Which is the best format for ebooks? Lydia would like to buy an ebook reader, but which format should she choose to avoid getting stuck with the latter-day equivalent of Betamax? Share 34 Email Ebooks Which is the best ebook format? Photograph: Martin Argles for the Guardian Could you please clarify the various formats for digital books? Then I can decide which hardware to buy. I hope to avoid opting for a latter-day equivalent of Betamax. Lydia W An ebook format should offer a good reading experience, be an open standard format (or at least openly licensed), have the support of both publishers and hardware vendors, and be guaranteed to work for the foreseeable future, if not forever. Unfortunately, there isn't one. Buying ebooks requires compromises and an act of faith. Always assume your ebooks will not last very long, so you won't be disappointed if they don't. The Wikipedia page on ebook formats lists a couple of dozen, but most can be discounted. Some are effectively out of date, such as Microsoft's LIT. Some formats are supported because they are common in other areas and it's useful if an e-reader can handle them. Examples include Microsoft Office document formats (doc, docx) and web-style HTML. Some formats are proprietary and may not be widely supported where you live, such as KML (the HieBook eBook format), RB, (Rocket) and WOLF (HanLin). Another Wikipedia page, Comparison of ebook formats, has a table to show which e-readers support which formats. At the moment, the most attractive (or least unattractive) formats in the UK include AZW (Amazon's proprietary format), BbeB (Sony's proprietary format), ePub, MOBI/PRC (MobiPocket), and PDF (Adobe's Portable Document Format). However, the situation is worse than it sounds because the files can be either unprotected or protected by a DRM (digital rights wanagement) wrapper. DRM can stop you from reading an ebook even if the file format is compatible with your e-reader. DRM is particularly dangerous when the file has to be authenticated by an online server because the supplier can go bust or shut down the server or cut you off. You might think this is unlikely but both Google and Microsoft have done it, albeit not with ebooks. While DRM is often hated by users (if they know about it), book publishers may insist on it. They are understandably afraid of the widespread piracy that afflicts the music and movie industries. Most authors are not going to make up any losses by performing live. In many respects, ePub is the best choice. It was developed by the International Digital Publishing Forum (design by committee), and most popular e-readers can handle it, with the notable exception of the Amazon Kindle. It has two main drawbacks. First, ePub files are based on XHTML and CSS cascading style sheets, and like web pages, can look different on different machines. Second, ePub doesn't require DRM but it allows it, so protected books may be unreadable on the "wrong" system. Historically, MobiPocket has also been a reasonable choice. It is based on an earlier XHTML-based Open eBook standard, which was superseded by ePub, so it could be regarded as a "legacy" format. It is not supported by many leading e-readers including the Sony, Barnes & Noble and Kobo models. However, MobiPocket has two things in its favour: it is supported by software for many mobile phones, and Amazon's AZW is a version of MobiPocket with a new file extension and different identification numbers. This makes it relatively simple to convert a MobiPocket file into an AZW file. There is even a fix that enables MobiPocket vendors to enable the DRM-protected books they have sold to be redownloaded in Kindle format. Adobe's PDF is also an important format because virtually every e-reader can handle it, and it retains page numbers, but it may not provide the best reading experience on a small screen. Also, PDF files can have DRM copy protection. Finally, there's Amazon's AZW. This is an awkward one to recommend because it is proprietary to Amazon, and most files have DRM. On the other hand, it works well, it has massive support from publishers, and Amazon makes it very easy to buy and consume books on multiple platforms. Although Amazon's ebooks are associated with Kindles, you can also read them in a free Kindle application on a PC or Mac, an iPad, or an Android, BlackBerry or iPhone smartphone. Although we are used to PCs that offer a wide range of choices at every level, the Kindle is a typical vertically-integrated consumer platform. In these, a single company owns or