Lubuntu-based suggests a minimum 384MB of RAM according to the Ubuntu site; I have an old laptop on which I upped the RAM to just that (maximum the board would take) but it would barely run Lubuntu. I don't really use that old machine, just keeping it for "play", but I have currently got it running Bodhi, with which it seems happier.

I don't recall any driver problems with either if these distributions. Many Linux distro's seem to keep drivers for old hardware, though they may sometimes struggle to keep up with newer stuff.

I find Bodhi also runs nicely on my bedside machine (Aspire 1, 8GB SSD, 1.5GB RAM) on which I am making this post. Another on for you to try, Phil, should you be inclined towards distro-hopping.