MobileRead Forums
Register Guidelines E-Books Today's Posts Search

Go Back   MobileRead Forums > E-Book General > General Discussions
Reload this Page epub or mobi: which are better for etextbooks?

Notices

Reply
 
Thread Tools Search this Thread
Old 12-11-2013, 11:15 AM   #1
Asterisk411
Junior Member
Asterisk411 began at the beginning.
 
Posts: 8
Karma: 10
Join Date: Aug 2010
Device: Kindle 3 wifi
epub or mobi: which are better for etextbooks?
I'm a student looking to get an ebook textbook for next semester and there are two choices with 2 different formats: epub and kindle
I have kobo aura HD and kindle keyboard ereaders, so I can read both formats. Is there a difference in quality of ebook formating between the two formats? A better format would mean a easier time learning the material.

Thanks
Asterisk411 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 12-11-2013, 11:18 AM   #2
AnemicOak
Bookaholic
AnemicOak ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.AnemicOak ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.AnemicOak ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.AnemicOak ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.AnemicOak ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.AnemicOak ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.AnemicOak ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.AnemicOak ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.AnemicOak ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.AnemicOak ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.AnemicOak ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.
 
AnemicOak's Avatar
 
Posts: 14,391
Karma: 54969924
Join Date: Oct 2007
Location: Minnesota
Device: iPad Mini 4, AuraHD, iPhone XR +
Just a guess, but are you sure the Kindle version is Mobi/AZW? I'd guess it's KF8/AZW3 which is much more similar to being ePub in an Amazon wrapper. I'm guessing formatting is the same for both. Why not download free samples for both devices and see how they look?
AnemicOak is offline   Reply With Quote
Advert
Old 12-11-2013, 11:30 AM   #3
fjtorres
Grand Sorcerer
fjtorres ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.fjtorres ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.fjtorres ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.fjtorres ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.fjtorres ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.fjtorres ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.fjtorres ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.fjtorres ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.fjtorres ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.fjtorres ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.fjtorres ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.
 
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
Kindle has a 7 day returns policy.
You can always return it if it doesn't work to your liking.
fjtorres is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 12-12-2013, 12:38 AM   #4
eschwartz
Ex-Helpdesk Junkie
eschwartz ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.eschwartz ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.eschwartz ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.eschwartz ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.eschwartz ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.eschwartz ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.eschwartz ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.eschwartz ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.eschwartz ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.eschwartz ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.eschwartz ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.
 
eschwartz's Avatar
 
Posts: 19,421
Karma: 85400180
Join Date: Nov 2012
Location: The Beaten Path, USA, Roundworld, This Side of Infinity
Device: Kindle Touch fw5.3.7 (Wifi only)
It may very well be a print replica (.azw4) which is a PDF in a Kindle Format wrapper and is not offered for e-ink readers, though it does work on the Fire and any of the apps.

Amazon Textbooks tend to be Print Replicas.
eschwartz is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 12-12-2013, 04:13 PM   #5
paola
Wizard
paola ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.paola ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.paola ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.paola ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.paola ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.paola ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.paola ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.paola ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.paola ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.paola ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.paola ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.
 
paola's Avatar
 
Posts: 2,840
Karma: 5843878
Join Date: Oct 2010
Location: UK
Device: Pocketbook Pro 903, (beloved Pocketbook 360 RIP), Kobo Mini, Kobo Aura
Quote:
Originally Posted by Asterisk411 View Post
I'm a student looking to get an ebook textbook for next semester and there are two choices with 2 different formats: epub and kindle
I have kobo aura HD and kindle keyboard ereaders, so I can read both formats. Is there a difference in quality of ebook formating between the two formats? A better format would mean a easier time learning the material.

Thanks
this is a technical textbook which is bound to have formulas in it. How these are dealt with is quite important for readability. It may be that they are using an svg file for them, or something else. If I am not mistaken, formulas are available in the EPUB3 standard, but the problem is that, even if the book is ok, many readers don't implement this standard yet, though Kobo is one of those which does, though not completely.

Unfortunately the free sample is not very useful, as you don't get any formulas there. It is an expensive book, I'd ask the publisher if they can let you have a free sample of a central chapter with some formulas in.
paola is offline   Reply With Quote
Advert
Reply

« Previous Thread | Next Thread »

Forum Jump

Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
eTextbooks for Kindle *major help needed* JacobMiW Conversion 2 08-25-2012 10:57 PM
Using an Asus Transformer for eTextbooks viperboy Android Devices 5 08-22-2011 07:00 PM
California to start using Open Source etextbooks Nate the great News 87 05-11-2009 12:18 PM


All times are GMT -4. The time now is 07:01 AM.

Contact Us - FAQ - Guidelines - Privacy - Top

MobileRead.com is a privately owned, operated and funded community.