I've done comparison testing with handbrake, and I would recommend against it for prepping footage. On Mac at least, Avidemux is a much better option. It is hard to effectively detelecine and not end up with ghosting with handbrake. See my Top of the Rain Revisited video, which used handbrake footage. Handbrake also pretty much ate itself when I tried to get it to work on Macross: Do You Remember Love. If you do not have access to Avisynth because of a PPC processor, I recommend Avidemux and no other.
As for my attitude, I wasn't just reacting to the posts above, but also posts elsewhere. I have this reputation for being a real elitist whenever a newbie shows up, and I think posts like my above are used to justify that view. However, it's a case of context. This is not the only thread where I feel that HollyFlower91 offered questionable advice with an air of authority, and it is not the only thread where s/he has dismissed editors that a simple day of lurking would have shown to be integral parts of the community.
Posts like the above come only when someone has really made themselves unpopular with me, and are the tiny minority of my posts in regards to new editors. My reputation, such as it is, is almost entirely undeserved. Most of my posts are helpful, and are the reason I wrote as many stickies and guides as I have. I am not anti-newbie, and I welcome new blood into the community. Just don't walk in like you own the place, take some time to learn the standards, both technical and ethical, of the community.
And I will be happy to help you.

Mister Hatt wrote:Handbrake and SUPER both suck. On the side, maintaining AMVApp doesn't make you know what you're doing, it makes you slightly more knowledgeable than the people using it. It still does some silly things.
My money's with Zarx.