Sorry if this question has been asked before, but I can't find any posts on any forums that summarize it. Just a bunch of mismatched information.
I have an Alienware laptop as follows:
Intel Core2Duo 2.0GHz
2gb RAM
100gb 7200rpm SATA II HD
Optiarc AD-5540A DVD drive
Windows Vista Ultimate
I am trying to rip all my movies and TV show DVD's to store on my 2TB NAS to watch on AppleTV, so using Handbrake (and AnyDVD to get past copy protection) I am averaging 20fps. Sometimes it jumps to 23 or 24, even up to 28, but also goes back down to 18, 16, 14 or worse, the average is 20fps.
This is worse than a 1:1 ratio for ripping.
So a few questions:
Is this about what I should expect from this combination?
Would it benefit me to buy an external USB or FireWire DVD drive to speed things up, or would external be even slower?
What kind of ripping speeds are other people getting on average with laptop computers?
If I were to build a desktop PC specifically designed to rip DVD's for up to, say, $1000. What speed should I be able to aim for? 60fps? 100fps? 120fps? This is the question I can't seem to find answered anywhere.
I encode to the default AppleTV setting on Handbrake. So, standard DVD resolution, 2500kbps bitrate, AAC + AC3 audio, 160kbps audio bitrate.
I also have a MacBook Air with the external superdrive, but rip speeds are so pathetic I don't even bother. 8-14fps at best. I use my MBA as my main computer so sitting there waiting for a TV show DVD with 4 episodes to rip at 90+ minutes per episode sucks. I am wondering if this is a limitation of the superdrive or the 1.8GHz Core2Duo/2gb RAM/64gb SSD system. Using VisualHub to encode DivX to H264 is also painfully slow. I use my alienware laptop with Videora for that, even though I hate the interface.
Thanks 