MacBook Pro --> External Display

Apologies if this post is in the wrong place:

I'm fairly inexperienced with external displays, but I just purchased a 24in. Westinghouse LCD monitor with native 1920x1200 resolution.

So-- I plugged my Macbook Pro 15.4in. (running at 1440x900) with the DVI to VGA adapter that came with the Macbook Pro. I set it to mirror my Laptop. Why does it look blurry for every resolution except 1440x900? I was under the impression that when I bought this monitor, I could run my Macbook Pro on my external display at 1920x1200. Is this incorrect?

Every resolution I set it to was blurry or cut off at the bottom except 1440x900. I know I'm missing something here.

Should I be using different cables, or do I just misunderstand what I was buying when I got a big monitor.

If anyone could explain to me how this stuff works, I'd be very grateful. Thanks in advance

When you run mirrored displays, the resolutions have to also be the same which is why you can only get 1440x900 to look nice. You will need to turn off mirroring to take full advantage of the 24" LCD.

Thanks for the reply. You were right, that was the issue.

Now--- When I am plugged into the monitor (VGA) 1920x1200 seems to be the right resolution, (the monitor is 1920x1200) but it is cut off. There's a black bar on the top of the screen as well as the left side. It is as if the image were shifted diagonally towards the bottom right somewhat.

Why is this happening? Should I instead run it at 1920x1080? That looks pretty good too, but I'm not sure if its really what I want. Shouldn't I be able to run my Macbook Pro at 1920x1200? Why is it getting cut off?

In short, is this an issue with the computer, or the monitor needing adjustment? (It auto-adjusts for the other resolutions that don't fit).

The MBP supports up to a 30" monitor. Try resetting the settings on the monitor and see if that helps any.