Ripping Music and Other Videos for new iPod


I have been having troubles updating the firmware on two older versions of iPod and as much as I hate to buy ANOTHER one - maybe everthing would be much easier.

Has anyone tried ripping video clips, home movies, concert dvds etc and had some success downloading them to the new iPod?

I also use iTunes but dont want to be restricted to their terms and content.

Thanks for any ideas using the new iPod.
cwlondon
I've been using PQ DVD for iPod. It works great for DVD's. I can download a DVD in about 30 to 45 minutes. Some other programs download each scene. This downloads the whole movie in one shot.
Here is another curious question, should any of you be interested in watching iPod videos on another display device:

From the Apple store, I bought a Monster Cable which "docks" to the bottom of the iPod, and terminates on the other side with RCA plugs for left and right audio and an S video connector for video.

What I didn't realize was that there is a switch in the iPod under video settings, and the iPod needs to be set to export video before it will work.

But now that I have gotten that working, I still can't figure out how to export just audio through the docking cable.

Is there any reason that the cable could somehow export from the video section, but not export just music?

Would this explain why some people sell tweaky cables to do that for $150?

Any ideas or comments greatly appreciated.

PS

Oh and by the way, it would still be great to hear from anyone who knows how to rip iPod compatible videos to windows.
Does anyone have any updates on ripping video to iPods?

I have just purchased a Monster Cable which docks the iPod to RCA out and S Video Out.

So this would be very handy for plugging into a monitor at the office, or using with another portable device.

Handbrake, which was suggested previously, seems to work best with Apple machines.

Are there any alternatives for Windows?
The format that uses the iPod video is MPEG-4 320X240 and AAC for sound. There are several programs to convert a complete DVD or a video file to the requiered format for MacOS X:

Forty-TwoDVD-VXPlus http://www.kaisakura.com/products.php
HandBrake http://handbrake.m0k.org/
Video2iPod (this doesn't convert DVD, only files)

For Windows I don't know so well, but this could serve:
First you have to rip the DVD to the hard drive with an aplication like DVDx 2.3. Then convert the file to the needed format with something like Xilisoft Video converter http://www.xilisoft.com.

I guess there are new applications everyday, but I hope this serves.
Go to apple.com discussions and you will find all the info.
http://discussions.info.apple.com/webx?14@949.Cpi2aPyTSkI.3@.68bba16e
there is a free software put out by Handbrake which allows you to rip any DVD to your video ipod. I have used it to rip thirty plus of my dvds an it works flawlessly.