Resolution and Scaling with Mobile Cards/Displays

I plan to buy an Asus g1s laptop and I am a little bit worried about the 1680x1050 display. Now, I havent been very up to date on laptop issues concerning resolution and video cards (first laptop), since my desktop has been running fine with its video card (an ati 9800 pro 256mb, bought at its launch) for four years or so.

I know that you should really run the monitor at its native resolution, in order to get the best performance. My friend, who is a computer enthusiast (and cannot enjoy a game without full settings on the highest resolution possible), tells me that if the laptop's display does not "scale" well, then running games on a resolution that isn't "native" will decrease performance. I had hoped 1440x900 would be a good compromise, and that I could increase performance by settling for a low resolution, but the g1s display's native resolution is 1680x1050. I know that such a high resolution may not be able to handled well by the 8600m gt in games with the settings turned up. Does anyone know if this "scaling" issue is a big problem with other laptops or the g1s or if this is even correct? Will this pose a problem for someone like me who enjoys playing Guild Wars at 30 fps?

 

Scaling doesn't bother me one bit. I'd rather run 800x00 at 60 fps than native at 30.
Note that the Asus G1S-A1 display itself has slight ghosting from a few colors but that's not so bad.