MacTheRipper

If you mean actually storing DVD movies on the hard drive of the computer, then yes. Use MacTheRipper to rip the video_TS folders from any DVD you want to store on the computer. Well, yes, but wouldn't it be easier to have the iBook downstairs connected to the TV? That way, you won't need to run any more cabling, etc. For that, you would need to run a VNC server...

The easiest method is to use MacTheRipper to rip the DVD, then use Roxio Popcorn to burn the resulting Video_TS folder to a blank DVD. In the handful of cases where Popcorn refuses to take the file, you can recompress it using DVD2OneX, then burn in Popcorn. There are a handful of free, non-commercial equivalents to Popcorn but that, at least, is my method for backing up...

http://www.versiontracker.com/dyn/moreinfo/macosx/15473 That'll do it. You have to first extract the DVD and remove the copy protection with a program like MacTheRipper (which could be illegal where you live), then ffmpegx will allow you to create iPod-compatible video files from the ripped DVD files.

One or more "rip" apps would do the trick. For example, MacTheRipper will take the DVD, strip its copy protection (version 3 is preferred for newer movies), and place a folder on your HD containing the VIDEO_TS folder for that movie. DVD Player reads that file. Budget about 9gb per DVD.

I just ripped a DVD with mactheripper and I don't have Popcorn to burn it onto a DVD... ...

MacTheRipper to read DVDs to HD, DVD2oneX to compress, then a burn app (I use Toast).

I agree with Bob. And OWC support has a very informative video on how to install the drive in your Mac. And the 110 can do DL discs. I just experimented with backing up a commercial DVD onto a DL. After MacTheRipper did its thing, Toast7 wrote the 4.5X DVD in 11 minutes -- no hour of compression needed, and picture quality was magnificent. I was almost impressed enough ...

There are three steps to copying a commercial DVD: rip - to remove copy protection, compress as needed to bring the file to the capacity of your DVD-R, and burning. You missed step 1 and duplicated steps 2-3. Popcorn compresses and burns all by itself. DVD2OneX (v2) now has built-in burning in addition to compression. Ripping can be done via several programs, the most...

I'm going to try using MPEG4 video instead of H.264. If that doesn't work, I'll rip it with MacTheRipper and use ffmpegX to convert it, although I'm reluctant to do that because ffmpegX frequently returns dead mp4s for me. ...

Thanks for the suggestion; sadly it didn't work. I even tried ripping the contents from the DVD to the hard disk (using MacTheRipper) and then using that source, and the same thing happened.