Before I always used Mandrake Linux, now I'm hearing good things about "Kubunto" or something like that. I'm not a newb to Linux, ran it a couple times on my parent's computer until they started wondering what the screen that showed up for only 2 seconds before Windows started was. (Opps) My machine is an Acer T180...

basic specs:
-AMD Athlon 3800+ 64
-1 gig of ram
-hard drive was partitioned from the factory... it's beyond me why, it's a 160 gig hard drive split 80/80
-Nvidia graphics card

It's a cheap system, I plan on getting rid of Vista completely, replacing it with XP, and using XP just for things I can't do with Linux.

Also, this computer came with USB speakers from the factory. I already had a complete audio system that connects to my computer through USB. I used my old setup on my old computer and it didn't work with Linux... what're the chances of it working with this machine?

Anyone recommend any other distros? I've used Mandrake before, would could of like to switch it up however.

i like the *buntu systems.... ubuntu kubuntu xubuntu edubuntu are from the main site but theres others like fluxbuntu

Right on, any idea where I would get drives for my machine? Will I have any problems if I just install it?

All the drivers you need should be in the kernel really. Post details of your motherboard and other devices if you need more advice. Edit: you could also just try the Ubuntu live CD and see which pieces of hardware work and which don't.

i do have to say though the d/l will normally take over an hour and thats at 200 kilabytes/second

AMD Athlon(tm) 64 Processor 3800+, ~2.4 ghz

As taken from dxdiag

I said motherboard, not CPU. That CPU will be though. Just try the live CD and see what happens.