I use Ubuntu on both of my systems and have for a long time. One big Ubuntu advantage is the large number of users on http://ubuntuforums.org. Since you aren't satisfied with Ubuntu, I'd recommend Mint. The user interface is different but underneath it's still Ubuntu. Mint can be easier to setup for media that isn't open source. Ubuntu releases a new version every six months so if it's been a while since you last tried it you'll see lots of improvement with recognizing hardware and the user interface.