I will have to agree with jymm56 - I've been contemplating a Windows to Linux move for my entertainment PC. I searched for Linux for home computer and this was the first thread that came up. I read it completely and have a much better understanding of linux than I ever did before. I'd like to piggyback this thread and post my laptop specs and needs and get a recommendation.

Linux Experience: None what-so-ever. Not afraid of technology or the change at all though.
Current Uses: THis is a spare laptop that we have connected to the TV, full-time. It is used to watch Hulu.com (stream from the web) when the show can't be watched on my Xbox. Additionally, I use this as a torrent machine to simply download - no seeding or uploading. I have zero plans to use this for anything else due to the risk associated with using torrents. I won't be accessing any personal information - emails, banks, etc - but would still like a good secure OS to minimize risk.

Laptop Specs:
Intel Core 2 Quad Q9000 @ 2.00 GHz
6 GB RAM
Running 64-bit Windows 7
ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4650
DVD-RW
Ethernet Port is primary source of connection
HDMI Port is used to connect to TV
(To get really specific, the product number is NV023UA#ABA)

From reading the thread and only this thread, I'm leaning more towards Mint. It sounds more automated but I'm open minded to any and all suggestions.

Thanks a bunch to everyone for your help!

Edit: I should have noted originally that I don't plan to have both OS on this system. I would somehow figure out how to remove Windows 7, 64-bit from the computer and install only the Linux Distribution.

^ xbmcbuntu

Thanks for the reply Schneidz. Kind of ironic that you mention an XBMC version as I ran into this program months back and was very much interested in it. Might be time to go that route.

I did some digging into it and the link below for XBMCbuntu says "Note: ATI Radeon cards lower than HD5xxx are not supported with Ubuntu & variants 12.10 which is XBMCbuntu's base system due to changes in ATI's drivers. A workaround is to Install XBMCbuntu beta2 and upgrade XBMC using ppa or compile from source"

The card I am using in my Laptop is a HD4650. Again, being the Linux newbie I am, I have no idea what the 2nd part of the workaround is telling me. I get installing the beta2 but the compile from source stuff is way out of my league. Any help?

http://wiki.xbmc.org/index.php?title=XBMCbuntu

Dont use 12.10 if the ATI/AMD 4XXX drivers work on 12.04, which I think they should according to this-

http://wiki.xbmc.org/index.php?title=XBMCbuntu/FAQ

I wouldnt install 12.10 or 13.04 even if the drivers did work on them, the support length is too short IMO (18 months for 12.10, 9 months for 13.04 and later 'non-LTS' versions). 12.04 is supported for 5 years (well, the base is, I dont know what stuff UMBC uses that canoncial have shoved into the repos with far less support time).

Maybe you should ask a moderator to move these posts Moezer into a fresh thread, or part of them at least.

Take the test:

http://www.zegeniestudios.net/ldc/

If the original poster had some experience with Mandrake, maybe Mageia would be a good option to try.

But yeah, hardware specs and technical skills/comfort level are good things to know, for a good recommendation.

This made me laugh...

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Anyway to get a moderator to move my posts into a "fresher" thread as cascade9 suggested?

Your posts have been moved to their own thread.

To answer you question, use the report button.

Thanks michaelk for the move.

Any further feedback regarding my specs and needs would be great.

I think you should try mint.