The laptop comes equiped with the integrated graphics chip 855GME that doesn’t have any extra graphics memory nut uses the main memory of the computer. Due to a bios bug the native resolution of the LCD (1400×1050) is not listed as a supported video mode in the video bios.
Fixed versions of the video bios are available from Intel but Dell, Acer, Assus and may other companies have not incorporated them into their own versions.
Solution
855Resolution is a tiny program that patches the buggy video bios on my Dell (Bios A 04) and replaces one of the resolutions listed with 1400 x 1050.
For the installation of 855Resolution please see the readme provided in the package. Then add the following line to the beginning of /etc/init.d/xorg-common:
/usr/sbin/855resolution 3c 1400 1050
The X server is configured to use the correct native resolution of the display by default. After a restart of X the 1400 x 1050 resolution should work. You can test this with xdpyinfo
Note: Appending the line to xorg-common is not an elegant solution because now the video bios is also patched when X is stopped. But, hey, it works!