query on the best / easiest format to use?

spear · 09-18-2009, 12:13 PM

I got my maroon one in last week but I am not opening it until my b-day in two weeks (welll...I did take it out, looked at it, and turned it on....but then I put it back in the box...we'll see how long I would be able to resist...).

Question: I understand the differences between the formats and of course will use any and all of them depending on the ebook I am seeking. However there will be cases where the will be choices in formats available. So the question is: which in the other PEZ owners opinions is the best looking, yet easiest to use?

Morlac · 09-18-2009, 12:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by spear

I got my maroon one in last week but I am not opening it until my b-day in two weeks (welll...I did take it out, looked at it, and turned it on....but then I put it back in the box...we'll see how long I would be able to resist...).

Question: I understand the differences between the formats and of course will use any and all of them depending on the ebook I am seeking. However there will be cases where the will be choices in formats available. So the question is: which in the other PEZ owners opinions is the best looking, yet easiest to use?

Haven't finished charging mine yet, so I can't answer your question. BUT I will highly recommend that you carefully inspect and handle your PEZ to make sure that:

(a) the paint has not already begun/does not start cracking or wrinkling

(b) you got the 1gb SD English card instead of the 256 mb Chinese card.

(c) your PEZ will take a full charge and will recharge again properly after discharging it

(d) your PEZ will connect properly via USB cable to your computer

Waiting another couple of weeks to discover any of those possible issues could hurt your return/repair situation as well as just being frustrating as all heck!

JSWolf · 09-18-2009, 12:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by spear

I got my maroon one in last week but I am not opening it until my b-day in two weeks (welll...I did take it out, looked at it, and turned it on....but then I put it back in the box...we'll see how long I would be able to resist...).

Question: I understand the differences between the formats and of course will use any and all of them depending on the ebook I am seeking. However there will be cases where the will be choices in formats available. So the question is: which in the other PEZ owners opinions is the best looking, yet easiest to use?

ePub is the best looking and easiest to use format overall.

kennyc · 09-18-2009, 12:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by spear

I got my maroon one in last week but I am not opening it until my b-day in two weeks (welll...I did take it out, looked at it, and turned it on....but then I put it back in the box...we'll see how long I would be able to resist...).

Question: I understand the differences between the formats and of course will use any and all of them depending on the ebook I am seeking. However there will be cases where the will be choices in formats available. So the question is: which in the other PEZ owners opinions is the best looking, yet easiest to use?

By then your return period will be up. I would advise you to open it now.

AJ Starr · 09-18-2009, 12:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kennyc

By then your return period will be up. I would advise you to open it now.

And start to charge it. Charge it until the screen, when it is OFF, stops showing the lightening bolt battery, and shows the plug battery.

wallcraft · 09-18-2009, 01:10 PM

The best formats are ePub, FB2, and MOBI. Each is using completely different reading software on the Pocket Pro. For the long term ePub is going to be best. However, if you want control over how the ebook appears on the screen at present you need to use Calibre to build a custom ePub (and you can't do this with a DRMed, encrypted, ePub).

Note that the Sony eBook Library Software comes very close to displaying ePubs on your Desktop like the Pocket Pro. This is because it is running mobile Adobe Digital Editions just like the Pocket Pro. In fact, it is closer to the PEZ than to the Sony EInk Readers (because they are all using older software).

tamzilla · 09-18-2009, 04:07 PM

I agree with Wallcraft, ePub, Mobi, and FB2 all display nicely on the Pocket Pro. I've completed reading one ePub book and am halfway through one in Mobi and both formats seem to work well, as in neither one caused the unit to crash or hang up.

I've just started using ePub and I'm not sure how I feel about the format yet. The ePub I purchased looked fantastic in some ways - nice oversized caps at the beginning of each chapter and a nicely formatted table. However, the margins were HUGH and I didn't like the default Times Roman Font and there is no way for the user to change these from within the book. I finally dedrm'ed the book and tweeked the master page layout and css files until I got the margins and font the way I liked them. This wasn't hard to do, but it did take time and left me thinking that if I was going to have to dedrm each ePub file I purchased and mess around with it until I got the margin and base font how I like them, I might as well just buy the mobi format and dedrm that. I'm not sure that I'd miss the fancy formatting in most cases.

Amazon will probably end up killing mobi, so I guess I should just learn to love ePub.

kennyc · 09-18-2009, 04:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tamzilla

...
Amazon will probably end up killing mobi, so I guess I should just learn to love ePub.

Yes.

spear · 09-18-2009, 04:39 PM

Thank you all for the advice, part of the reason I asked was because of what Tamzilla said about mobi. When I first started reading this forum (mostly as a lurker) I always figured that the ebook reader that would replace my eBookWise would be one with Mobipocket...but along came Amazon....and it is what it is....

slm · 09-18-2009, 04:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by spear

Thank you all for the advice, part of the reason I asked was because of what Tamzilla said about mobi. When I first started reading this forum (mostly as a lurker) I always figured that the ebook reader that would replace my eBookWise would be one with Mobipocket...but along came Amazon....and it is what it is....

I use mobi and epub quite a lot on the PP. Both work fine usually, but mobi is much more relaible. Problems with epub are
1. one in a while one line will overwrite another. I get this every couple of days (epub versions of news feeds built by Calibre)
2. the stupid stupid page number in epub sometimes obscures the screen and
3. pictures don't fit on the screen if you use a large font. Since the standard font is too small for humans to read, this means part of a picture is often invisible.

