MobileRead Forums - View Single Post

fjtorres · 06-03-2010, 11:52 AM

1- PDF is not an ebook format; it's an electronic paper format. It's optimum display is on paper. Next best is a full-size computer.
2- rtf, doc, and html are document formats. FBReader does a good job with them but they're still suboptimal.
3- FB2, ePub, and PRC are true ebook formats designed from the ground up for reflow across multiple screen sizes and devices.
4- ePub has been corrupted with a fair amount of PDF-like features by the big publishers so you can end up with hard-wired formatting you can't override in Adobeviewer in commercial epubs. If you do your own conversion and/or read wth FBReader that should not be an issue. An epub is generally a renamed Zipped folder with fairly clean XML file using Open ebook schema and an included txt metafile. Conversion to other formats in the future should be painless. It is an excellent cross-platform format supported on pretty much everything except Kindle.
5- PRC is a clean HTML-based format but not 100% fully documented. The PB360 FBReaders don't do chapter breaks properly and often don't recognize the TOC. It is a very good cross-platform reader, though, supported everywhere except Sony and Nook.
6- FB2 is FBReader's native format. It is broadly used worldwide but not supported by any of the name-brand dedicated readers with commercial ebook store ties (Sony, Nook, Kindle, etc).

Pick your poison.
(I'd start with ePub, then try Mobi. Much as I like my PB360, I know it will not be my last ebook reader, so file portability matters to me.)

06-03-2010, 11:52 AM	#10
fjtorres Grand Sorcerer Posts: 11,732 Karma: 128354696 Join Date: May 2009 Location: 26 kly from Sgr A* Device: T100TA,PW2,PRS-T1,KT,FireHD 8.9,K2, PB360,BeBook One,Axim51v,TC1000	1- PDF is not an ebook format; it's an electronic paper format. It's optimum display is on paper. Next best is a full-size computer. 2- rtf, doc, and html are document formats. FBReader does a good job with them but they're still suboptimal. 3- FB2, ePub, and PRC are true ebook formats designed from the ground up for reflow across multiple screen sizes and devices. 4- ePub has been corrupted with a fair amount of PDF-like features by the big publishers so you can end up with hard-wired formatting you can't override in Adobeviewer in commercial epubs. If you do your own conversion and/or read wth FBReader that should not be an issue. An epub is generally a renamed Zipped folder with fairly clean XML file using Open ebook schema and an included txt metafile. Conversion to other formats in the future should be painless. It is an excellent cross-platform format supported on pretty much everything except Kindle. 5- PRC is a clean HTML-based format but not 100% fully documented. The PB360 FBReaders don't do chapter breaks properly and often don't recognize the TOC. It is a very good cross-platform reader, though, supported everywhere except Sony and Nook. 6- FB2 is FBReader's native format. It is broadly used worldwide but not supported by any of the name-brand dedicated readers with commercial ebook store ties (Sony, Nook, Kindle, etc). Pick your poison. (I'd start with ePub, then try Mobi. Much as I like my PB360, I know it will not be my last ebook reader, so file portability matters to me.)