Just for research purposes

[ignom]

If I were so inclined to rip a DVD, how do I go about that? Do I need a DVD burner to make an mpeg?

[OBB]

It would stand to reason that a DVD-quality movie would take up a significant amount of space, and would require several CD's. Ideally, you'd probably want to record on a DVD.

[BigDun]

Most movie DVDs are on double layer DVDs. You would theoritcially need a double densitity DVD drive such as the Sony  ( http://www.sonystyle.com/is-bin/INTERSHOP.enfinity/eCS/Store/en/-/USD/SY_DisplayProductInformation-Start?CategoryName=&ProductSKU=DRU710A&TabName=specs ).

[BigDun]

There is a program that will make copies of DVDs. I can't remember the name of it but I, theoretically, have an icon for it on my home computer's desktop.

[BigDun]

BTW-This is the drive I have on my computer. I got it at Costco for $150 with a coupon: http://www.circuitcity.com/ccd/productDetail.do?oid=100140&com.broadvision.session.new=Yes&ct=0&BV_SessionID=@@@@1413779004.1112212519@@@@&BV_EngineID=ccchaddefdmfeflcfngcfkmdffhdffk.0

[Beefy]

If you're going to do it, buy a DVD-R drive.  Rip to DVD-R using DVD Shrink and DVD Encoder (or one of many others).

[BigDun]

In theory, BlazeDVD from http://www.blazevideo.com will make a copy of a double layer movie DVD to a double layer DVD R.