AnemicOak · 09-18-2009, 04:48 PM

IMO the PP displays Mobipocket the best, then ePub.

wallcraft · 09-18-2009, 04:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by slm

Problems with epub are
1. one in a while one line will overwrite another. I get this every couple of days (epub versions of news feeds built by Calibre)
2. the stupid stupid page number in epub sometimes obscures the screen and
3. pictures don't fit on the screen if you use a large font. Since the standard font is too small for humans to read, this means part of a picture is often invisible.

Both 2 & 3 are known bugs that I hope Jinke is in the process of fixing. In the case of #1, do you get the same thing with the Sony eBook Library Software? If so, it is either a Calibre bug or a mobile Adobe Digital Editions bug (that Calibre might be able to work around). If not, then it is a Hanlin-specific bug.

Mnementh · 09-18-2009, 05:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AnemicOak

IMO the PP displays Mobipocket the best, then ePub.

I would agree with you because of the epub stupid page number bug but for me the smallest mobi font is far too large.

The smallest epub font is perfect for me, if we could get mobi to use that size I'd convert all my epubs to mobi and be happy.

AnemicOak · 09-18-2009, 05:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mnementh

I would agree with you because of the epub stupid page number bug but for me the smallest mobi font is far too large.

The smallest epub font is perfect for me, if we could get mobi to use that size I'd convert all my epubs to mobi and be happy.

I also don't like that ePub has no real progress indicator.

I wonder if it depends on the file. I used an ePub generated from a Mobi in Calibre using the default settings and the ePub on smallest had 4pt type. That's awfully small. Is yours that small?

Mnementh · 09-18-2009, 06:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AnemicOak

I also don't like that ePub has no real progress indicator.

I wonder if it depends on the file. I used an ePub generated from a Mobi in Calibre using the default settings and the ePub on smallest had 4pt type. That's awfully small. Is yours that small?

I'm not too worried about the no progress indicator, I just hit the ok button if I want to see how many pages I have left.

All my epubs are created by calibre from de-drm'd secure ereader files and the fonts range from 4-6 point which is fine for me, mobi's created from calibre (only made to test them) use 12-16 point which is huge in comparison, changing the base font size in calibre makes no difference whatsoever.

09-18-2009, 04:48 PM	#11
AnemicOak Bookaholic Posts: 7,392 Karma: 18766781 Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: Minnesota Device: AuraHD, Nook HD+, Kindle 2,3,T , Opus, TF101, Nexus7, iPT, iPhone5	IMO the PP displays Mobipocket the best, then ePub. __________________ ~Brian "The test of any good fiction is that you should care something for the characters; the good to succeed, the bad to fail. The trouble with most fiction is that you want them all to land in hell together, as quickly as possible." — Mark Twain

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09-18-2009, 12:13 PM	#1
spear Connoisseur Posts: 73 Karma: 4532 Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: Mostly In My Head Device: ebookwise 1150, Franklin EBookMan 911, EZReader Pocket Pro, Kindle 3	query on the best / easiest format to use? I got my maroon one in last week but I am not opening it until my b-day in two weeks (welll...I did take it out, looked at it, and turned it on....but then I put it back in the box...we'll see how long I would be able to resist...). Question: I understand the differences between the formats and of course will use any and all of them depending on the ebook I am seeking. However there will be cases where the will be choices in formats available. So the question is: which in the other PEZ owners opinions is the best looking, yet easiest to use?

09-18-2009, 01:10 PM	#6
wallcraft reader Posts: 6,979 Karma: 5183568 Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Mississippi, USA Device: Kindle 3 and Fire	The best formats are ePub, FB2, and MOBI. Each is using completely different reading software on the Pocket Pro. For the long term ePub is going to be best. However, if you want control over how the ebook appears on the screen at present you need to use Calibre to build a custom ePub (and you can't do this with a DRMed, encrypted, ePub). Note that the Sony eBook Library Software comes very close to displaying ePubs on your Desktop like the Pocket Pro. This is because it is running mobile Adobe Digital Editions just like the Pocket Pro. In fact, it is closer to the PEZ than to the Sony EInk Readers (because they are all using older software).

09-18-2009, 04:07 PM	#7
tamzilla Zealot Posts: 109 Karma: 2781 Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: VA, USA Device: nook, Ipod touch	I agree with Wallcraft, ePub, Mobi, and FB2 all display nicely on the Pocket Pro. I've completed reading one ePub book and am halfway through one in Mobi and both formats seem to work well, as in neither one caused the unit to crash or hang up. I've just started using ePub and I'm not sure how I feel about the format yet. The ePub I purchased looked fantastic in some ways - nice oversized caps at the beginning of each chapter and a nicely formatted table. However, the margins were HUGH and I didn't like the default Times Roman Font and there is no way for the user to change these from within the book. I finally dedrm'ed the book and tweeked the master page layout and css files until I got the margins and font the way I liked them. This wasn't hard to do, but it did take time and left me thinking that if I was going to have to dedrm each ePub file I purchased and mess around with it until I got the margin and base font how I like them, I might as well just buy the mobi format and dedrm that. I'm not sure that I'd miss the fancy formatting in most cases. Amazon will probably end up killing mobi, so I guess I should just learn to love ePub.

09-18-2009, 04:39 PM	#9
spear Connoisseur Posts: 73 Karma: 4532 Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: Mostly In My Head Device: ebookwise 1150, Franklin EBookMan 911, EZReader Pocket Pro, Kindle 3	Thank you all for the advice, part of the reason I asked was because of what Tamzilla said about mobi. When I first started reading this forum (mostly as a lurker) I always figured that the ebook reader that would replace my eBookWise would be one with Mobipocket...but along came Amazon....and it is what it is....


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