Just how compatible is Epub and Mobi?

[avid01]

I made another cross-post: https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sho...43&postcount=1

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by avid01

So the bottom line is if I can get a book in either MOBI or EPUB (to read on my Kindle) I'm better off with going with the EPUB then convert it to KF8/AZW3 than to load the MOBI on the Kindle, right?

Probably not, no. The majority of books in the Kindle bookstore are now KF8. It tends to be mainly the older ones which are Mobi-only, and the ePub versions of such books are unlikely to use any formatting that Mobi doesn't support.

I buy wherever's cheapest. Lots of books from Amazon, but I've just bought a load of ePubs from "BooksOnBoard" to take advantage of their Christmas sale.

[DrNefario]

I think I might prefer less fancy presentation and a simpler format, myself.

[ApK]

Originally Posted by DrNefario

I think I might prefer less fancy presentation and a simpler format, myself.

It would seem that the majority of typical books do not take advantage of any of the features that mobi does not have, so in the majority of cases the formats would appear identical. Part of the reason is that publishers have have catered to the broadest common denominator, and Amazon's mobi audience was the broadest for years. But also only a comparatively few types of books are served by the extra features. A huge number of books are just simple text (where the font choice is as well left up to the reader) and images, and, while technically you can put a better quality pic in an ePub, on a 6 inch reader, it doesn't matter.

However, if the choice is converting one way or the other, yes it makes sense to use KF8, if available and if your reader supports it, over old mobi.
No reason not to.

[avid01]

Thanks for your info!