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wallcraft · 05-02-2010, 12:37 PM

See A Comparison of format limitations based on The Hobbit. A single book, like the Hobbit, can't cover all the differences. However, many ebooks from US publishers are almost identical in MOBI and ePub format (because their ebook formatting procedure was originally targeted at MOBI and LIT, with LIT being largely replaced by ePub but without using the additional capabilities of ePub). In Europe and the UK, ebooks start out as ePub and the MOBI (AZW for the Kindle) version can have formatting artifacts due to MobiPocket's sub-standard ePub to MOBI conversion capability.

When I have a choice, I still buy and download AZW/MOBI and then convert it, via Calibre, to ePub because a MOBI typically does not have the heavy handed formatting that some ePubs can be burdened with. This obviously only works with most ebooks if you are willing to strip DRM.

PDF isn't a good choice for ebooks on handheld devices because Adobe Digital Editions reflow capability fails too often and at best it only renders one physical page at a time (so you often get a partial screen at the end of the page).

05-02-2010, 12:37 PM	#4
wallcraft reader Posts: 6,975 Karma: 5183568 Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Mississippi, USA Device: Kindle 3, Kobo Glo HD	See A Comparison of format limitations based on The Hobbit. A single book, like the Hobbit, can't cover all the differences. However, many ebooks from US publishers are almost identical in MOBI and ePub format (because their ebook formatting procedure was originally targeted at MOBI and LIT, with LIT being largely replaced by ePub but without using the additional capabilities of ePub). In Europe and the UK, ebooks start out as ePub and the MOBI (AZW for the Kindle) version can have formatting artifacts due to MobiPocket's sub-standard ePub to MOBI conversion capability. When I have a choice, I still buy and download AZW/MOBI and then convert it, via Calibre, to ePub because a MOBI typically does not have the heavy handed formatting that some ePubs can be burdened with. This obviously only works with most ebooks if you are willing to strip DRM. PDF isn't a good choice for ebooks on handheld devices because Adobe Digital Editions reflow capability fails too often and at best it only renders one physical page at a time (so you often get a partial screen at the end of the page).