New user/potential convert

I was in a class at university of Phoenix, (not computer related), and a
fellow student named Mike did a presentation on Linux. I was so fascinated
I went out and purchased a second home computer. I now have a Compaq
Presario, and an HP. I would like to set one up as a Linux machine. While
I am not computer illiterate, I certainly am not a techie. I have read on
linux.com about mandrake being a pretty user friendly installation. Is this
what you would recommend, and also which machine would be better suited to
accept the installation?

P.S. I hope to also meet some of you at the user meetings in January.