Is Debian the best Linux choice following Knoppix?

I'm aware that Knoppix is based on Debian, and that there is not much point going for a permanent disk install of Knoppix. I have been using Knoppix on a particular piece of laptop hardware and it works great, especially the hardware detection - very impressive to be able to boot up like that.

I would now like to carry out a permanent installation, mainly for testing and experimentation with Linux. While gentoo looks interesting and appeals to the geek in me, my wife would probably not appreciate the amount of time that might entail. So, if I want to get a Linux setup as easily as possible for general use, and Knoppix works great on that hardware, does that mean debian should also go on just fine? In theory, does that mean that most distros would go on, but might take more effort?

(This system will not be a dual boot Windows system - dual boot is nice but a pain, especially for any server related activities).

Any general advice appreciated.

Not sure exactly what your needs are-but although I have some reservations about it Mepis has an excellant installer and hardware recognition. I have run-but not installed mepis 3.4 rc1 (live cd-I have installed prior releases) It's definately doing alot of things right. Xandros and ubuntu are debian based too. Perhaps you want to check out their reviews at www.distrowatch.com.
And to the question about debian: debian sarge is the stable release. It's better than woody as far as hardware detect. goes but don't expect it to have the ease of install or setup that many of the deb spinoffs have.
Good luck