Whether you want to have a backup of your favorite DVD (because it gets scratched pretty easily) add more movies to your personal collection, or watch a flick on your iPod without having to spend a fortune, a DVD ripping tool helps you accomplish your goals.

You have already probably heard of the cliché, “Different strokes for different folks.” We will be using that piece of worldly wisdom to ease into today’s discussion, which is about the best DVD ripper available. There are five DVD rippers that we will talk about today.

I have my personal preference, but the rippers mentioned below are five of the top-rated ones that were actually tried by users. Since I don’t have intimate knowledge about your preferences, I hope that by the time you finish reading this review, you will have made up your mind as to which ripper is the best one for your needs. Now, see why the cliché was appropriate?

DVD Shrink

This ripper, developed for Windows, has not undergone any recent development in the past few years. However, many of those who used this to rip DVDs have no regrets at all. DVD Shrink is a decrypter, ripper, and compressor all in one. It compresses 8-GB DVDs (dual layer) to a manageable 4-GB size. The 4-GB size can be accommodated in a single-layer standard DVD-R. And heads up, it is a freeware, which is an ultimate PLUS!

DVDFab HD Decrypter

Also for Windows, this one here breaks through copy protection barriers and allows you to rip your DVD of choice to your hard drive. Unlike the DVD Shrink, however, the DVDFab HD Decrypter does not have a compression feature. It is a shareware but the developers offer a free trial version.

HandBrake

HandBrake is freeware and it works on all platforms (Mac, Windows, Linux, etc.). It rips DVDs to various formats, and can even support playback in iPods, Apple TVs, and PS3s. The ease of use level is what makes this one of the top rippers for many users.

MacTheRipper

As its name tells you, this is a Mac-exclusive ripper. It functions like the DVD Shrink and the DVDFab HD Decrypter. Used with HandBrake, you are all set to convert your rips to a format that plays on your other Apple gadgets. Oh, and did I mention that it’s freeware?

DVD43

This freeware application serves as backup in case the other rippers fail to break through the barriers of copyright protection. It runs in the background, quietly disabling the copy protection as soon as a DVD is inserted. Other ripping tools can then grab the spoils (i.e., contents), without having to undergo any decryption at all.