We like movies like most everyone else and there are the good old stand-by’s that we take out to watch when nothing else is on our 100+ channels. What I don’t like is the whole DVD in the DVD player bit. I like to have the ability to watch a DVD either upstairs on my Neuros OSD, downstairs on the Xbox, on my Blackberry or our Creative Zen when we are camping. So how to make this all work. I have tried several programs and to date the best I have come up with is the following. To get a DVD protected or not into the computer I use DVD Decrypter. This free program is rock solid for converting an entire DVD or just the main movie to VOB, IFO and BUP. You also have the choice to convert to an ISO. Why an ISO, because it is just one file and can be mounted and viewed using software or read by some cool devices like the Tvisto Galaxy, which is great for taking to the rental cabin.
Ok, now that you have your movie in VOB, IFO and BUP, the next step is to convert it into a format that can be viewed on one of the mentioned devices. For this I have yet to find anything that works as well as Handbrake. This is another free piece of software that will convert a folder of VOB, IFO and BUP files into MP4, AVI and some other formats. If you plan to use the Windows Media Center with an Xbox see my entry on that for issues that I found converting files. As for the Divx converting, you need to get the Divx Converter, and that does cost money. I have to admit that the quality is very good for the file size. My conclusion on the whole converting is that you need to convert to the best format for what you are planning to use for playback. For example the Xbox, my current findings are AVI and for little hand held video players, best to use MP4.