It's taken me a couple of weeks of experimenting on and off, and trying out a variety of free and commercial software, but I've worked out a method for getting the best video transfers from DVD to the video iPod -- nice and smooth with great audio. I thought I'd share it here:

1. Rip the DVD to a hard drive folder with DVD Shrink. DVD Shrink will handle most encrypted and copy-protected DVDs. If not, DVD Decrypter can usually do it. Note that neither program is maintained anymore (they're illegal). However, they can found on the internet with a little searching.

2. Convert the VOB files in the hard drive folder to MPEG using the Joiner function in VideoReDo. You'll wind up with a single, large mpeg file.

3. Using WinAVI iPod converter, transcode the mpeg file to mp4. I've found that WinAVI is better than any of the other converters because it produces the smoothest video -- no jerkiness at all -- and, it allows compensating for anamorphic (widescreen) videos that are in other than 16:9 format. You'll have to tweak the AC3 filter (which can be found in the control panel on Win machines) to get maximum volume. Also be sure that the AC3 filter is set for stereo and not surround, or you'll find you lose parts of the soundtrack.

4. Transfer the resulting file to your iPod using iTunes or a 3rd party program like Redchair Anapod.

This is a faster process then it sounds, but will produce the absolute best results.

Did you try Pocket DVD Wizard 28 bucks or so-works great moving DVD to my treo
or IPOD media Studio

i use "mac the ripper" to rip dvd's. it's very easy to use and works on both copy protected and non-copy protected dvd's and the documentation (about 14-17 pages) is great and well written.

once the dvd is ripped, i use roxio's "popcorn" to burn a new dvd or convert the dvd to i-pod format. popcorn has a "convert to player" (top center below the title bar of the main screen) option and simply check the "VIDEO_TS Folder" radio button (left side slide out panel) and then select the video using the "select" button (middle of the main screen) which will in turn open a dialog box-the rest is selecting as you would in any mac dialog box-find the ripped dvd folder you want, open it,select the VIDEO_TS Folder and click choose.

after converting, the next step is to simply drag and drop the converted file into i-tunes and then update your i-pod (tho i do believe that popcorn has an option to place the converted file directly into i-tunes for you).

it is really quite simple tho it will take some time (ripping-20-60 minutes) and coverting is another 60 but it's about as flawless a process as i've seen

Machine Name: iMac G5 (pre-intel)
Machine Model: PowerMac12,1
CPU Type: PowerPC G5 (3.1)
Number Of CPUs: 1
CPU Speed: 2.1 GHz
L2 Cache (per CPU): 512 KB
Memory: 512 MB
Bus Speed: 700 MHz
Boot ROM Version: 5.2.6f1

This is a good site for video conversion tutorials/walkthroughs from practically anything to practically anything:
http://www.videohelp.com

That's one I didn't try, but I did work my through about half-a-dozen others. What I found notable about WinAVI was two things -- it was the only one that allowed me to adequately adjust for anamorphic widescreen video (other programs attempted to do so, but for greater-than-16:9 ratios, still resulted in a distorted image, and it produced the absolute smoothest video, whereas every other program I tried produced a somewhat jerky result.

If you just want to go from DVD->Ipod, it doesn't get any easier than Instant Handbrake. Here's a screenshot

Well, maybe, but only if you're running MacOS or Linux.

Sorry PTravel, I meant that for the Mac user. Anyway, if you're not running Mac or Linux, you should be.

Ah, another MacLitist. Have you got Windows running on your new Mac yet?

Of course not. I play my video games on a console. Why would I need Windows?

Actually, I use Windows in the office. I'm trying to convince my boss that a mac with Parallels would serve just as well for my Visual Studio development, but so far no joy. He's addicted to $400 Dells, and several years ago I talked him into new hardware by explaining the benefits of standardized machines with ghosted hard drives. I never dreamed that VS would run perfectly on a mac. Now he uses all my good arguments against me.

On the mac side...
Handbreak to rip and re-encode for video ipod...one program, one step
http://handbrake.m0k.org/

isquint does the same thing for other video formats (AVI, etc)...one program, one step.
http://www.isquint.org/

On the PC side, go to store.apple.com and buy a mac

Actually, I like the TVharmony stuff and and dvdshrink is great.

Easy utilities to use:

http://www.ipod-video-converter.org

http://www.effectmatrix.com/total-video-converter

For what it's worth, this is the Jodix converter, which was one that I tried. It consistently locked up on my otherwise-clean-and-well-configured machine and could only be ended with TaskManager;