when you first boot the laptop you get a boot screen. at the bottom, it has a "command prompt" where you can enter these "cheatcodes" to get it to boot on your system.
you enter knoppix26 fb1204x768 to get the 2.6.9 kernel which is the one i have found the most success with, and it sets your screen resolution to the proper dimensions so it displays correctly.
That said, if you don't want to have to enter cheatcodes every time you boot, i have been experimenting with Kanotix recently and it doesn't require any cheatcodes on this notebook computer.
here's the site if you want to try it out.
http://kanotix.com/info/index.php
I'll be revising this guide soon with all of the tips and tricks i've compiled for use with kanotix.