Is there an easy way to convert to Ubuntu from Debian Etch, such as re-naming the repositories in synaptic and doing an update???

I'm starting to get sick of some of Debian's quirks... and I understand that Ubuntu may be a little easier to deal with on the hardware configuration end of things...

But I don't want to lose some of the tweaks that I've done, such as DVD playback, etc...

So, is it possible to just re-direct Synaptic to Ubuntu's repositories and then install from there, or what???

No , Ubuntu is not Debian so there is no way to "upgrade" from Debian to Ubuntu.

Ubuntu dapper -
http://easylinux.info/wiki/Ubuntu_dapper

Why not just stick with Debian, once you get the hang of it things will run smoothly.

It was running smoothly until a kernel update nerfed my Madwifi drivers...

I hate that kind of &$%$%^%&*@...
It's not like I mind tweaking things,... that's actually enjoyable,... its just that when I'm done, I'd like them to keep working.

Ubuntu's got a rep of being more kind than Debian in this regard... and this particular laptop has seen 6 versions of Linux from 4 different Distributors (SuSE, Mandriva, Fedora, and Debian). I really just want it to plain work right now...

Also, I know that XGL can work on the thing... albiet configured badly... and I want things just a hair easier (I do not slouch from the command line, however).

I would not recommend doing an upgrade to ubuntu, wich schould be technically possible, seeing as how Ubuntu is based on Debian, but I'll guaranty you things our going to break, mayorly.
Backup your important stuff, download Ubuntu and install it, that's the route I recommend.

At the very least I would back up your /etc and /home directories. Then what you can do is install ubuntu, then as you find things that might need some tweaking, you copy over configuration files and parts of your home directory to save you some time. It would probably be best to do so on a needed basis as to not break anything on your new ubuntu installation. Also, you will probably want to keep in mind how there may be the possibility that some programs may be running a different version that requires possible syntax changes or slight variation in location of the config related files.

for instance, say you were using xclients where you previously had tweaked them to where you liked via editing ~./Xresources. You might want to rename the one that ubuntu created (if it exists), and then copy over your old Debian one. Then you wouldn't have to retweak those xclients again. Same thing for any appropriate configuration related files in /etc. That's just an example. Hopefully you understand what I'm getting at.

Personally, I would try to set anything up through ubuntu's methods first though. If it proves to be too much of PITA, then try migrating the appropriate settings over.

The best thing is to do a full backup. Then you always have the option of pulling off anything that you may possibly need onto your Ubuntu system.

I've switched to kubunto from Etch... I always mainatain a separate /home partition, so eveything is there and intact (as far as I can tell). I will say this though,... Kubuntu is very nice in terms of configurability,... but I'm not so hot on using sudo,... and the system by default gives root your user password,... very, very, bad... I just don't like that... Even with the restrictions imposed on sudo,... it gives a dangerous level of control to anyone who cracks your user password...

Does anyone know of some nice apt repositories where I can get some nice xine stuff (such as the decryption codecs), somw wpa tools (like wpagui...), and the XGL stuff (compiz, etc...)???

... As opposed to someone cracking your root password? I assure you that cracking either the root or a user password requires the same amounts of time, skill, and effort. Sudo, when properly utilized is a great tool for systems that have multiple admins.

I have alwasy liked easyubuntu for codecs.
easyubuntu.freecontrib.org

They system by default gives root an empty password, and PAM won't allow users with empty password to log in or su, so sudo is the only access you have to root level. I'm not convinced this is really any more dangerous than having a root password. Yes it gives "a dangerous level of control to anyone who cracks your user password", but other *nix installs give the same level of control to anyone who cracks your root password. One still needs to crack only 1 password either way, but this way users only need to remember 1. There's still a "Oh, I need my password to do this.. maybe I should think twice and be careful," so for the home user I think the major point is served.

Having no root password also makes it less likely some idiot will actually log in as root and do something stupid like launch firefox and start posting on forums.