tried both knoppix and mandrake tonight on my DESKTOP (not laptop) and have to say KNOPPIX is SUPERIOR to mandrakes Live version. Mandrake was able to detect my screen size properly and unable to detect my ethernet settings.

Makes me want to switch to linux on my desktop too...

The only problem is my TV card (I have an all-in-wonder 9700) and printer (epson C80)...

So solutions I'm still looking for:

TRUE 1300 WLAN driver (wrapper?) for my laptop
ATI RADEON ALL-IN-WONDER 9700 TV WRAPPER (I found it but couldn't get it working)
EPSON C80 driver

what do you all think