RevdKathy,
Please consider installing cygwin from http://www.cygwin.com/
cygwin provides unix commands inside windows. It really is a really easy install and would make copy and paste methods much easier to follow. It is also a good way to get your feet wet using unix commands without having to reboot. Installing cygwin is mostly clicking on default selections, except I would recommend selecting unix style line endings and the "all users" option.

Also, it might be a good idea to select everything instead of just the default packages.
Mastering a subset of unix commands and assimilating the unix philosophy can make many seemingly complex tasks simple, easy, and fast. Sort of like the benefits of learning to walk or operate a motor vehicle.

Once tablet-encode (which does require perl and mencoder (part of mplayer/mencoder)) is installed, there is no need to tweak settings. It is basically a wrapper around mencoder that is pre-optimized for each Nokia tablet.

perl is not some obscure dependency; it is a basic tool. mencoder is an extremely veritile encoder. tablet-encode tames the complexity that comes with versatility.