Most iPods, besides their music features, offer high quality video capabilities; it’s one of the reasons they are one of the most versatile gadgets on the market. We all enjoy watching movies to relax and unwind, so why not convert your own DVDs to the iPod format and watch them whenever you want, wherever you are?

Transferring your DVD movies to play on your iPod, iPhone, Touch, or Nano can be simple, or in some cases, time-consuming and difficult. There are many iPod converters available, but only a few are worth purchasing: some are too expensive, some are hard to use, and many aren’t reliable (they mess up sound and/or picture, or they can’t convert new movies). A good iPod converter must meet the following conditions:

•User-friendly interface – the program must be easy to use.

•Fast encoding – the program must be able to encode fast so that the entire process will be finished fast.

•Versatile – the Converter should be able to output video for all iPod Video formats: Classic, Nano, Touch, and iPhone.

•Quality – the converted movie must offer excellent sound and picture quality.

•Error Processing – the program must be able fix any problems that appear during the converting process.

•Features – the program must have popular options implemented, such as picture quality, subtitles, different languages, etc.

It’s also helpful if the program has a tutorial/help section where the user can learn how to take advantage of extra features. Another important thing regarding conversion from a DVD to an iPod is the ability to zoom from widescreen to full screen. A good converter should have this feature implemented in order to allow for a clean transition.

The program should allow inexperienced as well as advanced users a satisfactory experience. For novice users, a good converter should have an option for automatically adjusting settings to achieve the best results. For advanced users, there should be the ability to manually adjust a wide variety of parameters. A good iPod converter should also allow converting from both NTSC and PAL DVD movies.

Excellent iPod converters can be found for around $40.00, and they’ll do everything, and often more, than some of the more expensive programs. You can try and go the inexpensive route, using two or three free programs in combination (Videora, DVD Shrink, Handbrake, etc.), but I found that the free programs involved a large number of steps, produced mixed results, and wouldn’t convert many new DVD movies (those produced over the past four years). Don’t get me wrong, I’m a thrifty guy, and if there’s a cheap way to do things, I‘m usually on-board, but in this case, the hassle just wasn’t worth it. The advantages offered by a good converting program far outweighed the trial and error hassles I found using outdated free programs.

Converting your DVD movies to play on an iPod allows one to watch their favorite movies and T.V. programs while on the bus or subway, on airplanes or long drives, or whenever you have a few free moments. DVD conversion software is getting more and more popular, as they facilitate the perfect transition from the ‘big screen’ to the ‘little screen’.