Well the question is really subjective.But from my experience a Ubuntu or a SuSE 10 would be the way to go.Starting out with GUI & then moving up the ladder to CLI.
I must say the installations I've done so far (on desktops as well as laptops ) Ubuntu detected hardware out of the box.Thats a boon for a newbie if you ask me.
Oh btw if you have problems with downloading then maybe you could order one for FREE ! Though it would take sometime perhaps a few days for the shipped CD to reach you.
https://shipit.ubuntu.com/