controls everything (or as much of it as it can) from top to bottom: hardware and software design, content distribution, retailing and sometimes pricing. Apple's iPad and Nintendo's Wii are also examples. Vertically-integrated businesses can develop more integrated products with greater ease of use, while freeing consumers from all the burdens of choice. Basically, you give up your freedom in exchange for a simpler and perhaps more satisfying life. Of course, when the vertically integrated company goes bust, gets out of the business, or changes its mind for any reason, then you may well be stuck with a dying or unsupported system. Usually, you will also be stuck with a load of content that you can no longer access conveniently, if at all. However, ebooks are bits, not atoms, so there should be no physical obsolescence, as there is with Betamax tapes or cartridge-loaded games. As long as you buy ebooks that don't have DRM – or have a breakable DRM – then you can use a program such as Calibre or MobiPocket Creator to convert them from one format to another. I've spent a couple of decades warning people against storing data in non-standard file formats (Schofield's First Law), but the fact is that all formats change over time. In the wise words of Mark Pilgrim: "Long-term data preservation is like long-term backup: a series of short-term formats, punctuated by a series of migrations." If DRM prevents you from converting ebooks to new formats, as they appear, their chances of survival are probably fairly slim. The safest long-term options are plain ASCII text and RTF (Rich Text Format), neither of which provides a very satisfying format for reading ebooks. The next best is ePub, but I can understand why people buy Kindles. Wanted: a thin and portable Ubuntu laptop Alastair wants a nippy and quick portable computer, preferably with 3G broadband inside, and is happy to install Ubuntu himself Share 1 Email Ubuntu The Ubuntu operating system. Photograph: Kevin Anderson I'm looking for a laptop that I can use in school for writing. I'd like it to be thin and portable but also quite nippy and quick. It would help if it could 3G connect, allowing me to store all my data in my Ubuntu cloud. I prefer Ubuntu to Windows and therefore the laptop doesn't need an OS installed. Alastair Not many laptops are available running the Ubuntu version of Linux, and I don't know of any laptops that are supplied in the UK without an operating system. (There may be some.) Very few laptops have built-in 3G connections, and they tend to be somewhat expensive. Worse, while there are plenty of thin netbooks and laptops around, the affordable ones tend not to be nippy. So, although your requirements sound perfectly reasonable, they're not catered for by the mainstream PC suppliers, who may still be smarting from their disastrous "smartbook" efforts. I suspect you will have to compromise on one or more areas, depending on what's important to you. Thin, portable laptops tend to have 13.3in screens, and this size is popular enough to offer plenty of choice. If you want something nippy, then a chip from the second-generation Intel Core iX range (codenamed Sandy Bridge) would be a good choice. A Core i3 is probably nippy enough, but you can pay more for a Core i5 or too much for a Core i7. In this case, the system of choice could be a Toshiba Portégé R830, which is this year's improved version of the R700. The ultraportable Portégé R830-138 has a Core i5-2520M processor and even provides a DVD SuperMulti drive along with integrated 3G. The code you want is PT321E-01F00YEN. Toshiba's price is close to £1,500 but you can buy it at a discount. There's also a Core i7 version, the R830-10Q (PT321E-00P00YEN), which costs almost £2,000. You can still pick up versions of the R700-182 (PT310E-06U02KEN) for around £1,000, but the Toshiba Satellite R830 is probably a better choice. This is a small business version of the Portégé R830 at half the price (£699), though without the 3G option. The Toshiba Portégé and similar machines come pre-installed with Microsoft Windows 7, so you would have to install Ubuntu yourself. If you want a laptop with Ubuntu already installed, the most obvious example is the Meenee (as in "miny mo") MNB737, which Amazon.co.uk is currently selling for £225 (ie £50 off). It has a 13.3in screen and 2GB of memory, and is light at 1.3kg. However, it only has an Intel Atom N455 processor, and battery life is quoted as 3.5 hours, which is low by current netbook standards. Still, it does come with Ubuntu 10.10 