Here's what we do:
I downloaded Handbrake (did not get any malware), Wondershare and WinX DVD Platinum. I tried them all and liked WinX DVD the best so I bought the full version for $39.95. I would say Wondershare is great too but when it came to speed the WinX DVD was a bit faster. For free Handbrake is really good but my time was worth more than the price.. We had lots of movies to rip to the hard drive so speed was critical...
So far Win X DVD Platinum has ripped every movie, including the tough Disney ones, and has done so with good speed. I can rip one about every 20-35 minutes but some movies are stubbon and take upwards of 45 minutes..
The hard drive:
Seeing as our boat quite often lacks cell range or wi-fi (even with boosters) we bought a
Western Digital My Passport 2TB WiFi Hard Drive. There are other brands such as Lacie etc. but we wanted 2TB so the options in a wi-fi / wireless hard drive were a bit more limited at the time.
Some wireless hard drives are solid state drives but the GB sizes are limited. This is a spinning drive. The WD My Passport Wireless hard drive allows you to stream movies, video, photos etc. to multiple devices at one time. We can stream three different movies to three separate devices without any buffering or hiccups.. Pretty cool...
You simply load an app onto the iPad, tablet, phone computer etc., log onto the hard drives wi-fi network, open it, and begin streaming. The batteries last about 6 hours and it can be charged/run through a 12V USB charge adapter.
This has been a great fit for our charters/flights & travel with kids.. The nice thing is, in the evening, the kids can climb into their berth with the iPad, put on headphones and stream a movie while mom and dad sip cocktails in the cockpit..
Loading our entire DVD collection took time but now we have them all ready to travel anywhere all in about the size of a deck of cards..