Theres loads of DVD rippers about , I use DVDShrink . I have heard DVDFab is good too.If you convert a DVD to a avi file you will be left with a MASSIVE file . I would think it should be converted to a Divx file . This too is an avi file , but is compressed to one tenth of the original size. I can rip DVD's and put them onto my smartphone or PDA but use PocketDivXconverter .This converts the files and also re-sizes them to suit the screen size .They still end up as avi's but are tiny in size . hope this helps