OK, I have done a lot of searching, tried many of the suggestions, but am just not getting what I want. GOAL IS SIMPLE: Take the 500+ DVDs and the few Blu Rays I have and build a digital library that I can access on my Xbox 360 and two other future media extenders. I want the best quality media format with least space usage that can be read by both the Xbox 360 and Windows Media Center. The setup: Custom Built Quad Core PC with Bluray reader built in, couple year old dual core laptop with DVD player/write, and Xbox360. All are running Wifi N. Everything is already connected (For now... Want to eventually get another CPU on board to be media server, but too far away and running Wireless G).
Questions:
Best software to do what I want (Perfect world, this would be easy and free, but open to minimal cost solutions)?
What format should it be saved in?
And why does the XBox state it can not read AVI, but it can read Divx which when I used one piece of software just is saved as AVIs???
For Future Expansion Plan Questions:
I have an old Sony Vaio with a media server software built in. I want to run it 24/7, but for security reasons don't want 24/7 outside internet access. Want it to be dedicated to the house network. But when I want to enable it to access the internet, I want that to be realitively easy for me (CPU is in garage and occasionally look up info or turn on Pandora radio!). This PC is Windows XP and other two PCs are Vista (If makes any difference). How do I do this as after I build my library, this will be where I move the files to be served from!
Originally posted by dorkyfool: OK, I have done a lot of searching, tried many of the suggestions, but am just not getting what I want. GOAL IS SIMPLE: Take the 500+ DVDs and the few Blu Rays I have and build a digital library that I can access on my Xbox 360 and two other future media extenders. I want the best quality media format with least space usage that can be read by both the Xbox 360 and Windows Media Center. The setup: Custom Built Quad Core PC with Bluray reader built in, couple year old dual core laptop with DVD player/write, and Xbox360. All are running Wifi N. Everything is already connected (For now... Want to eventually get another CPU on board to be media server, but too far away and running Wireless G).
Questions:
Best software to do what I want (Perfect world, this would be easy and free, but open to minimal cost solutions)?
What format should it be saved in?
And why does the XBox state it can not read AVI, but it can read Divx which when I used one piece of software just is saved as AVIs???
For Future Expansion Plan Questions:
I have an old Sony Vaio with a media server software built in. I want to run it 24/7, but for security reasons don't want 24/7 outside internet access. Want it to be dedicated to the house network. But when I want to enable it to access the internet, I want that to be realitively easy for me (CPU is in garage and occasionally look up info or turn on Pandora radio!). This PC is Windows XP and other two PCs are Vista (If makes any difference). How do I do this as after I build my library, this will be where I move the files to be served from!
I've been experimenting for close to a year. The best products I found are RipIt4Me, DVDShrink & DVD Decrypter. For me, these ripping and decrypting tools work well. DVD Fab works pretty well.
The next step was finding a good conversion program. I messed around with Divx Pro 7 and Divx Plus. Divx Pro 7 is no longer supported. The nice part of Divx is you can convert to 720P or 1080P. I noticed some of my movies had some sort of slowdown for a few seconds. I managed to stumble upon Handbrake. Basically, insert your VOB file and it encodes to MP4. Plays flawlessly. I have about 100 DVDs. Last month I bought the Seagate 1TB GoFlex Home network drive. Simply plug into your router and you access your files wired or wireless :)
Hi, I also suggest you RipIt4Me, DVDShrink & DVD Decrypter because I also found them best. Otherwise you can also search on google, or buy DVDShrink & DVD Decrypter. Good Luck.
Thanks for the tips and tools. I am going to give them a whirl. Any suggestions on versions I should look for of these software, especially Ripit4Me and Decrypter
