New to linux!

Hi! I've been curious about Linux for a while, so I want to give it a try.
I have a sager NP8690 if that makes any differences.
I am curious about what distro is best for me, and that is why I am here today!
It will be used mainly for multimedia and web browsing, watching my shows XD listening to Pandora, youtube, face book.
I'm thinking Peppermint.
Any advice would be nice,
Edgar.

 

Forgot to mention!
I am curious how big a partition I need to make for Linux. will 40gb be big enough? Should I do more? Less?

 

Hello there, have you seen the sticky thread at the top of this forum? It's called the Linux Beginners' Guide. It should help answer some of the questions you have.

 

I have, I've skimmed it, I probably should re-read it, but I just wanted some opinions!
Sorry for the hastle!

 

I suggest just tryout the live disc(you can run it without installing) of a few distributions and see which one you like. As for partition size, 40GB is plenty of room, Ubuntu takes up about 4~4.5GB on a default install(which includes A LOT of programs I might add, some you will never use)

 

Alright, I will try a few live discs, thanks, but I am still curious for a few recommendations, I'm stuck between mint, and peppermint, and ubuntu! =D

 

Read this thread, its got some good info on partitioning:

http://forum.notebookreview.com/linux-compatibility-software/385118-recommended-partitioning.html

 

I've made a live CD of Peppermint using an iso burner, no problems there, but when I go into my BIOS I see that my DVD/CD drive is first in the boot order, but when I have the Live disk in the drive during start up, it doesn't load. Any ideas?

 

you could always force it to the boot menu during startup, then tell it to boot from cd. usually on boot you press a key like ESC, Del, F1, F12, etc.
when it starts booting look for a very quick message telling you which key to press to get to the boot menu.

 

I did that, F2 on boot--->utilities menu--->boot order
CD was already first =/ but it won't boot. Do I need to use a DVD? Will a CD not work?

 

Can you boot from another CD/DVD? If so, you may have a problem just with this specific CD. Did you check the MD5 sum of the downloaded iso against the one posted on the Peppermint download page?

 

I will make another live disk and try that, no, I have not tried the sums, I will find out how to do that and give it a try! =D

 

MD5 sums are the same, going to see if it was corrupted during the iso burn.

 

It all checks out =(
Still can't boot from the CD.
Going to keep trying =D

 

I think that Ubuntu is a good distro to start, rather than Mint and Peppermint.

Peppermint derives from Mint, and Mint derives from Ubuntu. The former two are nice modifications of the latter, and I think that you can have a better consideration of the modified versions if you start from the "original". So, if you start from Ubuntu, then you can see what is new in Mint, and then what is new in Peppermint, and then choose the one you prefer.

Of course, according to what i'm saying, one should start from Debian. I guess that choosing between Debian and Ubuntu really depends on your patience and knowledge (and geekyness ). But if you are coming to Linux straight from Windows, I think that it's better to start with Ubuntu and get used to the new directory structure, to the console + commands, etc. etc., and that makes it a little bit easier to move to Debian.

Once more, if I were you I'd start with Ubuntu.

PS.: I don't like trying linux from livecds as everything works really slow. If it's not a problem to you, I'd tell you to install the OS and try the real experience.

 

Well, I caved, I used Wubi to install Ubuntu. I. Love. It. =)
I am having a bit of trouble connecting to the internet, however.

 

Been messing around for the last hour or two, and cannot get my laptop to connect to my wireless internet.
I have googled it, and the only useful link is the Ubuntu help site which didn't resolve my issue. Any help would be appreciated!

Edit: Wireless card is an intel wireless N 6300.

 

Have you tried searcing and asking in the ubuntu forums? They know -everything

 

I'll give it a go =) I'm glad it is summer, and I got a lot of time XD

 

Make sure you check in Hardware Drivers.

 

Well, I haven't been so stumped in a while! This is both frustrating, and exceedingly fun! XD

 

I give up. For now!
Thanks for all the suggestions everyone! I'll keep them all in mind when next I try XD