Problems connecting my MacBook Pro to an external monitor

For the past 2 years, I have regularly connected my MacBook Pro to an external monitor (Dell SR2320L) using a VGA cable. When I do so, the picture automatically comes up in the maximum resolution of the external monitor (1920 x 1080). However, just in the past few weeks, the picture on my external monitor automatically comes up in 1600 x 1200 instead. When I click on the display menu in the upper right corner of my screen, there isn't even an option for 1920 x 1080 anymore. I've tried restarting my computer and even unplugging and replugging in the cable, but nothing seems to fix the problem. However, on at least some occasions, the problem seems to fix itself after about a day or so of use, and the picture reverts back to 1920 x 1080. I should note a couple of things: when I connect another MacBook to my monitor, the display automatically comes up in 1920 x 1080. And when I connect my Macbook to a different display, I have the same problem as I have with my display. So I think the issue is definitely with my computer, not my monitor. Does anyone have a suggestion about how to solve this problem? Or, when the problem arises, is there anything I can do to reset the display to 1920 x 1080 other than waiting for the problem to fix itself? Any suggestions woudl be greatly appreciated!

Hi bonfig,
If you are having issues with the external display settings on your MacBook Pro, it may be worth going throught the following article, in particular the portion about resetting the SMC and PRAM:
Apple computers: Troubleshooting issues with video on internal or external displays
http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1573
Cheers,
- Brenden

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