I did this prior to my deployment. I got most of my CDs, at least all the ones that matter. It’s nice because I’ve got instant access to any song I want in a portable form (I put them all on an external hard drive) but I miss the niceties of actually having the CD with me, such as the linear notes.

I ripped them all with EAC + LAME and have no complaints about file size or sound quality. EAC + LAME is fast too.