For a beginner, I would suggest Mepis or Ubuntu. Mepis comes as a LiveCD and it includes a graphical installer to put it on the hard drive with minimal interaction from you.

Do any of those have default detection of wireless networks?

I run with a linksys card and.. of course.. I couldn't really install Gentoo like I wanted due to no network.

I'm running Fedora Core 3 (Fedora Core 4 is now in testing phase, you could try it instead).

FC3's very noob friendly imho. I'm not connected to the net on that box so I don't know what its net features are like, but it sure is easy.

A bit bloated though, be careful on a lower end machine, it'll slow a bit.

It is just a matter of personal taste, everyone will tell you x is better than y and so on...
That said, mine's favourite is slackware, although I love knoppix (talking about live CDs) as well...

My advice is, if you have a good connection, or someone who could download distros for you, then try several and see which one suits your needs, thats the only way to know, is like asking "which programming language is the best" or "whats the best type of music". Answer: The one you like.
Now, since we are talking about Linux, you need to have in mind that there are several distros, some are easier to install/admin that others, but in the end, its all about one kernel to rule them all, so...

I have broadband, so downloading is not a problem for me. Atm, i am downloading Slax, Mandrake 10.1 Official, Mandriva LE (it says only for members, but I found it on some FTP listed on their site (not warez) so will i be able to use it?), and KNOPPIX 3.7 EN. So I will load up the two live cds, see what its like, and then perhaps find a HDD to put Mandriva on. Is it a wise idea to make a seperate partion on my 2nd HDD to put Mandrake/rivia on?

Cheers

My vote goes to Ubuntu Linux, for several reasons: It is nice and polished, it is beginner friendly, it is based on Debian which means that it has sane package management, and it comes with a live CD (in fact there is even a unified live/install DVD).

knoppix is great fun for experimenting with, though i'm not a KDE fan myself.

There's a Gnome equivalent of Knoppix, called Gnoppix. As it happens, it is based on Ubuntu ...

Another vote for Ubuntu if you're a linux newbie. Though Fedora Core has also treated me well (not quite as newbie friendly though).

Mandrake/Mandriva is very newbie friendly, but their RPM packaging can be annoying. It's also somewhat bloated by Linux standards, so make sure you're not running a P500 with 2GB of disk space. :) If I was trying Linux for the first time in the near future, I'd be tempted by Ubuntu.