HELP: Ripping DVDs and playing from HTPC

[AaronD]

Hi

I have searched SNB and AVS forums and managed to get way too much info and am now suitably confused.

I have a need to rip the children's DVD's to my Netgear ReadyNas Duo - as I am burning money with every passing weekend, as I go back to the store to buy another copy of Ice Age I & II, Disney Princess, Nemo etc.

This link here gave me some pointers and at AVS Forums, well there the info is for a different kind of audience.

For ripping, I'd like to store the DVD in a decent quality, without the trailers, just either as an avi, or as the full dvd with menus.

So what are the best tools to use for doing this ?

For playback, mainly on a custom HTPC, currently running Windows Media Centre, also used for recording TV. The movies, will also need to be put onto an iPhone, as traveling is much easier on the ears, if the little people have something to watch.

Lastly I'd like to know if anyone has a DVD catalogue program they use, rather than just scrolling through a list ?

Hope this makes sense and apologies if this has already been covered elsewhere.

It is interesting that on this subject matter I find there are just so many options and it i difficult to determine the best / neatest approach, yet recently I investigated voip for home / business and found that much easier. Go figure.

I guess the issue for me, is that I don't want to go buying software / hardware, when I'm not entirely sure it is what I need.

Thanks
Aaron

 

[chaz]

There are several programs. My favorite combination is anydvdhd to decrypt, plus dvdshrink to compress and back up. More info below:

http://www.maximumpc.com/article/features/rip_your_movie_dvds_and_watch_them_anywhere

 

[AaronD]

Cheers Chaz, That is one helluva comprehensive dvd ripping guide.

 

[ttran55]

anydvd + cloneDVD
or Dvdfab

and selec main movie only when you rip your DVDs,

 

[sdeleeuw]

I know this post is ooooold... but check out http://www.vortexbox.org/

Basically take any ancient PC, load up the Fedora based VortexBox OS, disconnect your monitor, keyboard, and mouse and you are ready to go... Just insert the DVD, close the door, it rips it, names it, and has a perfect bit-by-bit copy for you.... DLNA server included, Squeezebox server included, iTunes server included...

In my case I'm running it on a very old Compaq Presario with an AMD XP 2600+ processor in it. I added a PCI gigabit Intel card from the junk box at work and a $20 PCI Rosewill SATA controller card so I could connect a 2TB Hitachi drive.

It sucks about 50w in idle and under load, streams all DVD files with no hiccups, and transfers at about 550mbps over the network when copying files. In our case we watch the movies with our Samsung DLNA TV.

It doesn't get any easier than telling the wife or kids to simply, open the DVD door, put a movie in, and wait 10min until the door opens when it will be ready.