Adding in the results from experiment 2. I used the presets from the wiki to encode a one hour dvd that I knew wasn't encoded. This was a long haul - those presets take an age and output a huge file. A one hour dvd is about a 2gb file once transfered. (And I was using the old, slow XP pc).

However, I can say that the result is nothing short of awesome! The files I've been playing with so far are 1960s and 70s childrens animations, so quality was not perfect on the originals, and I couldn't really comment of the quality of output. This, on the other hand, was a high quality video of classical music and footage of streams, sea and wildlife. And effect is stunning. It really makes the most of the n900's gorgeous screen resolution.

So now my n900 has hours of amusement watching kiddies shows and something classy and relaxing for those stressy moments when even liqflow can't calm me down.