Making a DVD +R into .avi files

Is there any quick way to transform a regular DVD file into an .avi file so that I can have a whole season of a show on one DVD? I tried one program but it was taking like 2 hours to transfer a 1-hour episode to an avi files and was VERY complicated--is there anything simpler, such as the way VOBBlanker changes PAL to NTSC from British discs I buy and sell on EBay? Or does it just take a very long time to do this? Then I'll just keep the shows on my 1T External Hard Drive and move them to my computer in seasonal batches when I want to watch them.