Debian/ubuntu user: Arch on older laptop?

I'm not new to Linux, having been running it full time at home for 5 or 6 years. At the same time, I don't really consider myself a power user: I'm a computer hobbyist and don't work in the computer or tech job sector. I started off with Mandrake, Redhat, and Slack variants, but moved to Debian once I figured out and could appreciate the packaging system. Then, I went with Ubuntu once it came out.
I've looked at Arch over the years and wanted to try it out. One of the reasons it has appealed to me is because it seems better optimized for the hardware I'm using (usually older x86 stuff). Have I understood correctly about Arch being optimized for that sort of hardware? In any case, I will get an older laptop soon and this seems like it might be a great opportunity to give Arch a try.
The laptop is a Toshiba Portege with 300 Mhz Celeron CPU, 6GB HD, and 96 MB RAM. I thought about putting a barebones Ubuntu on it and sort of building up needed software from scratch (I've done the same several times over the years with both Debian and Ubuntu). But I really thing this system's resources are borderline for Ubuntu--even if it's a minimalist installation (lightweight WM, limited # of apps and running services, etc). Anyone disagree that this laptop might be a good target for an Arch installation?
One hitch with installing the OS on this laptop is that it has neither a CD nor a floppy drive. I would get around that in Debian/Ubuntu by simply removing the HD, sticking it in another system that does have a CD, doing a sort of base install, then moving the drive back into the laptop to finish up the installation over the 'net. I presume a similar tack could be taken with an Arch install, correct? Any particular tips given that installation strategy?
I think I'll close out this series of remarks on that note. If I actually go ahead with Arch I'll undoubtedly be posting more in this thread and on your forums. Responses will be appreciated.
Thanks,
James

The current ftp iso has been causing problems for some users, from what I've read on the forums (some issue with permission settings on the /tmp folder).  Core ISO is a safe bet -- this is what I normally use.  The only "problem" with the core iso, compared to the ftp iso, is that the ftp iso auto-configures network during installation and these settings are preserved in the installed version; the core iso simply puts some default values in the network configuration section of /etc/rc.conf -- not a big deal.
A general note -- a new set of isos is about to be released, it should be no more than a few days now...  It shouldn't really make a difference, in the end, your system will be brought up to date on the first pacman -Syu in either case.

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