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Gentoo is very difficult for the average Linux user to use because it currently has no installer. Here is the current set of instructions for how to set it up. They're not too hard, but you have to know Linux more than in passing to set it up. For me, the only part that sucks is setting up my 21.3" LCD because xorgconf is fairly tempermental about configuring it.

Also, Gentoo can take the better part of an entire day to install unless you opt for the binary package CDs. I usually install straight from source because by the time you run "emerge --sync" after installation, chances are you'll have to rebuild everything from scratch again. The upside is that it tends to perform better under pressure and I think part of that is due to some patches from the Gentoo team.

The biggest advantage though is that Portage has such a huge library. You can choose archaic versions of most Linux tools or you can go bleeding edge. AFAIK, Gentoo was the first major distribution to support X.Org 6.8.2, which was a fairly significant release.

I'd recommend you try out VidaLinux instead. It uses Fedora's installer and configuration tools and is easy to get used to. It also seems to have an almost perfect compatability with Gentoo, unlike Mandrake and RedHat these days.