Netbook edition pre-installed, and could be a good choice for some users. Alternatively, you could check the Lenovo laptops sold by Linux Emporium, which come with "Ubuntu Maverick Meerkat (10.10) by default", though other versions can be installed. Options range from the old Ideapad S10-2-3 netbook (£353 but out of stock) to the ThinkPad-style X301 (£1,907). The Lenovo X100e-2 (£485) netbook might be a reasonable option, but its 1.6GHz Athlon Neo MV-40 is far from being nippy, and the hardware doesn't look very good value at the price. One advantage of buying from Linux Emporium (and other suppliers that readers will no doubt add in comments) is that you don't have to worry about finding Linux drivers and so on, but Lenovo/IBM machines have traditionally been pretty well supported by the Linux community. Although you can install Ubuntu on anything, I'd recommend sticking to major brands such as Lenovo/IBM, Toshiba and, more recently, Samsung. Even then, you should do a few web searches before buying a particular model, to find out if other Linux users have run into problems. If you drop the built-in 3G from your wishlist, there are two other options. First, many laptops can be fitted with a 3G card, such as Dell's Wireless 5530 and 5540 mobile broadband cards. (Search the web for: 3G HSDPA card.) Second, you can take the cheap option and use a USB plug-in modem, commonly referred to as a "dongle". These are cheap and may come free with mobile broadband deals. High-street phone shops will even throw in a "free" netbook or laptop on a two-year deal. Dongles are tediously slow to connect, but a lot of people use them, including me. Bear in mind that dongles may have on-board connection software, and almost all of them are designed for Windows. Before buying one, double-check that it will work with your chosen version of Ubuntu. Of course, if you also drop the requirement for Ubuntu (or no operating system) then there are hundreds of choices, depending on how much you want to spend. You could look at something like the Lenovo Z370, which sells for £436 on Amazon.co.uk. It has a nippy spec – 2.1GHz Core i3-2310M, 4GB of memory, 500GB hard drive, DVD-RW optical drive – but it's not a lightweight at 2kg. The Acer Aspire Timeline X and Asus U ranges offer lighter options with better battery life, but without the DVD drive. Later this year, there should be some more interesting options available as part of Intel's Ultrabook project, which is aimed at producing mass market ultraportables that cost less than a MacBook Air. Finally, you could also consider the Samsung Chromebook, which is aimed at your sort of usage. It represents Google's attempt to do everything through its own Chrome web browser, and the £399 version includes mobile broadband from 3 (at a cost, after you've used the first 3GB of data). However, it's basically just a locked-down netbook, and depends on you having either a good 3G connection or preferably free Wi-Fi available. If you are techie enough to want to install Ubuntu, you may find Chrome OS's (entirely deliberate) limitations somewhat frustrating. Also, I think there's already a more versatile alternative: a netbook or laptop that can boot either Windows or the almost-instant Splashtop version of Linux. As I've pointed out before, this is available under various names. The Asus version is called ExpressGate, while Acer calls it InstaView, HP and Sony call it QuickWeb, and Lenovo calls it QuickStart. Wanted: a low-cost laptop for dad Ian Stephen's father is using an ancient PC running Microsoft Windows XP and wants to upgrade to new laptop in the £350 to £500 price range. What should he choose? Share 9 Email Laptop What's the best low-cost laptop for a silver surfer? Photograph: Graham Turner for the Guardian Dad is 73 and has struggled with an ancient, slow PC for many years. Now he reluctantly accepts that he should upgrade to a modern and fast laptop, which he will sometimes want to use in the conservatory. He needs access to the internet and email, transfer and storage of photos, and the simplest of word processors. Any suggestions around the £350 to £500 price range? Ian Stephen Dad is right in the middle of the mass market for what we call "desktop replacement" laptops, where hundreds of very similar PCs compete mainly on price. He doesn't need his new laptop to be thin-and-light, he doesn't need long battery life, he doesn't need high-resolution graphics, 3D or Blu-ray, and he doesn't even need a particularly fast processor. Almost any PC with a 15.6in screen