HandBrake

Hello

Thank you for this wonderful program.
How can I better configure this program to watch videos on windows pc, I have preference for smaller ( maximum 2GB)files to save on external hd
thank you so much

I have 5HD external mostly documentaries

Lots of ambiguity. What resolution do you want to watch in? What resolution is the source? What are YOUR preferences? That last part is something we can't judge from what you've posted.

There is a way to find out, but adults don't like it. It's called "play". You do it by trying the different presets, encode short sections of the video, and view the results to see if they're what you like. Repeat until you find what matches YOUR preferences.

If something is close, but not quite what you want, post the required activity log, and we'll see if we can help you tweak it closer.

Use x265 codec as it compresses much better than any other.
Use a one-pass quality target (instead of a 2-pass bitrate target), with RF 20-22, depending on your file size goal.
Compress audio with AAC.

You should get what you want

Sorry what I'm looking for is a pdf manual, thanks