Okay, newbie alert and all that, but...

I am filling up my IPOD and all that jazz, and I want decent quality but I don't have high-end headphones or stereo speakers or anything like that so 128 MP3 is usually acceptable for my portable purposes.

So, I gather that EAC is the ripper of choice and I install that using the HydrogenAudio presets but I select Low Quality for ABR 128.

But, all the files it produces are somewhere in the 122-124 range. Is this normal for 128 ABR or should I tweak something else to get slightly better quality but with the same (relatively small) file size?

And now you may flame.

Yes, it is normal, ABR is not CBR (constant bit rate).
BTW, try to use NeroAACEnc. At the same bitrate quality is higher.
More informations on this site.

Doesn't sound very normal to me. ABR isn't VBR.

You shouldn't be so concerned about numbers, but rather about how the music sounds to you. Average bitrates of VBR and ABR encoded files will (in most cases normally) fluctuate depending upon the style/dynamics of the music (moreso with VBR). 4-6 kbps under target is practically nothing. If you'd rather obsess about a number than sound quality, choose CBR.

Wow man, I can't see why you'd go to the bother of using EAC and then rip in +/- 128k mp3. If you need a low bitrate at least use AAC, and honestly give iTunes a shot if you're using an ipod.

At 128k VBR, LAME and iTunes AAC tied in the last listening test, so I don't think thats true.

Yes, at 128k VBR - he is using ABR which uses a different bitrate allocation method.

Interesting. So, does the Itunes encoder work fine for 128 AAC? I was worried about compatability in the future, but I think Sony just announced they would support AAC now. So there you go.

iTunes works fine, Nero does too. I personally prefer Nero, but it's your call.