*musters up best tfabris voice*

Congradulations on your new toy! Definantly check the the FAQ. It has a ton of great stuff in it, including everything you just asked. As for value, you can't go wrong if you want the best quality with Exact Audio Copy and the Lame encoder. I hear some others (musicmatch, audiogalaxy/lame) are good as well though. Good Luck with everything, and definantly spend a ton of time getting your tags right the first time, it's worth it.

john

edit: dang, two minutes late