I bought DVDs of my university lectures. I want to back them up on CDs. Is there any utility to convert DVD to AVIs? or Should I go for DVD burners (but I m little short on budget)

look for dvd ripping software...last i tryed it was a pain in the ass...good luck...maybe eaiser with your dvd tho...read read and read some more....

If you want to copy a DVD to CD-R/RW get DVD Copy Plus from http://www.321studios.com/ or http://www.nuevasoft.com/

I use Flask MPEG and it's very easy to use. I realize you said you want AVI's. Flask MPEG will do avi's. In fact you actually have to download extra software to get it to output to mpeg (go figure). You can get Flask at - http://www.321studios.com/ I would also suggest going to www.divx.com and getting the the divx codecs. I've tried all the built in AVI codecs in Windows and non of them will compress as well as divx. Divx will also give you a much better picture quality then any of the Windows built in codecs. Once you install the divx codecs they will show up in the Flask MPEG save-as options.

The only products 321studios.com offers is DVD X Copy and DVD Copy Plus. Flask is offered here: http://go.to/flaskmpeg

I use a program called DVD Reaper. Works great for me but it's hard to find. I don't know if it's freeware or where you get it. I found it on a file sharing program (Direct Connect: www.neo-modus.com). It works great and you can set the max file size of the video and have it split it automatically (if you want good quality and want it to span several CDs). Keep in mind that it takes very long to convert a DVD to DivX even if you have a good computer. And, depending on the quality, you need a fairly good computer to play them as well. I've had some trouble playing DVD-quality DivX files on my 500 mhz laptop.