An iPod or other portable MP4 media player is the perfect gadget for watching movies and DVDs on the move. It's smaller and easier to carry around than a portable DVD player. The disadvantage is that it can't play DVDs directly. However, it's still possible to watch your favorite DVDs on your iPod. All you need to do is to convert the DVD movie to an iPod compatible format and then upload it.

If you search the web for "video conversion software" you'll be overwhelmed by the choice of products available. Many video conversion products are general purpose tools that require you to know details of the formats you want to convert between, and baffle you with jargon about things like codecs.

Such products may be very good, but if you want to be sure that the copies you are making are optimised for your iPod, or you simply want to make the task as easy as possible, it's best to choose a dedicated DVD to iPod converter.

Using a DVD to iPod converter really is simplicity itself. You launch the software, insert the DVD in the drive, and the title screen appears in a window. Using the mouse, you select the episode or feature you want to see from the DVD menu, just as with a DVD player.

When the movie starts to play, you click a Convert button and select a folder for the output. The amount of time conversion takes depends on the power of your computer. On a modern computer it can be faster than real time, but using an older one it may actually be slower.

After conversion is complete, you are offered the option to start iTunes and upload the converted movie to your iPod. It's then ready to watch! Give it a try, and you'll soon be watching your favorite movies on your iPod media player.