As long as you own the CD you have the fair use to rip it to your personal computer(s). If you then sell or trade the CD, then you no longer have the fair use of the ripped files.
best external drive for ripping CDs
I am doing a little test drive of an LG external drive and DBPowerAmp ripping CDs to storage. Appears to be working fine.
But the drive was purdy cheap ($50). It hums and has a buzz to the case while reading. Makes me wonder about the quality of the rip. What brands/models of external drives do people use for ripping CDs to ensure the file quality is not affected? Or does it not matter?