If the above doesn't work, you need to edit your com.apple.boot.plist:

Browse to
/Library/Preferences/SystemConfiguration/com.apple.Boot.plist
and open it up in your text editor- You can add some switches in here to make your life a little bit sweeter...
HINT: If you are having difficulty saving changes to com.apple.Boot.plist; Open Terminal and type

sudo nano /Library/Preferences/SystemConfiguration/com.apple.Boot.plist

just copy and paste the text) and press enter. Use the arrow keys to move the cursor. Ctrl+O to save (and then press Enter to save) and Ctrl+X to close.

TIP: If you've installed the Developer Tools (free for download with an Apple Developer Connection membership, or on a Mac OS X DVD), you'll get the program Property List Editor, which will make editing .plist files a tad easier. To run it as root, type in sudo open /Developer/Applications/Utilities/Property\ List\ Editor.app path-to-a-plist-file, or sudo open path-to-a-plist-file if .plist files are already associated with Property List Editor. As of version 2.1, this is a Universal application.

To automatically use a certain graphics mode
<key>Graphics Mode</key>
<string>1280x1024x32@85</string>