Ripping DVDs... its it worth it?

Just read a post on Engadget where someone's asking "I have an extensive DVD library that I would like to archive on a network drive and be able to access via my PS3, menus and all."

http://www.engadget.com/2008/07/10/ask-engadget-whats-the-optimal-dvd-archival-solution/

Reading through some of the suggestions from fellow posters, some guy came up with this hilarious statement:
"How about get off your lazy butt and switch the DVDs manually. Jeezus what a lazy pud..."
Followed by another pragmatic guy:
"The funny thing is, he'd put more work into creating the media "archive" then if he just got off his "lazy butt and switch[ed] the DVDs manually.""

And to be really honest, I have to agree with them! I think its a techie's fantasy come true to have all your media accessible via one simple interface (regardless whether it be PC, Mac or console-based). If you already have the DVDs, then its going to take you MORE effort to actually get the disc, put it into the PC, then do the following per film:
1. MacTheRipper (To rip the encryption)
2. Handbrake (To encode it to mp4, m4v, etc)
3. MetaX (for meta tags and artwork)
4. Enjoy on AppleTV or XBOX 360 if you have connect 360 that is.

Just to put it into perspective, ripping the DVD will take roughly an hour or two (as its literally just copying the data from disc to HDD, without the crappy region copy protection). Then you need to encode it to whatever video format with extras. This is a big task, and may take hours depending on processor, ram, and HDD speed. I've never used MetaX, so I dunno about that. And THEN you can sit down on your couch to watch it from there. So, you're spending at least 5hrs doing prep work (as well as a huge cost on hardware to process and store these files!) to watch a movie that lasts 2hrs, that you STILL need to account for anyway! Per movie! And after all that hard work, you either delete the files, or you keep them on your RAID drive, or back them up somewhere else too. More cost.

I dunno, maybe being married and spending time with the wife has made me care less about these technical achievements. For sure I can appreciate the kudos of having an entire catalogue of movies easily selectable via the remote control, but the effort-to-achieve is so high that you really have to question: Is it really worth it?

Disclaimer: Of course, if you're doing it the torrent way, then of course you'll have all the media already digitized for hard disk use. But thats illegal. Just for the record. :)

I have been ripping my own DVDs to iPhone format so that I can enjoy them on the go while commuting to work. Its a great way to catch up on some of the DVDs that I've bought but never got around to seeing. And its unlikely I'll be able to watch it at home since there's always something else to do. So thats why I put it onto the iPhone, for that 1hr or so travelling. However, I still find it a really tedious task to do, even if ripping it overnight. And in this hot climate in HK, I'd prefer not having machines generating even more heat and consuming energy.

I guess the answer to my problems would be to have an Apple TV and iPhone formatted movies downloaded as and when I wish. Pre-formatted, available 24/7, and watchable within afew minutes. now, if only HK allowed iTunes movie downloads!!!!!