i usually make a back up copy of my DVDs if i plan to travel and watch a DVD while away so the original doesn't get stolen or lost.

i know there's a DVD Shrink but is there something for mac???

For ripping, theres MacTheRipper. Toast does an excellent job of compressing and burning, bun it cost $80. Ive never found a good freeware alternative, but from doing a quick google search, DVD2One seems to be a good choice, and its a bit cheaper than Toast

One other option it to create a small bootcamp partition and just use the Windows apps.

I had another thought. If you dont care about the pretty menus and whatnot, you can use Handbrake to rip the movie and convert it to a video file, then use iMovie or iDVD to create the DVD

thanks for that, i'll probably give MacTheRipper and/or Handbrake ago. DVD2One sounds good but expensive being Euros and converting to aussie dollars. I will get toast when i save up some more money i spent what i had on the newly released updated iMac i'm dying to try a mac for the first time. I'll get it towards the end of next week.

thanks for your help.