Want to archive your DVDs to your hard drive? Convert them for viewing on your iPhone or Zune HD? What you need is a good DVD ripper.
From now until September 30, Digiarty Software is giving away WinX DVD Ripper Platinum, which normally sells for $24.95.
Just pop a DVD in your drive, fire up the program, and choose an output format: AVI, MP4, WMV, iPhone, PSP, 3GP, or any of half a dozen others.
DVD Ripper Platinum has a clean, simple interface; I think that most users will have zero trouble using the program. Advanced users have the option of tweaking video and audio settings, like bit rate and resolution.
I just tried the program with a DVD of mine, and it worked quickly and flawlessly. I'd recommend disabling subtitles, which are enabled by default.
There are, of course, some decent freeware rippers out there, most notably Handbrake and DVD Fab, but WinX DVD Ripper Platinum offers a friendly interface, a flotilla of output options, and the satisfaction of getting for free something that's usually $25. Score!