DVD and Blu-Ray Back ups

[wmachotze]

Hello,
Just picked up a mac mini to use primarily as a HTPC. I have an extensive DVD collection as well as a growing Blu-ray collection. I would like to load them onto an external hard drive for use with the mini, both for ease of access and filing of them as well as insurance against the growing number of scratches they receive in the hands of little ones.
A couple of questions
1) What software has anyone found that works best for ripping/copying from disc to hard drive? Ultimately they will stay on the drive but would like the option to burn onto a disc if the need arises.
2) I would also like the ability to convert file types so they can be played on iphone, ipad, ipod.
3) Can a blu-ray be ripped/copied through an external mac superdrive? It doesn't appear that it can so, do I need a designated external optical blu-ray capable drive or can I trick the mini into picking the blu-ray up from a stand alone blu-ray player with the right adapters between the two pieces.

Thanks in advance.

[philiparcario]

many people run windows on the mini to do blu-ray
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2010 Mm 2.4 C2D oem 320gb hdd 8gb ram
2012Mm base 2.5 with 16gb ram diy fusion drive
2012Mm quad with 8gb ram oem 1tb hdd

promise pegasus r6 3x 3tb + 3x 4tb =21tb hdds
lacie little big disk 2x 512gb ssds
synology 2tb disk station

[ez061111]

No need for windows unless that is what you really wish to do.

MakeMKV is a good program to start with, does both DVD and BR; it wraps the file in the MKV wrapper without any changes or transcoding.

Depending on your mini you may be able to play straight BR but certainly the DVD rips on your computer. For iPod/Pad/Phone Handbrake will do the transcoding to basically any format you want.

You will need a BR external drive for the ripping process; the SuperDrive hardware isn't going to work.
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2.0 GHz i7 Mini 8 GB RAM, OWC Merc Extreme SSD & Samsung Spinpoint
2.6 GHz i7 Mini 16 GB RAM, Samsung 830 & Hitachi
15" 2.3 GHz i7 MBP 16 GB RAM, OWC Extreme Pro 6G SSD & WD Black

[Smithcraft]

You will need an external Bluray drive. Asus makes one that is rather compact.

SC
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Grumpy old man of computing.

[Desktop] G4 mini - 1.5Ghz 1GB 80GB HDD - Newer miniStack v2 500GB - 10.5.8

[Media System] Intel i5 mini - 2.33Ghz 8GB 500GB HDD - 4 x Hitachi 2TB HDD in a qBOX-SF - 10.7.5 (Thanks Phil!)

Make sure it has pins!

[macmanmacman]

Issues:

1. mkv's take lots of space

2. you cannot run them with good quality off of a external usb hard drive without lag.

3. your best solution is also the dumbest just convert the blu-ray movie to mpeg4 it still keeps good quality and sound and is only 1 gig versus 4.6 gig's for a mkv