Be Excellent To Each Other

Due to an impending several week trip to America, I was planning to rip a couple discs of some TV show box-sets I am currently working through onto my laptop. Having never actually done this before, I googled "dvd to avi" and have tried the first few recommended programs but none of them actually seem to work properly (horribly glitching video and popping audio). I am increasingly tempted to simply torrent the assorted episodes safe in the knowledge that they would be fine but surely I don't have to resort to such lengths.

What programs are recommended to do this, and do I have to download the latest encoder packs from somewhere as well?

Magic DVD Ripper. Does DVD-Xvid quickly and simply.

The two things i've used successfully to do this are :

Handbrake http://handbrake.fr/downloads.php
and
FormatFactory http://www.formatoz.com/download.html

The only real problem i've had with either is that they sometimes dont grab the audiotrack you want (i've ripped stuff to find i have french language or the commentary track instead of the standard english track that i wanted)

+1 for Handbrake, or just grab a torrent.

Handbrake also.

I tend to do a DVDShrink first to rip out the main movie and english audio

I use handbrake, but as Grim... says, just grab a torrent. It'll probably be quicker than ripping yourself.

DVDFab will rip a DVD to just about anything you could want (avi, MKV, IPAD etc )

Does Handbrake do all that DeCSS removal stuff as well?

Good question. I'll have to check.

Google suggests "no".

Seriously, downloading the files will be easier and quicker. You own the disks anyway.

Computer says "No"

AnyDVD running in the background will strip that out. It'll also rip a DVD to an .iso if you want to go that route instead.

I'm on OS X these days.

I never liked Handbrake.

RipIt4Me.

Rip it yourself if you don't like it, beefcake.