You should maybe put a video player app on your PC to test the videos once you create them. VLC is a good one.

I've had decent luck recently using Handbrake to convert a DVD. Just select the video_ts folder on your DVD and select the type of video file you want to create. It lets you select video resolution, framerate, bitrate, and so on. There's some good webpages explaining how to use Handbrake step by step. You probably want to do MP4 filetype with a bitrate around 400-800. Also, the built in media player is a bit more picky than mplayer for example (mplayer plays a bit wider range IMO). Handbrake lets you normalize the DVD audio which is nice (makes low sounds louder). There's also another app called SUPER which is also useful (but a bit harder to use) which lets you adjust the audio level (VERY useful for the speaker audio level on N800 as many movies need it increased to be audible). Mplayer may have a bit more choppy playback than media player.