Hardware Questions: Asus M5200N, Ubuntu, GPRS and an iPod Touch?

Moving on from the horrible tax situation, I’m struggling to get three pieces of hardware working. I’m terrible with hardware. Can anyone help me get these working better, please?

I’ve been lent an Asus M5200N after I busted my shoulder with a 7kg laptop at #davebcs. I’ve managed to enable processor scaling as ondemand, but like the page says, the fan is noisy. Other sites report that the Centrino’s thermal limit is 100C, so is it OK to set the fan not to kick in until 78C on the sensor? The default is 40C which means it’s permanently on – the coolest the fan makes it is about 74C.
The Asus has Ubuntu on it (intrepid I think). Is there an easier way to get my three GPRS connection working than copying the config files from the old laptop and using the terminal? Network Manager doesn’t seem to work and I can’t see what it’s trying to do or why it’s failing (where’s its debug log?). Alternatively, is there a distribution better suited to occasional laptop use than Ubuntu?
I’ve been lent an iPod Touch. However, when plugging it into the USB on the Asus, the screen says simply “iTunes” and the quick start guide says to connect it to iTunes. Can gtkpod do this, is there another way to start it up from Ubuntu, Debian or GoboLinux, or shall I beg access to a computer running iTunes?

Thanks for any answers. I may send out small gifts in return because questions 2 and 3 seem very awkward to me.