linux on a T60 -- no sound, no wireless and no external video

[nobluspam5476-MTb9uo0rH9eJIAd+swBSYQ at public.gmane.org (R. Luoma)]

For a while now, I have been trying to install a linux distribution
on a Levono T60

I have tried Fedora, Debian and Ubuntu.
While the distributions load and run, I am problems in three areas:

  - sound
  - wireless
  - <Fn><F7> monitor video switching.

In some cases I can get one or the other to work, but not all three at once.
Before wiping out the hard disk again, I am posting to this group
if anyone has suggestions for an installation most likely to succeed
(or do I need to buy a new laptop and throw the Levono away as a lemon?).

There are a wealth of suggestions for fixes from google searches,
but I am running into so many useless ones that I trying
to see if there is a better way than picking a randon distro
and a bunch of useless time-wasting "work-arounds".

Thanks,
-- 
R. Luoma