SP2. Thanks.
     
    jacatone, Jan 19, 2008
    #1
  2. Lithus

    Lithus NBR Janitor

    Reputations:
    5,504
    Messages:
    9,788
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    205
    Keep it at the highest possible resolution and increase text DPI instead. Located in the Control Panel.
     
    Lithus, Jan 19, 2008
    #2
  3. X2P

    X2P COOLING | NBR Super Mod

    Reputations:
    3,179
    Messages:
    5,361
    Likes Received:
    4
    Trophy Points:
    206
    Right click on your desktop > click properties > go to the furthest right tab and select away > press OK

    and i would also say what Lithus said... it is a better option
     
    X2P, Jan 19, 2008
    #3
  4. ZoinksS2k

    ZoinksS2k Notebook Virtuoso

    Reputations:
    525
    Messages:
    2,223
    Likes Received:
    1
    Trophy Points:
    56
    LCD screens are not like normal monitors. They have one resolution they can display without special screen shaping. This is called native resolution.

    From what I can find, your native resolution should be 1400 by 1050. This may be the only resolution that will fill the entire screen. I'm not sure if your model will stretch, or expand, the lower resolution to fit.

    Check your BIOS for video options to do this. Drivers won't help.
     
    ZoinksS2k, Jan 19, 2008
    #4
  5. nizzy1115

    nizzy1115 Notebook Prophet

    Reputations:
    2,557
    Messages:
    6,682
    Likes Received:
    1
    Trophy Points:
    205
    800x600 will make everything look like utter crap. you need to leave it at its native resolution.
     
    nizzy1115, Jan 19, 2008
    #5