I don't ave SuSE Personal, but I do run SuSE 9.1. (I downloaded the FTP install ISOs and installed for free) but if my memory serves correctly, during installation in YaST you have the option to switch to custom package selection and view by group, there is definitely a group for gnome. All of the packages you need should be able to be simply downloaded and installed with YaST no messing around with tarballs and consoles
(don't get me wrong a day with txt only mode and un-tarring archives can be a refreshing experience, but it isn't exactly a walk in the park)