Linux on laptop

hey guys, i have a Dell Inspiron 7000 and i want to put Linux on it so i can just mess around with it and get used to applyinf it to real life. im sort of a novice, i know my way around the system allright, but i dont know which would be the best distribution to put on it. I'm trying Ubuntu right now, but i cant get all of the files to transfer. Let me know if you guys know of one maybe with less overhead or something. Thanks, Klick.

First of all welcome to the forums.
Ubuntu is one of the easiest distributions and is a good choice for a novice. Try downloading a burnable iso and write it to a cd. Then boot and start installing it.
Post again if you need any help
Cheers

yo man, im getting this failure where the cd wont copy all of the remaining packets, so then it asks me to try and reinstall the packets or something similar in which i just skip that step cuz i ve tried it many times before and then just continue throught the setup. but then i get to a point were it restarts the computer and i put the disk in after it boots from the hard disk so that it can get any final packets it needs off the cd. it then gives me some sort of error. i dotn know if i should go with something else. One kid told me Debian, i dont know, let me know whats up. Thanks again. Klick.

Klick,

I tried a number of distros in the past, but I've stayed with Gentoo as my main OS. The handbook is awesome for a beginner and it will walk you step by step through the entire install. It has an excellent forum and supporting step-by-step documentation for your main applications...X11, KDE, GNOME, etc. The best part is you end up learning a heck of a lot about Linux in general. If your looking for a quick install that includes everything prepackaged and ready to roll in 30 minutes I would suggest one of the debian (knoppix, BackTrack, etc..) live cds and just do a HD install. With Gentoo you start from scratch and build your box. Just my .02....good luck!

Jay