Katie,
In the PCLinuxOS Control Centre > Hardware > Configure video > Choose a monitor have you set it to your model? M782p? Seems to be listed already. (pardon me for some creative visualisation here)
I can't believe it!!! What a difference that made---- now I am really in 1280 x 1024 at 75 HzNot only that but <Configure Your Desktop> confirms the same thing---
Embarrassing part is that I have probably been in the low resolution for a long time
Thank you guys and I will mark this as [Solved]
katie