Forgive a newbie... Well I tried about six months ago to get into Linux and failed. However Debian (via Knoppix) and Mandrake were both easy to install in my laptop (with a -nousb switch).
Now though I'm back in the fold with Suse 9. Everything works - pcmcia, usb, ATI graphics, sound, winmodem etc.. etc.. Loving it!
Still a newbie and learning.. That's why I joined here!