I tried debian and I really like it. I have also tried some main stream like SuSE and Fedora. SuSE was kind of slow and bloated. Fedora was buggy and Mandrake is probably like SuSE.

So, I narrowed my options: Debian, Mepis, Slackware, maybe gentoo but probably not. (don't want to wait long to install stuff)

Now the reason I liked debian and want to change is:
If you don't apt-get dist-upgrade for a month, then you get all kinds of dependency problems because it upgrades out of order and it's a pain to fix.

Does Mepis, slackware, or gentoo have this problem?

Can someone suggest a way to fix it so I can stick to Debian. Better hardware support would be nice too.

I don't know what is a problem with a Slackware.

Slackware does not have this problem, 'cause it just hasn't apt-get like package system. Ok, you do have things like swaret, but it isn't very healthy for your slack system...

Although slackware doesn't have such a system, you don't have much dep-probs. That is because slack installs default a lot of libs, this way compiling is easy and you have fewer probs w/binary packs.

I know you are probably taking slack off your list after you read this, but you should really give it a chance. Slack installs and configures like a breez, it is as light or bloated as YOU want it to be. Really give it a chance and you won't regret it!

Yup I agree with that.

Although in slack you manage your own dependencies, which is not really hard, once you get used to it.