I do some volunteer work and I help people with computers at this place.
Anyway, I was showing a lady how to convert a CD to a file she could watch on her notebook. Her notebook doesn’t have a DVD or CD player.
I always use the software Handbrake as it is a simple and very effective tool to covert DVDs to movie files
So I showed her how to do this and she was very excited. She then told me, “Wow, I have over 300 DVD and I can start converting tonight.”
Since it takes about 6 to 8 hours to convert a DVD to a file using Handbrake, I asked her what type of computer she had. She told me at home her husband has a laptop.
She told me she doesn’t have a desktop at all.
Now that kind of concerned me. When I use Handbrake, I usually set it up and go to bed so when I wake up the DVD is converted to a file. (mp4 or mkv file)
This is where my question came in. I don’t see an issue converting a whole lot of DVDs over a series of nights. But on a laptop? I imagine the CPU could handle it now-a-days, but I was wondering about overheating issues?
If she were to use it all night to convert a DVD to file and her husband uses it all day, I got to thinking, maybe there might be a problem with overheating. I realize laptops are not as effective as cooling as desktops.
So what do you all think? Do you think there would be a problem with using Handbrake on a laptop for a lot of DVD to movie file conversion?
Thanks for your input
The machine isn’t going to burst into flame.
If it overheats, the processor should automatically throttle down.
I’ve converted many DVD’s on my laptop. I’ve also converted the files into mp4’s for a smaller file size. Doesn’t hurt my laptop a bit. It also takes way less than 6 or 8 hours. I use other programs besides Handbrake.
Why convert? I just watched 2 DVDs on my notebook using an external DVD drive. No conversion time or hard disk space needed.
I use a macbook with a dead screen (hooked up to an external monitor) as my desktop. I use handbrake regularly, with no problems.
Shouldn’t be an issue. The laptop will dissipate heat and if it can’t it’ll lock-up or shutdown. She might have issues if its set to put itself into standby or hibernate.
The real issue here is that it is taking so long for the job to finish. H.264 is processor intensive. Might want to have her use a different codec or different program. I think the older WMV codecs looked pretty good and encoded quickly, but will use more disk space for similar quality. She might have to invest in an external disk if she’s going to do 300 anyway regardless of codec. Might just be better off buying an external DVD drive.
I just like the results with Handbrake. It does take between 6 to 8 hours with Handbrake but the quality really can’t be beat.
I know there are other programs that take less time, and other codecs but, the way I figure, if I can notice the difference, then it must be there. 
I was just a little concerned when she said 300 DVDs. I realize CPUs are built now-a-days to be used so that isn’t what concerned me as much as the ability of a laptop to shed itself of heat as effectively as a desktop.
I suggested an external DVD drive but she wants to carry as little as possible. Her idea was to convert her DVD collection to files and then put them on an external hard drive. That way she could just copy one or two movie files to her notebook to watch.
I guess I’ll suggest another program for that many DVDs and let her decide quality wise
Thanks
Sorry. I’d rather not. My software is probably illegal, as it removes the copyright protection from the DVD. I’d like to stay on the safe ground and not get specific.
I’m going to guess that, based on those encoding times, this laptop is pretty old. Because of that, the heatsink is full of junk and doesn’t work very well, so it’ll crash under those loads. That probably won’t cause any permanent damage. Probably a good idea to at least blast it with some compressed air.