reading file details for book on Kindle device

Rizzer · 11-21-2013, 08:37 AM

I'd like to find the technical details for a book I have on my Kindle Paperwhite 2, i.e. the file format or filename. Can it be done (on the device)? I can only see "Book Description", but that refers to the Kindle Store entry, not the local file details.

The context is that I've been testing the capabilities of Calibre to convert ePub to the kindle (don't worry Amazon, I still love you and will buy your e-books. But some things are only available in ePub, we need to be able to use it. Not to mention the library e-loans). I used the Calibre Quick Start Guide as a test case, converting to both the main kindle formats, mobi and azw3.

On the device, one of the converted books has normal formatting, the other has cruddy formatting. The poorly formatted one also seemed to have slower page turning, it felt "heavier" (although file sizes are about the same). I'm pretty sure the azw3 is the good one (it's supposed to be able to handle more complex formatting), since I can also see some of the misformatting in the mobi version using the Calibre e-reader on the computer.

But I'd like to be able to confirm from the device itself that the mobi version is the poorly formatted one. Is there anyway to do this? On the list of books both of them look identical, no way to distinguish them.

AnemicOak · 11-21-2013, 10:09 AM

No way I know of. You could change the title of one slightly in Calibre or something. You're probably correct on which is which (AZW3 is close to being an ePub in a Kindle wrapper), but you never know.

Rizzer · 11-28-2013, 06:54 PM

Changing the title in Calibre didn't seem to help. That is, Calibre seemed to want to change the title for all formats, keeping the one entry rather than making a new entry for a different format.

In the end, I just deleted one of the books on the Kindle and had a look at what was left on the filesystem (USB connection to computer). I deleted the poorly formatted version, and found it was the azw3 which remained on the device.

So that proves it was indeed the mobi file format which has inferior formatting to the azw3 file format.

11-21-2013, 08:37 AM	#1
Rizzer Junior Member Posts: 2 Karma: 10 Join Date: Nov 2013 Device: Kindle Paperwhite 2	reading file details for book on Kindle device [mobi vs azw3] I'd like to find the technical details for a book I have on my Kindle Paperwhite 2, i.e. the file format or filename. Can it be done (on the device)? I can only see "Book Description", but that refers to the Kindle Store entry, not the local file details. The context is that I've been testing the capabilities of Calibre to convert ePub to the kindle (don't worry Amazon, I still love you and will buy your e-books. But some things are only available in ePub, we need to be able to use it. Not to mention the library e-loans). I used the Calibre Quick Start Guide as a test case, converting to both the main kindle formats, mobi and azw3. On the device, one of the converted books has normal formatting, the other has cruddy formatting. The poorly formatted one also seemed to have slower page turning, it felt "heavier" (although file sizes are about the same). I'm pretty sure the azw3 is the good one (it's supposed to be able to handle more complex formatting), since I can also see some of the misformatting in the mobi version using the Calibre e-reader on the computer. But I'd like to be able to confirm from the device itself that the mobi version is the poorly formatted one. Is there anyway to do this? On the list of books both of them look identical, no way to distinguish them. Last edited by Rizzer; 11-28-2013 at 06:57 PM. Reason: put mobi vs azw3 comparison into title

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11-21-2013, 10:09 AM	#2
AnemicOak Bookaholic Posts: 14,391 Karma: 54969924 Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: Minnesota Device: iPad Mini 4, AuraHD, iPhone XR +	No way I know of. You could change the title of one slightly in Calibre or something. You're probably correct on which is which (AZW3 is close to being an ePub in a Kindle wrapper), but you never know.

11-28-2013, 06:54 PM	#3
Rizzer Junior Member Posts: 2 Karma: 10 Join Date: Nov 2013 Device: Kindle Paperwhite 2	Changing the title in Calibre didn't seem to help. That is, Calibre seemed to want to change the title for all formats, keeping the one entry rather than making a new entry for a different format. In the end, I just deleted one of the books on the Kindle and had a look at what was left on the filesystem (USB connection to computer). I deleted the poorly formatted version, and found it was the azw3 which remained on the device. So that proves it was indeed the mobi file format which has inferior formatting to the azw3 file format.

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