Windows 7: Best Software for DVD Movie Conversion??

gang I'm still in the noob category for authoring/editing/converting/streaming/storing multimedia but climbing the hill.
I use and reco DVD Flick for converting some of the common video filetypes [e.g. .avi] to format for burning to DVD, but this question goes the opposite way.
What software, and to what format, is best for hard-storage, nas etc my collection so it can be available to home theater or other playback on my lan?
I've no issues with decryption - its the step of taking the vid & audio ts folders and then converting to ??? fileformat du jour. I tried one of the popular free packages, converting to mp4 format and it stank.... really really bad - terrible quality.

what about the free version of DIVX converter?

I'd recommend HandBrake .

It's free, easiest, and one of the best tools to convert DVD's to hard storage. About the format, DivX is not the proper choice .... the best one is MKV, and handbrake does it very well, without compromising with quality and data loss.

I use AimerSoft Premium and very happy with it.

i've recently got into freemake video converter.

checkout the list of features. it seems too good to be free!

Honestly I don't bother most of the time since every conversion also is a loss of quality. So for simple storage/backup I use the ISO format. DVDFab is my weapon of choice. For conversions where I deem superior quality not really an issue or space would be a problem (like for phones, psps etc) I use FLV format (via Xilisoft Video Converter Ultimate)

-DG

just tried out handbrake for first time.
not bad at all. the colors were skewed a little vs. the source, which in this case was a high quality DVD. an oddity that likely has nothing to do with Handbrake: on my setup the default player for mkv would be DivX... when I play the file with DivX it routes audio to the system device which is a common Realtek high def part, and the sound is the PC output rather than HDMI, and I couldn't find a way to alter. With VLC its correct.

Try this: http://www.formatoz.com/ It is fast and produces good quality.

your link doesn't work, whs.

I know. I had a little problem. But it is fixed now.

freshly rev'd, I see.