ripper

Have you heard the news? A recent court ruling says it's not illegal to rip your own DVDs, as long as you're not violating copyright law (i.e. sharing or selling the DRM-freed content).

So let the ripping begin! All you need is the right software. From now until Aug. 9, you can get iSkysoft DVD to iPhone Converter for free. Available for both Windows and Mac, it's regularly $29.

Don't let the name fool you: although the utility includes presets for all iPhone models (from the original on up to the iPhone 4), it also … Read more

Here's something you don't see very often: a freebie for Macs. But Digiarty Software is showing the love by offering the WinX DVD Ripper for Mac, normally $35.95, absolutely free. No strings attached.

If the WinX name sounds familiar, it's because the company has offered a few Windows-only freebies in the past--most notably the Windows version of the same app (sorry, but that offer's long gone).

DVD Ripper can copy copy-protected movies to your hard drive and convert them to any number of popular formats, including FLV, MOV, and MP4. In other words, it's … Read more

Regular Cheapskate readers know of my fondness for Giveaway of the Day, the site that serves up a daily helping of free software.

Regular readers also know that I'm always on the lookout for a good DVD ripper, as I like to archive my discs for viewing on my media-center PCs and convert them for viewing on my iPhone, iPod, etc.

Today's giveaway, LeKuSoft DVD Ripper, has one ace up its sleeve compared with other rippers I've featured: it decrypts and rips not only regular DVDs, but also Blu-rays.

To grab this freebie for yourself, follow these … Read more

Want to archive your DVDs to your hard drive or convert them for viewing on, say, your iPhone or Zune HD? No problem: all you need is a good DVD ripper.

Today only, Giveaway of the Day is giving away WinX DVD Ripper Platinum, which normally sells for $29.95.

Just pop a DVD in your drive, fire up the program, and choose an output format: AVI, MP4, WMV, iPhone, PSP, 3GP, or any of half a dozen others.

The utility has a clean, simple interface that should be easy enough for novices to navigate. And advanced users can get … Read more

Accord CD Ripper Free is an easy-to-use utility that lets users quickly rip audio files from CDs to their computers. The program's uncomplicated design and useful features make this a great choice for anyone seeking a basic CD ripper.

The program's interface is plain and intuitive, with its major features arranged by attractive graphical buttons. When we inserted a CD, the program automatically downloaded the track information from the freeDB database, which is something we always like to see in a CD-ripping program. The program also allows users to edit the CD information and select the format in … Read more

I own J.J. Abrams' "Star Trek" reboot. The DVD's bought and paid for. Needless to say, I'm not about to give Apple another $14.99 so I can watch the movie on my iPhone or iPod Touch. That's as ludicrous as buying the MP3s of an album I already purchased on CD.

Alas, though it's easy to turn a CD into iPod-friendly digital media--iTunes can do it, as can Windows Media Player--ripping a DVD requires a bit more muscle. That's why I tested the latest versions of two popular products: WinX DVD Ripper Platinum ($29.95) and Wondershare DVD Ripper Platinum ($39.95). (Apparently platinum is the, um, gold standard when it comes to ripping utilities.)

Basically, I wanted to see how well the two tools handled a new release like "Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs" and an older one like "Back to the Future." Again, these are movies I own; I believe creating a digital copy constitutes fair use, same as ripping a CD does.

For these fairly informal tests, I opted for medium-quality MPEG-4 conversion using preselected "iPhone" profiles. Also, my system has a quad-core AMD processor with 6GB of RAM, so performance results will undoubtedly vary unless you have similar hardware.

From a feature standpoint, the two programs are pretty similar. Both give you an abundance of conversion options, meaning you can rip your DVDs for viewing on devices other than just the iPhone and iPod (everything from Apple TV to Zune).… Read more

Audio Companion promises a suite of features for ripping, recording, and converting audio files, and at first glance, we thought it would be a useful application. Unfortunately, the program doesn't deliver everything it's supposed to.

The program's interface is quite plain, but is easy enough to figure out. Its major features, the CD Ripper, Audio Splitter, and Batch Processor are separated into tabs. The program rips audio files from CDs and saves them as WAV files; although the publisher's description promises that files can be converted to the MP3 format as they're being ripped, we … Read more

Amadis DVD Audio Ripper SE provides all the tools you need for pulling sound from DVDs and video files. It works well, but legalities keep things slightly muddled and limit your choices.

The program's interface is sleek and professional-looking, with a series of intuitive commands that never left us feeling lost. You simply choose a video file from your computer or an entire DVD to pull audio from, and Amadis does the rest. You have the option to save audio tracks as a WMA, MP3, or AAC file. However, Amadis wouldn't let us rip copyrighted material, such as … Read more

Want to archive your DVDs to your hard drive? Convert them for viewing on your iPhone or Zune HD? What you need is a good DVD ripper.

From now until September 30, Digiarty Software is giving away WinX DVD Ripper Platinum, which normally sells for $24.95.

Just pop a DVD in your drive, fire up the program, and choose an output format: AVI, MP4, WMV, iPhone, PSP, 3GP, or any of half a dozen others.

DVD Ripper Platinum has a clean, simple interface; I think that most users will have zero trouble using the program. Advanced users have the … Read more