another vote for slackware
I just installed slackware64-current on my toshiba and every thing worked out of the box I didn't have to configure any of the hardware at all
it even connected up to my AP on first boot

Linux Mint

yes, I love my Vector 6.0, icewm is great.

IMHO the best laptop distro depends on the users needs and the hardware you are going to be running. If it is speed you are after you need something slackware like with a tiny kernel. I have used XUBUNTU 9.04 on the same laptop as Vector lite and the former runs much slower than the latter. But! XUBUNTU is easier to set up with ... Truecrypt for example. As for me as long as it has Perl, Pyton and Ruby I am after speed.

If you are prepared to put in the time you can make any distro run as fast as you want on almost any laptop limited only by your skill and patience.

AMEN

Slackware 12.2 works well on both my laptops. HP DV9999US and Acer Aspire 5050.

I run Mint 7. It worked right out of the box on a Acer Aspire 5515-5879, a laptop sold by Walmart back a few months ago.
No Command Line work necessary. My Way.
I used Synaptic to download a few applications.
Fastest install I have ever done.
Great for newbies who do not like command line work and just want a safe, secure OS.

Rich

ubuntu

Mepis antix has started using icewm as per the notes. I have used icewm with debian on my old p1-166 laptop for a long time.

Yeah, guys, this topic has not sense if we don't write why the distribution we're using works well in out laptops, and what laptop we're using, these infos are useful for those who have problems with their laptops(talking about settings obviously) So please do not post only the name of the distribution

A good source wold be:
http://www.linux-on-laptops.com/

Yes I know that source, but a personal comment would be better

i think ubuntu...

For laptops, you have to keep in mind the purpose of a laptop.

Personally, I think Puppy Linux is kind of cool for laptops. It can be used on older laptops with decent speed. If you're a noob, then it will force you to learn some things about programming. I'm not sure if Puppy Linux is perfected yet, but Puppy's toys make you appreciate GNU/Linux.

However, I think Debian is awesome, too. You can generate your own Live-distro with Debian now.

In general, my belief remains with laptops that include a live-os and encryption. I can't remember, but I think someone from the Puppy OS community was working on encrypting the Live-CD along with the OS for intermittent Live-OS usage. That would greatly differ from the variety of GNU/Linux OSs out there. Furthermore, Live-OSs can allow you to prevent using the HDD and other devices, which would allow you to reduce power consumption.

I agree with peonuser in learning non-gui commands. However, I am not a slackware fan. Albeit, Puppy has tried to combine slackware and Debian ideas into its OS.

I don't think Ubuntu, Fedora, etc. are too appropriate for a laptop. After understanding the corporate reasonings behind Fedora, I don't believe in using it; and I don't like the package manager, security philosophy, and a lot of other things. I originally moved to Ubuntu, because it offered me drivers. Ubuntu is nice, but people who evolve will move to Debian. And those who dislike Debian will move to FreeBSD or some DIY compile OS.

In the beginning, it's about getting things to work.
In the end, however, the smart guy will build his own GNU/Linux OS or compile a custom kernel.

Debian or Linux Mint, if the laptop is low end Linux Mint XFCE CE

Edit: Please delete this post... I got here from search, so I didn't notice the thread was old.

Obviously, you want to use Fedora, because that's what I use .

Seriously, picking a distro is like picking the best ice cream flavor. Even if you pick a bad one, you're still eating ice cream.

Forrest