Woody vs Sarge vs debian variants on older equipment

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Hi folks...

I just purchased a 570E thinkpad (PIII 500MHz) last week.  As well as a
Cisco 340 Aironet wireless card.  I'm hoping to install linux on it and
am trying to do as much homework as I can before they get here.  I've
searched a lot on the topic of installing debian on the 570E and have
found some good information, but it's a little patchy and/or dated.

I've found one post saying that SimplyMepis is the way to go, and then
another post saying that Ubuntu is *really* the way to go... stating
that the Cisco 340 wireless card can be automatically detected and installed.

I've run woody on a server at home for years now and have enjoyed just
using it.  I've read,
however, that if I'm going to go with straight debian on a laptop -
it's better to go
with Sarge.   I'm pretty confused now.  Antoher thing I'm not sure
about is if I should go with
kernel 2.4 or 2.6.  I don't plan on using any fancy peripherals, esp
since the laptop
doesn't have usb 2.0, only 1.1.  Any advice would be much appreciated.

Thanks.

ps.  And I already know about not installing i2c or lmsensors when
configuring the kernel.
(although I do wonder if this is only for 2.4 or for 2.6 as well.)