I have almost these exact specs, except mine is a P3 and not a celeron.  
I use Xubuntu (xfce) and have found it a pleasure to use.
-Mark

Radu-Cristian Fotescu wrote:
> Folks, 
>
> I might be polluting this list, but I'm having several questions and
> observations, so I thought that sending a mail to Urs wouldn't be the bes
> t
> choice.
>
> I was looking for a *reliable* Linux distro that would work fast with a
> 8-y.o. low-end laptop (HP Omnibook XE3, Celeron-128k, 850 MHz, 256 MB RAM
>
> PC-100, slow CD-ROM). 
> ...snip...