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Old 05-20-2009, 10:25 PM   #1
jessTay
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Mobi vs. ePub... kind of a noob question sorry..

ok so i've been researching which ebook reader to buy, and a lot of the new readers have ePub.. I'm wondering if ePub has more afforable books than mobi?
also, if mobi can convert ePub files to mobi, can ePub convert mobi files to ePub? and if not, should I just get a reader that supports mobi?

Thanks! Just still unsure which format I should look for in an ebook reader
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Old 05-21-2009, 03:49 AM   #2
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In most cases, the different ebook formats are the same price. Occassionally one will be more expensive, but there's no trend.

The exception is the Kindle. Amazon discount many expensive books heavily. In some cases, to the extent that they lose money on the sale.

Mobipocket ebooks can theoretically be converted to ePub without any loss of formatting, since ePub is the more capable format. The reverse isn't true.

If I was starting out buying an ebook reader and ebooks now, I'd probably be looking at ePub rather than Mobipocket. Although ePub is still in the early stages, and the books and readers aren't as good as they should eventually become. Nor are as many books available in ePub as in Mobipocket.

Hmm... if you wanted a definite answer, I'm afraid I haven't helped.


Quote:
Originally Posted by jessTay View Post
ok so i've been researching which ebook reader to buy, and a lot of the new readers have ePub.. I'm wondering if ePub has more afforable books than mobi?
also, if mobi can convert ePub files to mobi, can ePub convert mobi files to ePub? and if not, should I just get a reader that supports mobi?

Thanks! Just still unsure which format I should look for in an ebook reader
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Old 05-21-2009, 04:28 AM   #3
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Quote:
Originally Posted by pdurrant View Post
In most cases, the different ebook formats are the same price. Occassionally one will be more expensive, but there's no trend.

The exception is the Kindle. Amazon discount many expensive books heavily. In some cases, to the extent that they lose money on the sale.

Mobipocket ebooks can theoretically be converted to ePub without any loss of formatting, since ePub is the more capable format. The reverse isn't true.

If I was starting out buying an ebook reader and ebooks now, I'd probably be looking at ePub rather than Mobipocket. Although ePub is still in the early stages, and the books and readers aren't as good as they should eventually become. Nor are as many books available in ePub as in Mobipocket.

Hmm... if you wanted a definite answer, I'm afraid I haven't helped.
May I add to this that in Germany and France, nearly all the editors have chosen the ePub format as the format of their choice
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Old 05-21-2009, 05:04 AM   #4
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The real "downside" of ePub, for me personally, is lack of dictionary support. I use the dictionary all the time on my CyBook, and wouldn't like to lose that capability by switching from Mobi to ePub.
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Old 05-21-2009, 05:10 AM   #5
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There are many free and commercial dictionaries available for MOBI, but ePub (or Adobe Digital Editions) does not have dictionary lookup. Not all MOBI Readers support dictionaries though.

In addition to ePub, Adobe Digital Editions gives you reflow of PDFs. However, no 6" E-Ink device has "excellent" PDF support because the screen is too small for direct page viewing and ADE reflow is on a page by page basis and does not always work.

For US ebooks, MOBI is more widely available than ePub but for Europe the reverse is true. So most likely you will have to buy ebooks in both, strip the DRM from one and use Calibre to format shift. This isn't thought by some to be legal in the US, and elsewhere, even for personal use. Format shifting ePub to MOBI typically works well, but may drop some advanced formatting features. MOBI to ePub works very well.

In the US, lending libraries carry MOBI and PDF and a few have ePubs. Most libraries have more PDFs than MOBIs.
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Old 05-21-2009, 09:48 AM   #6
jessTay
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i live in canada so i don't really know which would be better for me.. i was originally going to get a cybook that has mobi but now i'm thinking of waiting to see pricing and features of the opus and more on COOL-ER

being able to access a lot of literary books (contemporary award winners, canadian contemporary fiction books, classics) is a must. it seems a lot more publishers have been adding their work to ePub, so I'm wondering if MOBI is going to see less and less eBooks put up and ePub more and more

but if I can convert mobi to epub by stripping the DRM (obviously i'll have to learn more about this) and then using calibre then it really doesn't matter which format my device supports right?

i don't think stripping the DRM is illegal here, at least I haven't heard anything about it

Last edited by jessTay; 05-21-2009 at 09:51 AM.
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Old 05-21-2009, 10:06 AM   #7
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geez i couldn't find whether or not its illegal.. everything is either like States or UK... it's like comon! we exist here!

but anyway, i think as long as I get calibre the format doesnt matter so I'm going to check out these new releases when they come out! Thanks so much for your help and advice!
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Old 05-21-2009, 10:50 AM   #8
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geez i couldn't find whether or not its illegal.. everything is either like States or UK..
It probably isn't explicitly illegal to remove DRM because WIPO-related legislation has failed to pass, see wiki: Canadian copyright law. On the other hand Canada does not seem to have "fair use" but rather "fair dealing" and the latter does not address copies for personal use.
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Old 05-21-2009, 11:16 AM   #9
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yea i remember studying that bill now... it will probably appear in the future in another form, but for now it's ok i think.
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