Have you never heard of OS-level scaling? I run 1080p on a 13" screen (116 ppi) and if I set the "Make text and other items bigger" setting in Control Panel to the largest option (150%), then I can get it looking like this: http://img11.imageshack.us/img11/3294/bigscreen.png (Chrome doesn't automatically zoom with the OS, but you can zoom it easily or use another browser).
You don't need to double the resolution to do this (besides, 2600x1600 isn't as ridiculous as you might think). 200% isn't your only option - the two that Control Panel gives you are 125% and 150%, but there are other ways you can make it bigger that allow for different percentages (try your graphics card settings if you need those).
It's well worth it to get a higher-res monitor and scale it - everything will look far better, particularly text, than if you get a low-res monitor. It also gives you a lot more options.
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Have you never heard of OS-level scaling? I run 1080p on a 13" screen (116 ppi) and if I set the "Make text and other items bigger" setting in Control Panel to the largest option (150%), then I can get it looking like this: http://img11.imageshack.us/img11/3294/bigscreen.png (Chrome doesn't automatically zoom with the OS, but you can zoom it easily or use another browser).
You don't need to double the resolution to do this (besides, 2600x1600 isn't as ridiculous as you might think). 200% isn't your only option - the two that Control Panel gives you are 125% and 150%, but there are other ways you can make it bigger that allow for different percentages (try your graphics card settings if you need those).
It's well worth it to get a higher-res monitor and scale it - everything will look far better, particularly text, than if you get a low-res monitor. It also gives you a lot more options.