I use DVD Decrypter (free) and AnyDVD HD (not free but great). Then I use Handbrake to Encode for AppleTV and iPhone (I encode so that 1 m4v file can be use for both - do a search here for more information).
encoding will always take a long time so there really is no way around that. and the above mentioned rippers are great i personally use DVD Decrypter. its fast and free. the two unbeatable "F's"