Help me in choosing distro (portability, compatibility scenario wthout too much mess)
 

My scenario is as:
I want to install Linux on portable device and want to use that device on different pcs(mostly on i386 compatible but with different hardware). I don't want to bother myself about messing with configuration files each time i plug my device to any new or different machine. In short i need my portable device to be hardware compatible i.e if it is plugged in to a machine that has different hardware or platform my Linux should use generic drivers without bothering me to manually edit files. In past i have used ubuntu on one single machine but recently i have read a lot on net that Ubuntu is not much compatible with laptops, so i opted out Ubuntu. Currently trying Wary Puppy to accomplish my task but was still thinking of any other choice so asking you people for any good suggestion.

To be blunt, somebody gave you misinformation. Ubuntu, like most distros these days, runs fine on laptops. Almost any distro these days will automatically detect hardware at boot. You shouldn't have to edit text config files unless you want to.

The only flaw in your scheme will be proprietary drivers such as Nvidia or ATI video. If you use generic drivers (for the sake of maximum portability) then you may have poor graphics/video performance compared with the proprietary drivers.

Some of the distros that have excellent hardware detection and are known to run well from Live USB include: Ubuntu, Mint, Knoppix, Slax, Puppy, SliTaz.

Hmmm. Thanks for quick reply. I have one other problem with ubuntu 11, it is using grub 2. I am hesitating to use grub 2 as boot loader though i know that i can switch back to grub legacy. Can you please tell me that Ubuntu with grub 2 would be a nice choice in my case or should i look only for distros which are using grub legacy?

I personally recommend GRUB 2 over GRUB in 2011.

However I don't think Live USB's typically use GRUB?

Try Linux Mint.

What's wrong with GRUB2? Sure, it's supposedly more complex, but if your worries are not technical, it seems that people consider it more stable than grub-legacy.

Any recommendations for 2012? :scratch:

Another issue to think on is wireless with laptops. If they require propietary software they will not set up automatically.

Regarding Ubuntu, I have used it on laptops without much issue since 7.04. It takes configuration due to propietary drivers but over the last years it has gotten better and better; especially with Ubuntu's restricted driver set up.

Those would be "predictions" and I am not a fortune-teller. :)

Thanks a lot guys you people have cleared my confusions. Ok now i will try to select a distro from the ones you have mentioned. Again thanks a lot.