A good option is to edit the GRUB boot loader and put vga=ask at the end of the line. This will pop up a menu asking you which resolution you want to run the device at every time you boot. Higher res = more overhead. Off the top of my head, mode 333 works reliably (1024x768@16-bit color), and I have a little better luck with 16-bit color modes and standard VGA/HDTV resolutions