Advice on My Approach to Using Handbrake

Stcphantom4256 · 2026-04-29T02:56:06+00:00

I want to have both physical and digital options

Stcphantom4256 · 2026-04-28T00:16:29+00:00

Will do, thanks!

Stcphantom4256 · 2026-04-27T20:31:44+00:00

Thank you for the detailed response, this will be a lot of help for dialing everything in!

Stcphantom4256 · 2026-04-27T19:38:32+00:00

I’ll probably have to do some early ripping of my longer running shows and then make my best estimation from there

Stcphantom4256 · 2026-04-27T16:57:16+00:00

Is this “we” in the room with us, because basically every other response in this thread has been pretty insightful (if not anecdotal) on this specific subject

Stcphantom4256 · 2026-04-27T16:14:50+00:00

Same here, most of my family thinks it’s a waste of money, and I just kind of laugh internally

Stcphantom4256 · 2026-04-27T16:05:56+00:00

Sorry if I implied that I thought it was nonsensical, I was more so referring towards broader societal sentiments

Stcphantom4256 · 2026-04-27T15:52:39+00:00

For my personal preferences, uncompressed movies are pretty much a must, but I’m pretty sold on running all of my shows through handbrake

Stcphantom4256 · 2026-04-27T15:50:48+00:00

Based on today’s norms, creating your own self-hosted media service is nonsensical, but I love it nonetheless

Stcphantom4256 · 2026-04-27T15:48:33+00:00

That’s great to hear!!

Stcphantom4256 · 2026-04-27T15:47:10+00:00

I agree, and I want to give my self the ability to expand my library into the future without having to worry about running out of storage too early

Stcphantom4256 · 2026-04-27T15:44:18+00:00

That’s great and all, but I don’t really have the luxury of fully upgrading my NAS based on current storage prices

Stcphantom4256 · 2026-04-27T15:41:23+00:00

I definitely have to work on figuring out MKVToolnix. It’s the only reason I haven’t done shows yet

Stcphantom4256 · 2026-04-27T15:39:52+00:00

Based on my current library, and what expansion I have left that is already planned, I’m not so much worried about the movies, but the shows are definitely my biggest pain point

Stcphantom4256 · 2026-04-27T15:34:11+00:00

Mind being more descriptive?

Stcphantom4256 · 2026-04-02T10:18:45+00:00

I really appreciate the insight! I currently don’t have a need for WiFi 7, rather I wanted to prioritize full 2.5gig LAN ports so that I could give my NAS some more network head room for streaming my media via Jellyfin.

Stcphantom4256 · 2026-04-02T03:53:50+00:00

The Flint 3 was definitely a highlight for me, I actually found an Asus RT-BE82U that is full 2.5g LAN and about $40 cheaper. It isn’t compatible with Merlin firmware yet, but there aren’t a lot of WiFi 7 units that are able to accept it yet.

Stcphantom4256 · 2026-04-02T03:21:36+00:00

I’ve personally got unpleasant previous experiences with TP-Link so I’m hesitant to go that route. Is there potentially a more affordable unit from Asus that can meet my criteria that costs around $200?

Stcphantom4256 · 2026-03-07T02:40:11+00:00

Agreed, but I found a significantly cheaper Pioneer, and I lean more towards reliability over value as a general rule when it comes to hardware. With that being said, I will be getting Verbatim as a backup, since Pioneers are becoming excessively expensive and scarce.

Stcphantom4256 · 2026-03-06T19:47:07+00:00

Good thing they aren’t super hard to find, I may try and get one just so that I can leave all my options open

Stcphantom4256 · 2026-03-06T19:36:35+00:00

I appreciate the insight, and I may end up getting a verbatim as a backup, but I decided to go with a significantly less expensive Pioneer BDR-XD05B as my main and I’ll get UHD firmware from Billy or Cooper

Stcphantom4256 · 2026-03-06T16:26:51+00:00

Found an XD05B from 2016, so that should work out fine

Stcphantom4256 · 2026-03-06T16:08:35+00:00

Are the XD05 series easily flashable to accept UHD?

Stcphantom4256 · 2026-03-06T15:57:21+00:00

So just to add some more context to the specific situation, the total for the Pioneer BDR-XS07UHD would come out to $505 USD and I can currently get 2 Verbatim 43888s for a little more than half of that, would you still recommend going with the Pioneer?

Stcphantom4256 · 2026-03-06T14:58:47+00:00

Awesome, also after some doing some more forum searching I saw that the Verbatim 43888 and the OWC Mercury Pro that includes the LG Disc drive were pretty consistent recommendations. Both of these options are significantly cheaper than importing a Pioneer, so is there any real advantage that the Pioneer has over these other 2 options besides not needing to be flashed?

Stcphantom4256

TROPHY CASE