New to iPod Video.. help w/DVD's, etc

[johndalt]

Hello All,
I just received the 5G black 80G iPod video the other day. I have had the 30G iPod Photo for the last 2 years so this was a nice upgrade.
I have read a lot of the tutorials and forum posts regarding DVD or other movie length video to iPod conversions and my question is.. Do you think it is really worth all the trouble? I post this because I would mainly use the iPod video feature ( as far as movies are concerned ) for long air travel, etc. I am in the market to purchase a portable DVD player and I see that there are a few that are made for the iPod. I see there is even one that accepts the iPod AND DVD's as well.
Some of the newer portable DVD players out there are getting thinner and lighter and have decent battery life that it makes me wonder if it is just worth it to carry a small case of DVD's in a carry on backpack rather than deal with all the DVD burning and converting that seems could take days per movie. Not to mention all the other detailed specifications, file type, pixelated issues, etc. I would still use the iPod for short movies, TV series, etc.

Any thoughts? Opinions?
Thanks !!

[luke28072]

If you can afford to buy NERO recode than I highly recomend it. It allows you to set the output file size, autimatically takes care of bitrate and number of pixles. The only thing it lacks is the ability to break the encription on DVD's that prevent coppying. With a simple program like DVD shrink or DVD Decryptor it takes about 45min to 1hour to rip a dvd to iPod (mp4).