iPhone DVD to video converter reviews and showdown

I like movies. I like my iPhone, my PocketPC, and my Zune. I like to watch said movies on said devices. I am, as I publicize, lazy and cheap. Hence, I decided to give 'er a go with a few of the "higher profile" commercial DVD to "iPhone" converters out there. (Mike's note: iPhone plays straight, good ol' fashioned just like grandma used to rip mpeg4 videos, so it's not like there's anything special about the "DVD to iPhone" products out there, other than the fact that some of them use pictures of the iPhone in their marketing. Personally, I'd rather they use either hot girls or maybe some hot soup in their marketing.)

I was all greased-up and ready to install and run a gazillion different video converters and try them, but uh... someone already did that -- TopSixReviews. However, I will cover a few others here that they didn't -- these are all newer commercial rippers that are cashing in on iPhone mania.

Victim #1: Innovative Solutions' "DVD to iPhone"


The beef:

1. Cost: $30 -- Trial version rips a max of 3 minutes of video, enough to evaluate the product.
   
2. App Style: Wizard with minimal custom settings. This is actually nice -- it requires virtually no thinking to rip a standard movie DVD.
3. Supported Formats: You can choose your input video either as a DVD-ROM drive (containing - *gasp* - a DVD), or a video file in avi/ mpeg/ wmv/ 3gp/ mp4/ asf/ vob/ mov and a few other formats. Even if the DVD is protected, you don't need to first open the movie in Media Player as you do with the "free" rippers out there.
   
4. Output/resolution settings: Three pre-fab settings: "Normal 4:3", "Widescreen 16:9", "Cinemascope 2.35:1", a choice to "zoom" letterboxed films to remove the black bars, but crop the sides of the picture, and two choices of resolution (low/high). Selection of audio track and subtitles is done via two easy drop-downs.
   

The other stuff:

1. It offers links, via a "Download" button to sites like VideoRonk, to provide downloadable and thus iPhoneable vids from YouTube, iFilm, etc.
2. Interestingly, he offers a "safe mode", which according to the docs provides "less conversion errors", and the app defaults to this mode.

The synopsis: I like it^TM. Quick 'n' dirty, like a muddy ferret. Great for "quick rips" because of the fewer settings necessary -- it chooses the size-wise largest title entry on the disc (typically, the main movie), lets you quickly choose options, and go. It is a little pricey.

Victim #2: Roxio's "Roxio Crunch for Windows"

The beef:

1. Cost: $39 -- No trial version(!)
2. App Style: Both wizard and single-screen, depending on your desired amount of customization.
   
3. Supported Formats: Input: Virtually anything for which you have a CODEC installed (except commercial DVDs -- they are not supported). Output: WMV/AVI (not DIVX/XVID?), mpeg4.
   
4. Output/resolution settings: Any desired.

The synopsis: Doesn't rip commercial copy-protected DVDs. Nice GUI, so if you're converting non-DVD videos, this is a nice choice. But this poor app is ultimately neutered (Bob Barker would be so happy) because of the copy protection issue.

Victim #3: Xilsoft's "DVD Ripper Platinum"

The beef:

1. Cost: $45 -- Trial version limits you to
   
2. App Style: Another single-screen app where you do everything at once.
   
3. Supported Formats: All the usuals -- DVD, or a video file in avi/ mpeg/ wmv/ 3gp/ mp4/ asf/ vob/ mov and the other usual formats.
4. Output/resolution settings: You can choose a default profile "e.g. "iPod MPEG-4 Movie" and it will set all the output settings to be optimal for that device. You can then tweak the output to your heart's content.

The other stuff:

1. Not the slickest UI, but the most flexible with regards to choosing which parts of a DVD you want to rip (individual titles, chapters, etc.) and how to rip them (one chapter per output file, all in one, etc.)
   

The synopsis: The most expensive of the available rippers. Can be a bit difficult to navigate its GUI when you're trying to do anything with special settings. Still, highly customizable and powerful.

Victim #4: Avex "DVD to iPhone Video Suite"

The beef:

1. Cost: $29 -- Trial version works, but has a timeout wait screen when it starts.
   
2. App Style: A single screen converter, that lets you input your settings (e.g. start time of vid to start rip, how much time to rip, frames per second of output, lots of other stuff...).
3. Supported Formats: All the usuals... avi, mov, wmv, divx, and of course DVDs.
   
4. Output/resolution settings: Good/Medium/Excellent, either mpeg4 or h264 are the pre-fab output settings. However, you can then tweak just about every aspect of the output then using the UI.
   
5. Speed: About average.
   

The other stuff:

1. On Vista, Once I click the "Convert" button, the app locked up. Worked OK on XP.
   
2. It plays the video in a preview window on the UI. To rip subtitles, they actually have you navigate the DVD playback screen and manually enable the subtitles and audio language you want. Not very slick.
3. Similarly, it wants to play through the DVD to the menu before it will start to rip. Clunk-city, USA.
   

The synopsis: Looks flexible and highly configurable, but the UI is really clunky, and it doesn't seem to work on Vista.


The final word:

This wasn't an exhaustive review. I'm actually not tired at all. Basically, ANY video converter that can output Mpeg4 files will work just fine to convert your videos to iPhone playabilitiness. Go check out some of the freeware apps, as well. Frankly, they'll do the job just as well, but in many cases just aren't as well polished. But hey, they're free...

Of the apps I just reviewed, my preference is the Innovative Solutions' "DVD to iPhone". Slick, simple, and fairly cheap.
I also liked the Xilsoft app, though, for doing special stuff (e.g. ripping a "Simpsons" DVD such that each chapter rips as a separate output file).