Maximum PC

I have a Dell 6000, Pentium-M 1.6GHz 1.5 gig RAM and 80Gig HDD. It is in need of a reformat (currently running XP) and I figured it would be a good time to try out Linux.

I am looking at Ubuntu, Mint and OpenSUSE, currently trying out Ubuntu and Mint on my desktop in VBox. Out of those three would either work better or worse on my laptop? Just need something to take to class and travel with, really only need OpenOffice, Firefox and something to play movies.

Also would the KDE or Xfce versions work better since it is an older laptop? I hear Xfce is light weight but will it make much of a difference/would I lose function, or is it mostly personal preference for the GUI?

Never used Linux before

XFCE is much more lightweight and will consume much less resources then what KDE would, but it really is a personal preference. IMO, the differences between Gnome, XFCE, and KDE are pretty much blurred at this point in time.

Never really tried loading KDE or Gnome from a Xubuntu install (or visa versa), so I'm not certain how difficult it is to switch desktops with the same install. I know opensuse, you can load these and choose what you want to use at the GDM screen when they're installed, so that may be a simpler option for you. Personally, I'd probably go with either Gnome until you get familiar enough with things before trying XFCE.

I don't know there's a "best" distro for a laptop. Ideally, I'd identify what kind of wireless card you have and use that as your deterinent for what you use as I would think everything else should be supported to some extent.