Ripping Music and Other Videos for new iPod


I have been having troubles updating the firmware on two older versions of iPod and as much as I hate to buy ANOTHER one - maybe everthing would be much easier.

Has anyone tried ripping video clips, home movies, concert dvds etc and had some success downloading them to the new iPod?

I also use iTunes but dont want to be restricted to their terms and content.

Thanks for any ideas using the new iPod.
cwlondon
Does anyone have any updates on ripping video to iPods?

I have just purchased a Monster Cable which docks the iPod to RCA out and S Video Out.

So this would be very handy for plugging into a monitor at the office, or using with another portable device.

Handbrake, which was suggested previously, seems to work best with Apple machines.

Are there any alternatives for Windows?
Here is another curious question, should any of you be interested in watching iPod videos on another display device:

From the Apple store, I bought a Monster Cable which "docks" to the bottom of the iPod, and terminates on the other side with RCA plugs for left and right audio and an S video connector for video.

What I didn't realize was that there is a switch in the iPod under video settings, and the iPod needs to be set to export video before it will work.

But now that I have gotten that working, I still can't figure out how to export just audio through the docking cable.

Is there any reason that the cable could somehow export from the video section, but not export just music?

Would this explain why some people sell tweaky cables to do that for $150?

Any ideas or comments greatly appreciated.

PS

Oh and by the way, it would still be great to hear from anyone who knows how to rip iPod compatible videos to windows.
I've been using PQ DVD for iPod. It works great for DVD's. I can download a DVD in about 30 to 45 minutes. Some other programs download each scene. This downloads the whole movie in one shot.