I've never ripped a DVD to the hard drive before so can someone tell me what essential/good program(s) I need? Also, what's an average size movie in whatever file format it saves in?
google: dvd ripper.
it depends what codec you use and what quality you want.
ripping in stereo and with good video quality, you can probably get a 600-700mb file if you use a good codec. play around with them and see which has the best compression for you.
good luck