So I have this lame old Gateway Solo 5300 with a 900MHz P3 and 256MB RAM. I tried to get 512MB in it but it won't take it, so even Win2K is a dog on it, just barely works at all and too slow for practical use.

I have limited experience with Ubuntu, but I need a distro that will allow it to be a reasonably usable web surfer and for watching simple online videos like YouTube. I also want a free distro, so what should I get? I used this test to figure one out and it told me Open SuSE, but that comes on a DVD and this has no DVD player (CD only) and I don't even think it has USB 2.0 so my external might now work and I also fear it will be much too slow for any standard modern distro.

It is for a lady who learns PC stuff well but is totally new to Linux and just needs it until she gets money in October to get something nicer.