What free app do you recommend to convert video files into MP4 to view on video iPods??

videora is what i use and its great and really easy to use, and free, just search google for it

You may try Videora, Aimersoft or SUPER, both are good
http://www.videora.com/en-us/Converter/iPod/
http://www.aimersoft.com/ipod-video-converter.html
http://www.erightsoft.com/SUPER.html

Another vote for Videora- the developer regularly updates it with bug fixes and improvements, very impressive piece of software.

and another vote for vidora

I use 3GP Converter which is very easy to use & free

I tried Videora.. it wanted me to download about 100MB of .NET 2 framework updates from Microsoft to work.

I'm using "SUPER" now.

zamzar.com always comes out amazing quality and it's free