Handbrake problem

A while ago, I used handbrake to copy the first DVD of a set of two to my hard drive. 4.37gb reduced to 2.2. All good, no issues. Recently, I burned the second DVD of the set. The thing is, Handbrake seems to be significantly increasing the file size in the conversion and I can't imagine why that's happening. This was another 4.37gb DVD, converted to mp4 at 60.78% quality (the default that came up), with a resulting 5.7gb set of files!

Can anyone tell me what's going on here? I tried burning twice and even re-installed Handbrake.

Actually Handbrake can rip protected DVDs (with the help of VLC). It also is extremely easy for beginners. Select a preset and go.

HOWEVER... discussions regarding ripping protected DVDs is against forum rules. Ridge... I suggest you look for help in the Handbrake forums. As it is, the question is confusing. You say you "copied" the first DVD and "burned" the second one. It is not clear to me what you did exactly, since you would have had to have ripped the second one before burning anything, and Handbrake doesn't burn to DVDs, or anything.