Do you like how ePub books look on your Sony Reader?

[Madam Broshkina]

For the Sony owners who have downloaded an ePub version of one of their LRX books and compared them, which do you think looks better on your reader. I know that a lot of people are concerned about purchasing a book that can be read in the future on a different device but please do not let that influence your opinion. On the reader that you have today which version looks better to you?

[Wetdogeared]

The ePub is better use of the limited real estate IMO. I disliked the large top/side/bottom margins of lrx.

At least on the first ePub that I redownloaded. Paragraphs were indented and no extra space between paragraphs. I hope they are all like this but I guess it'll depend on who made the ePub.

[AprilHare]

I love how EPUB vicerally looks.
I only wish the page numbering was consistent with the page size

[LaCamera]

Absolutely not. To me, the ePub versions look like Web pages from 1993. The lack of margins are regrettable; I quite liked it when the layout mirrored the print version of the actual book.

I was horrified when I first saw them. I think it's a step back.

[rhadin]

I prefer margins and space between paragraphs. To my old eyes, it is an easier read. It doesn't matter to me that it means more page turns (button presses or finger swipes), it simply is easier on my eyes.

Perhaps it wouldn't matter so much if I didn't spend my day reading manuscript on my computer, but after 7 hours of reading manuscript on my computer, I'd like to spend a few hours on my 505 and have those hours be easy on my eyes.

[junkml]

Actually, as long as I can't get rid of the ridiculously wide margins, I hate both formats.

Epub comes out slightly ahead in that (in theory) it can be used on other devices in the future. LRX is proprietary, so it loses on that count.

[babyd]

I hate epubs and won't by them as I cannot stand how they look. I much prefer the old format. I like my ebooks to look like books so the lack of full justification is a no-no for me, I won't buy any until I get that option.

Directly from the publisher, the BBeB (LRX) versions typically look more like a printed book than the ePUB versions. But most of what I'm reading in this and other posts about ePUB dislikes is due to two reasons, both of which or easily solved:

(1) The publishers don't know how to format ePUB, much like some web sites look horrible and some look good, most ePUB publishers are terrible at formatting using ePUB. They need to learn what CSS is and how to use it, and Adobe needs to update their ePUB rendering engine to allow full utilization of CSS.

(2) The margins and sentence spacing issues are controllable. Currently you need to use a third-party application like Calibre to adjust margins after you have removed the DRM on an ePUB. However, there is no reason why reader firmware cannot allow the adjustment of margins, spacing, font, font-size, font-weight, etc. Most reader applications that have been around for PDAs, smartphones, etc. have these "look and feel" user adjustable options. Take a look at MobiPocket Reader, eReader, Microsoft Reader, etc. for PDAs.

Having said all this, I prefer the ePUB format. It is about half the file size of a bloated LRX file and loads much more quickly on slower readers. It is currently possible to remove the DRM then use Calibre or other options to adjust the look and feel of the eBook. And here is a major reason for me: I can edit the text of a ePUB with DRM removed. Normally that is not an issue. However, sometimes it is a good option.

Take The Iliad for example. For some stange reason many of the modern translations use the names of the Roman pantheon gods rather than the Greek pantheon gods. Homer was a bronze-age GREEK writer who lived way before Rome was a backwater village! I was able to rename the ePUB file from name-of-book.epub to name-of-book.zip, then extract the file to a folder. I then opened all the relevant HTML files in Dreamweaver and did a global search and replace on the dozen+ names of gods. Then I rezipped the folder into name-of-book.zip and changed its name back to name-of-book.epub. Now I have a more accurate translation. I am currently in the process of doing this to Genesis wherein I'm substituting the several names of god(s) from their generic meaningless English translations to their transliterated Hebrew forms. It makes for a much more accurate translations.

Note: These modifications are for me alone. Just as you can physically mark up a printed book you own, you can modify an eBook. You should not distribute it or share it though as that is not ethical or legal.

Bottomline is LRX is probably best for those who don't won't to make modifications or use the eBook on other readers. Whereas ePUB is better if you want to tinker with the eBook to better suit your needs.

[Madam Broshkina]

I have no issues with the ePub format in general. The ePub books that I downloaded from Sony look great on my nook. I just have a problem on how ePub looks on my Sony Reader(s).

[Wetdogeared]

Originally Posted by Madam Broshkina

I have no issues with the ePub format in general. The ePub books that I downloaded from Sony look great on my nook. I just have a problem on how ePub looks on my Sony Reader(s).

Does your Nook have right justification for ePubs? Are there any other differences between the Sony and Nook readers on how ePub is displayed?

[XK143]

Gotta agree with LaCamera. I just spent an hour fiddling around with the "new" versions of my already-purchased books from the new Reader Store. I don't care for 1) the font, 2) the text being stretched nearly as far as possible to the edge of the screen, and 3) the left-only text justification. I had previously customized my font and it was quite readable. Now I don't think I have that option (yet), let alone any of these other display horrors with Sony's ePUB.

Also, unless I've done something wrong, the font size does not change with the font button on my Reader (a PRS-505), it just makes some kind of page adjustment. I'll have to investigate further. But I'll be keeping the old Sony format on the books I've already purchased and not buy anything else from the Sony Reader Store until I see an improvement or something althogether better. Ick.

[tyche]

ePub: I like how fast they open and how fast the font size changes on my PRS-505. I hate the lack of justification. That's a deal breaker.

I'm going to stick with LRF for my books for now unless it has lots of images and then I find ePub easier to make the ebook look like I want.

[Madam Broshkina]

Originally Posted by Wetdogeared

Does your Nook have right justification for ePubs? Are there any other differences between the Sony and Nook readers on how ePub is displayed?

I have put 7 Sony books on the nook. 6 of them have full justification. 5 of these 6 have a space between the paragraphs. The nook does not display the little page numbers on the side. The nook displays the title of the book.

Here is a photo of my sony PRS-300 displaying an ePUB eBook I bought from Sony. I used ineptepub to deDRM it and Calibre to reset the margins to 15 points on top of page and 5 points on the sides. This view is using the smallest font size. To me this is a very readable eBook once I modified the margins.

Madam Broshkina is absolutely correct in her statement of how ePUBs display better on other reader devices than they do on the Sony devices. Each reader device capable of displaying ePUB files has its own unique rendering software which translates the ePUB file into what we see on the display. some devices do a great job, while others do a bad job. Unfortunately, Sony Readers do a rather bad job of displaying ePUBs. That is not the fault of ePUB formatting, it is the fault of Sony/Adobe rendering.

[perversity]

To me, the switch is a deal-breaker. With the books I have redownloaded, the test runs nearly edge to edge of all four corners of the screen. The font looks terrible compared to the BBeb version. The only positive I've seen is that the thumbnail image looks better in the browser (yawn). You shouldn't have to use another program to convert the books you bought specifically for the device just to read them. I won't buy anymore books from sony until they get this problem resolved