I've been working on a few Digital Media Core articles lately (ripping DVDs, Media Center Extenders specifically) and will hopefully have those up soon. I know it's been awhile. I've tested all three of the modern (i.e. Vista-class) Extenders that are currently available, but I'm curious what you think about DVD ripping.
I believe I'm going to focus on Handbrake and SlySoft AnyDVD as the tools of choice. H.264 as the video format. And iPod hi-res compatibility as the resolution/quality baseline. This will result in a sub-DVD-quality file, yes, but one that works on all modern video-capable iPods, the Apple TV, the iPhone, Zune 2 devices, and (coincidentally) those new Extenders (including the Xbox 360). So compatibility is excellent. Quality is good/very good, I guess.
But it may be worthwhile to consider some WMV-compatible tools as well. Probably not. :)
Thoughts?