I tried out a computer with several different linux live CD's. The best resolution that I could get out of it was 800x600. The spec on it was around 1200x800 WXGA. Is WGXA the problem? Is there a way to adjust it to a higher resolution?

Live CD's always try to guess resolution, but on some hardware they don't get it quite right or simply can't configure because of missing drivers etc. and then they fall back to what they think is safe. WGXA is I think part of the problem.

If installed on the hard disk you could play around with the xorg.conf file, but then you should get an introduction to it and make sure you are able to use the machine in CLI mode while you are reverting changes (usable CLI text editor should be installed, I for example always have big troubles with installed vi/vim and for this reason always install ee in case of trouble).