Debian Sarge is recommended since it's based on a Kernel 2.4 which is not very demanding on resources:
You can download the ISO business card cdrom or try to do a netinst CD installation
You can find all the images below:
https://www.debian.org/releases/sarge/debian-installer
Netinst (Net Installation)
You can create a new Hard Disk image and install it on your device directly on do the prework on your Desktop computer. If you choose the later you will need QEMU.
You can follow a guide here to help you get started.