I have a Toshiba 310CDS that I have been unable to install Linux on. 
I have tried a direct install and have more recently tried to boot
from a Linux Live CD like Knoppix (various versions) and most recently
SAM.  Knoppix gets a fair way through the boot up but gets stuck, Sam
dies early in the process.  I want to know:

1.) Is there a Live Linux CD that I will be able to boot this laptop
with, without doing anything special.

2.) is there a live Linux CD that I can use to boot this laptop with
by doing something to help it get through the boot.

3.) Is there a distribution of linux that I can install on this
machine and what do I have to do to make help it get through the
install and then what else do I have to do to make sure that it
actually works.

4.) if I cannot install linux as this machine is configured out of the
factory, is there anything that I can do that does not cost more than
US$20 to allow me to install linux on this machine?

Please read this article and see it helps you solve the installation problem.: 

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Linux on the Toshiba Tecra series laptops
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http://www.astro.umd.edu/~teuben/linux/laptop/tecra710.html

Success!

Hehe Toshiba laptops have interesting problems with bus... during your
installation phase whatever distribution you are using, first switch
to manual mode then do fdisk. Create a swap partition (hex 18 I
believe). It should be at least twice the size of the ram ammount you
have installed on that machine. Then run:

mkswap /dev/hda2 (if your partition is hda2)
Then run:
swapon

Then proceed with the rest of the setup...