A Must :
http://www.videohelp.com/
I personnaly use " AnyDVD " along side "Nero Ultra" and never had any problems backing up DVDs ( Blockbusters DVDs that is )
The above sites link is a must for any newbie or even seasoned veteran to this technology. I like the ability to look up specific hardware features and what media will/will-not play on it as people supply comments of specific media on players and recorders. There are also many many tutorials on methods and applications dealing with conversion to/from Divx/Xvid/etc..
AnyDVD: a standalone application that does nothing but act as a decoder ( similar to standard codec ) and runs in the background.
Nero Ultra : Full retail package that allows you to do ANYTHING you want to except copy a copyright encripted file ( where AnyDVD comes in ) . I think that it runs about $100, but there is a demo version as well. The stuff that comes with your burner is a junk version... The demo version of Ultra just needs a serial number to unlock the time feature and aditional features..
hope that helps