Deamo:

 

I've always used EAC with the LAME mp3 codec, which i think is typically included with EAC anyway.

 

It can be a bit fiddly to setup sometimes, but that is only done once

 

Thank You

It has been a large number of years since I ripped CDs.... but when I was doing that I just used Windows Media Player.  It always did a reasonable job and was very easy to use.  Still seems to support it (though I'm not in a position to test that right now).

nzkc:

 

It has been a large number of years since I ripped CDs.... but when I was doing that I just used Windows Media Player.  It always did a reasonable job and was very easy to use.  Still seems to support it (though I'm not in a position to test that right now).

 

Agreed. Use it all the time and never found the need for any third party app.

I've just used iTunes in the past. Allows you to set bit rate etc. Easy.

Windows Media Player was the same I think.

CUETools and see if lame at -V 5 gives you the filesize you're after to fit your storage. (edit: note that you'll be after track rather than image extraction and will probably want to customise your naming template)

shapes:

what is the best program that uses the best mp3 encoder to rip a couple of songs of some cds i own to 128mp3 vbr for my old 256mb mp3 player

I've always sworn by dbpoweramp.

Not free. But dead easy to use.

Can also be set up to automatically produce FLAC archive copies and secondary mp3/aac copies for use on a phone and then put them in separate folder structures.

All in a single rip operation. Which is not to be underestimated if you've got a few hundred discs to do!

Tagging also a better experience than EAC last time I used it (which was years ago, I'll admit).