You can get a free .ISO at [link|http://www.mepis.org/node/1462|http://www.mepis.org/node/1462] Mepis.com is the main site, Mepis.org has FAQs, etc.
On the package management, it seems fine. The only gotcha I had was trying to update Java. Some manual tweaking is necessary in my copy (see [link|http://z.iwethey.org/forums/render/content/show?contentid=186764|#186764] and Greg's explanation. I still haven't tried that fix yet.)
Also, I haven't done the minor hacking required to get hibernating to work on my T41. I don't know if it works out of the box with a later version.
imric is a big Mepis fan too, I'm sure he could offer some more pointers if you need them. I'm still a noob with it.
Luck!
Cheers,
Scott.