How to know what hardware works well with linux?

Check Linux hardware compatibility list http://www.linux-drivers.org/

http://www.ubuntuhcl.org/

You can check the hardware compatibility list at www.linuxdrivers.org

If you have time to spend, you can try using some live cd, like ubuntu or mandriva.

If the livecd run correctly, is a good sign that it will work at your system.

2 list sites: linux.org/hardware/ linuxcompatible.org/compatibility.html

This is a little more user-friendly and helps you see general trends: http://linux.com/news/hardware/drivers/8203-is-my-hardware-linux-compatible-find-out-here