Handbrake has worked great for ripping my DVDs, but what program can I use to rip my Blu-rays? Also, how much space would these files take up? Would I need a Blu-ray reader for this too? And when I sync these files to my iPad, would they look that much better than the DVD version?
Yes first of all you would have to have a Blue-Ray drive in computer to accomplish this.
I use DVDFab for Blue-ray ripping. Straight forward, easy to use. Plus you can tell it many differnt formats to save your Blue-Ray copy into. iPad, iPhone, mp4, mvk etc, etc.
Space is depending on the movie. For the most part when you are rippign Blue-rays expect at least 1-2 gig of space.
For ripping regular DVD's I use Catalyst3. Awesome program, many options if you want to use them. If you just want an easy ripping, just selct the device and away it goes. There is a free version available to use as well.