Shouldn't be a problem, roseandjim... although I'm no Mod, so my opinion doesn't count for much
Concerning the question of hardware compatibility, it is true that hardware compatibility issues and lack of drivers used to plague Linux considerably. Whilst even the newer releases of the major distros are nowhere near as hassle-free (as drivers are concerned) as a Windows install, things have improved drastically. I've yet to find any piece of hardware that Mandrake 10.1 has had problems with. It works flawlessly with my Toshiba laptop that has both a wireless modem and a touchpad, if that's any help to you.
Your best bet is to Google it - you should easily find if your particular make/model is prone to problems. This might even lead you to choosing one particular distro over another.
Oh, and if anyone's interested, I have some Linux ebooks that I'll put on my site to download. Just say the word if you are.