Encoding (not the DAE part, *just* the encoding) time for me on an AMD duron 700 is cut in half. I only did a couple of tests but on average if a song showed an ETA of 5 minutes, after I added the --vbr-new switch then the ETA was around 2 and a half minutes. The switches that I'm using:

--alt-preset standard
--disptime 20 (delay between display updates)
--nohist (disable histogram display)

Running these with EAC is not a silly question, lopan, because that's how I do it! Just go to the EAC->Compression options menu and select the "External Compression" tab. You should already see the lame options in the "Additional command line options" box. Right before the "%s" add in "--vbr-new" and you're all set.

There'a a FAQ section talking about encoding and the pros of VBR.

And finally, ClownBurner, I'm using a wicked crappy IDE CDROM drive for my DAE and it only goes about 3.5X, my older Plextor 12/20 just bit the dust and I need to get a replacement.

later,
ajay