Linux for a laptop - help plz.

[weemadando]

I've got an old laptop that has a hardware conflict with Windows Vista/7 which causes near constant crashing.

I figure I might as well throw a Linux build on it as I might as well have a play with something before admitting defeat and going back to an XP install.

I would like to have it as a web browser/remote media viewer for around the house.

So the first question is:

What distro do people recommend for ease of install, maintenance and use for this purpose. Bear in mind it will primarly be dealing with a Netgear router and a Windows 7 box.

[Terralthra]

Ubuntu wins hands-down in terms of ease of install and use, in my opinion.

[weemadando]

Open SUSE has been recommended to me. Any experience with that?

[Bounty]

LiveCD's are your friend. Burn one, take a test drive, rinse and repeat until you find your distro.

That said, get Ubuntu. It's specifically geared towards people who want ease of use, and while it's a far cry from perfect it's widespread enough and has an active enough community that any issues you run into can probably be resolved.

[weemadando]

Might give the netbook version a go...

[Gandalf]

I did Ubuntu on a Dell laptop for ~two years.

It was stable and provided everything I needed.

[Bounty]

Might give the netbook version a go...

If you do, make sure you switch back to Gnome first thing, because the netbook interface doesn't add much - and it forces everything to open maximized, which is a total pain.