Whats difference when sending AZW3 files from Finder VS Calibre?

[Dave_the_rave]

What's the difference between sending AZW3 files from Finder to my Kindle via USB vs Sending from Calibre via USB to my Kindle?

• Beside folder structure what is the advantage of using Calibre to send books to Kindle using USB?
• Also I would like to know if I can tell Calibre to copy books in a certain folder say Kindle root\Calibre is it possible?

Kindle Device: Kindle Oasis
System: macOS BigSur

[Dave_the_rave]

Also I would like to know if I can tell Calibre to copy books in a certain folder say Kindle root\Calibre is it possible?

Never mind I was able to find that in the settings. I am still curious on how this differ from just sending AZW3 using Finder. I can see that Calibre has created a folder with .sdr string which includes an .apnx file but I am not sure what it does.

[theducks]

Finder does not UPDATE the metadata in the sent copy.
Finder does not scale images to suit the device (when needed)

Configure the drivers template (device connected). It accept literals.
\Mybooks\{Authors}\{Title}
(limited to what you can see with finder. You may not be able to get to \root )

[Sirtel]

To me, the advantages of using Calibre for sending books are as follows:

Updated metadata
Plugboards
Page count

If you use none of those three, then it won't matter. Of course then the question arises, what DO you use Calibre for?

[jhowell]

The APNX file allows page numbers to be shown while reading.

Calibre also puts a cover thumbnail image file on the device so that the actual cover shows up in the library and home screens instead of a generic gray one.

[Dave_the_rave]

Originally Posted by Sirtel

To me, the advantages of using Calibre for sending books are as follows:

Updated metadata
Plugboards
Page count

If you use none of those three, then it won't matter. Of course then the question arises, what DO you use Calibre for?

What does the Plugboards do

[davidfor]

Originally Posted by Dave_the_rave

What does the Plugboards do

Plugboards can modify the metadata in a book when it is sent to the device. They can make changes that make sense on the device, without affecting what is in you library. A common use is to add the series information to the title for devices that do not support series information. Or to use the author_sort instead of the author. I add the page and word counts and the reading status to the comments field so I can easily see this on my devices.

[hobnail]

Originally Posted by davidfor

... Or to use the author_sort instead of the author.

Urk, too bad I didn't know about that back when I was using the Kindle. I went through and manually "fixed" the names to be LN, FN. Then I had to switch them back when I "upgraded" to a Kobo, but that time I used the Quality Check plugin to fix them. (Yet another Kindle peeve to add to my list.)