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Anyone have any experience converting (DRM-free) ePub files for use on a Kindle?
I know there are some options out there, curious whether there are any major issues with formatting, transferring, etc. If I end up buying one of the new Kindles I'd love to be able to read books from my current collection of ePub books on it. Not a huge fan of the iPad's iBooks app, but at least it has native ePub support.
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Hi Peter,
I've used Calibre for converting between mobi and epub (both directions), and generally the results are pretty good, depending largely on the source material. One of the really handy features is that it can run as a content server for Stanza, so on the iPad you don't need to cable the device to grab new books,
It's also handy for doing a scheduled scrape of various web sites and packaging it up as an ebook to read offline.
Cheers,
Richard
I've used Calibre for converting between mobi and epub (both directions), and generally the results are pretty good, depending largely on the source material. One of the really handy features is that it can run as a content server for Stanza, so on the iPad you don't need to cable the device to grab new books,
It's also handy for doing a scheduled scrape of various web sites and packaging it up as an ebook to read offline.
Cheers,
Richard
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Calibre works great (but it's not perfect).
I have converted a few epub books recently with Calibre for reading on the Kindle with a few minor issues:
1) Of course syncing between your Kindle/phone/PC/tablet won't work on non-Amazon books.Pity.
2) Some formatting gets messed up. With the books I read (basically books with chapters and not much else in the way of formatting) it doesn't cause problems. Sometimes the table of contents gets messed up. The bulk of the book generally converts perfectly. Occasionally I find some random dodgy formatting, but that is most likely from the source .epub anyway (ebooks are often frustratingly badly formatted!). Complex books are probably going to be hit-and-miss.
3) You won't always get location marks (the 'chapters' that show up as dots in the progress bar that you can skip between with the joystick). A minor annoyance.
That's about it. Apparently the two formats are internally quite similar. Calibre can also convert many other formats.
I have converted a few epub books recently with Calibre for reading on the Kindle with a few minor issues:
1) Of course syncing between your Kindle/phone/PC/tablet won't work on non-Amazon books.Pity.
2) Some formatting gets messed up. With the books I read (basically books with chapters and not much else in the way of formatting) it doesn't cause problems. Sometimes the table of contents gets messed up. The bulk of the book generally converts perfectly. Occasionally I find some random dodgy formatting, but that is most likely from the source .epub anyway (ebooks are often frustratingly badly formatted!). Complex books are probably going to be hit-and-miss.
3) You won't always get location marks (the 'chapters' that show up as dots in the progress bar that you can skip between with the joystick). A minor annoyance.
That's about it. Apparently the two formats are internally quite similar. Calibre can also convert many other formats.
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I would be curious what the other options besides Calibre are.
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This is why I love this site. You post a question and get a bunch of intelligent, useful answers!
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