ugh, font too small with wxga+ i chose, help!...

all other settings look ridiculously fuzzy. not sure why i chose this stupid option, but on my 14.1" widescreen on my dell d630 the wxga+ is 1440 x 900. Please say there is something i can do. i hate it.

 

Use Cleartype/tuner in Microsoft PowerToys for Windows XP on the fuzzyness

and raise the DPI level. Here are some suggestion here on raising text/dpi size to make it more readable
http://www.microsoft.com/resources/documentation/windows/xp/all/proddocs/en-us/display_use_large_or_small_fonts.mspx?mfr=true


ALso most apps/programs have a zoom or a way to increase text size.

 

Definitely raise the DPI. If possible I'd definitely change the resolution to 1280 x 800 (or 720, depending on your lcd). That size looks normal on my 14.1" screen, I can't imagine 1440 x 900. That looks small on my 19" desktop lcd

 

On desktop/external LCD its okay to lower the resolution but on notebook LCD it isnt recommended since i believe the lower you go from the native res the more blurrier/less detailed(lose quality).

The advantage of higher res screens is that you can fit more images/windows(real estate) on the screen but at the cost of the text will be smaller. The smaller res you go the bigger the text gets but the object/window gets bigger so you have less room to work with.

 

All you need to do is to raise the DPI, as was noted. Right click on desktop, properties, settings, advanced, general, custom setting, and start advancing beyond 100%. If your native is 1440x900, and you want 1280x800, you'll want a percentage of 112.5%, or 113%. If you want something lower than 1280x800, increase beyond 113%; you can type in different numbers. After selecting something, click apply. It'll warn you about a restart. Click okay once or twice. It'll ask you for your Windows disk - specifically the i386 folder, to access some stuff. Put it in - or better yet, copy the folder to your hard drive, so you can simply point it there in the future when prompted. Once it's done, click okay as many times as you need to, and restart the computer.

You'll have your desired resolution then. Of course, your resolution will still be 1440x900. But the "effective" resolution - due to the DPI switch - will be whatever you want it to be...in this case, 1280x800.

Don't tweak the screen resolution - that only results in lower quality. With the DPI method, quality is retained. Personally, I run a 15.4" widescreen with a native resolution of 1280x800, but thanks to the DPI tweak, I've effectively got a 1440x900 res. Everything is smaller, which allows me to fit more text and objects on the screen. For others wanting to INCREASE "resolution", you'll want a percentage <100%. To turn 1280x800 native into 1440x900, use 90%.