When I use the itemize environment, i.e.
\begin{itemize}
\item one
\item two
\item three
\end{itemize}
The bullet points are ugly bitmap graphics that have harsh (aliased) edges. I'd like it to be a nice, clean font character or vector graphic
You can simply set a symbol of your choice. Let me assume you'd like the \checkmark
symbol, just write:
\begin{itemize}
\item[\checkmark] one
\item[\checkmark] two
\item[\checkmark] three
\end{itemize}
Furthermore, if it's too long to write, you can set a new command:
\newcommand{\myitem}{\item[\checkmark]}
and the whole thing becomes:
\begin{itemize}
\myitem one
\myitem two
\myitem three
\end{itemize}
Otherwise, you can use the enumitem
package as stated in the answer below.
For document classes other than beamer, there are two more ways to do the trick:
In the preamble, write:
\def\labelitemi{\checkmark}
If you want to change the symbol in only one itemize
environment, write:
\begin{itemize}
\newcommand{\labelitemi}{\checkmark}
\item one
\item two
\item three
\end{itemize}