I used (about bought the license as I don't like dodgy hacks & cracks) convertxtodvd for many years but then I discovered freemake video converter (completely free software). I found that in 99% of cases it was as good and sometimes better quality than convertx, but a good bit faster (using an nvidia card and cuda). So I used that for a while. I also found that freemake eliminated the stuttering playback I use to get with convertx. It also has the ability to rip video from 100's of websites and directly convert them to whatever format you want.
I now use (and also bought the license) VSO converter 1 (by the same people that make convertx) I find it has way more features (like video editing etc...) the same menu's etc... but can also make blu-ray 25 & 50 discs as well as AVCHD 5 & 9 discs (the latter are basically blu-ray quality on a DVD-R disc but you still have to play them in a blu-ray player).
I find that VSO convert 1 is around 15% faster than freemake which was around 10% faster than convertx (on my machine that is I can't vouch for anyone elses).