Which Version/Flavor for this Old Dell

I have a Dell Latitude M233Xt That I have tried downloading numerous versions of linux, but so far have unsuccessfully installed any of them. I keep getting errors on install. Although most of them will not get past the point of searching for the media. I have a CD-Rom Drive. I have tried;
Xubuntu
DSL
Vector
Compact Alt Linux
Alinux

Just to name a few. I would like to get this up and running just to have web-browsing and minor office apps. I understand I don't really need a distro with Gnome or KDE which is fine, I just need it to work. Anyone have any advice please let me know!!
Thanks

In order for us to really help you we need more information. Giving us a Dell model number won't tell most of us what kind of hardware you have. It would also help if we knew what error messages you've received in the past. Pick one of the distros you've tried (such as Xubuntu) and write down the error you get, word for word, and post it here.

A base install sounds like what you want to do. Linux is made for old and newer machines. Debian 3.1 will install a base system. I'm not sure if it installs a browser such as lynx or not, but this is just an idea.

I have successfully installed Ubuntu 5.10 (with GUI) and Debian 3.1 (base install) on older Dell laptops. The base install for Debian doesn't include lynx or links but you can use apt-get afterwards. But I don't think your problem is with the OS itself.

instead of installing more distros you might want to find out why it errors out through the install. i have an old 75 mhz laptop the cd-rom drive went bad so i kept getting errors a ways through installing slackware.

I keep a Dell D300XT here as one of the secondary or backup machines and as with the primary unit the little Dell is a dual boot laptop.

If you wish, try to get hold of a copy of Mandrake v7.0. It should work with your 233. It'll be slow but it should work - check the size of your RAM. Might be worth it to add to what is already installed.

The only problem I really have with this older configuration of hardware and software is Internet access and I suspect the problem is me and not the hardware (with an external modem (Diamond Supra)) or the software.

Hope this helps.

tyc