should do the job, though you might consider buying one with a big 17.3in screen instead. And while you could come in under budget, I'm going to encourage you to think about buying a few extras as well. Eyesight tends to deteriorate somewhat with age, so I'd go for at least a 15.6in screen, which will display exactly the same information as a typical 13.3in laptop screen: 1366 x 768 pixels. The 15.6in screen just means that text and icons will be bigger and easier to see. Laptops with 17.3in screens generally display more information on the screen, the typical resolution being 1600 x 900 pixels. Bigger is usually better, but a 17.3in laptop will tend to be a little heavier – closer to 3.0kg than 2.5kg – and this may be a consideration if it's moved a lot. Regular readers will know that I'm a big fan of this year's Intel Core iX range, codenamed Sandy Bridge, and the mid-range Core i5 is often the best choice. (The Core i3 is cheaper and slower, but lacks the TurboBoost, while the Core i7 is faster but pricier.) Sandy Bridge is probably the way to go for longevity. However, the popularity of the Core iX range means there are bargains running earlier designs such as Intel's Core 2 Duo range and Pentium and Celeron brands. (Nowadays, they're not actually Pentium and Celeron chips.) These will provide a huge improvement on your dad's current system, and his applications don't require anything better. Even slower processors would be usable, as long as they are dual-core and, preferably, include hyperthreading. Most laptops in the "desktop replacement" category have 15.6in screens, 3GB or 4GB of memory, a 320GB or 500GB hard drive, DVD writer, and 64-bit Windows 7 Home Premium. Most have Intel integrated graphics on the motherboard (sharing main memory) but some have dedicated graphics processors to provide better performance. Most have a slot for SD (Secure Digital) memory cards, and your dad will find this extremely useful if he uses cameras, music players or mobile phones that also take SD storage cards. Low-end systems that you could consider include the Lenovo G560 (Pentium P6200, £299.99), Samsung RV510 (Celeron T3500, £289.98) and RV511 (Pentium P6200, £329.99), and the Asus K53E-SX195V (Pentium B940, £346.80). From this lot, the P6200 is the fastest processor, though only fractionally ahead of the B940 thanks to its extra on-chip cache memory. These are all under your budget, so you might want to spend a bit more and get a system with a Core i3 or even a Core i5. Examples include the Lenovo G570 (Core i3-2310M, £389.00), Samsung RV511 (Intel Core i3-380M, £424.60), Acer Aspire 5742 (Core i5-480M, £429.97), and Asus K52F-EX1238V (Core i5-480M, £423.60). Most of these systems are also available with 17.3in screens, but this is an area where Samsung's R series looks particularly competitive on price. Examples include the Samsung R730 (Pentium P6100, £399.99), the Samsung RV720 (Core i3-2310M, £478.99) and the RV11 with a P6200 £408.92 or a Core i3-380M £425.87. Another option is the Asus K73E-TY040V (Core i3-2310M, £478.80), and there are rivals from HP, Acer and Toshiba. The Samsung RV11-A03 has a resolution of 1366 x 768 pixels despite its huge screen, which might appeal to users with impaired vision. Otherwise, the Samsung RV720 (1600 x 900 pixels) might be the pick of this particular bunch. I've taken most prices from Amazon.co.uk because the site also offers a specification, reader reviews and star ratings. However, if you shop around, you may be able to find lower prices. If you want to compare the speed of the various processors, there is a comprehensive table at Notebook Check: Comparison of Mobile Processors (CPU Benchmarks). If you want to read reviews, look at TestSeek. A final choice can depend on things like a laptop's general appearance, visual screen quality, the feel of the keyboard and other personal preferences. It's always worth checking systems in a high-street shop or computer superstore to see if a particular model stands out. None of these systems is particularly stylish, but you are getting a big-screen computer with a keyboard, hard drive and DVD player for less than the price of many smartphones, it will last longer, and the running costs are a lot lower. Either way, I suggest you spend any money you've saved on an external hard drive to move your dad's data from his old Windows XP machine, using Windows Easy Transfer, and to provide a back up. (Windows 7 includes decent backup software but the HP Simple Save models will do backups automatically.) If he's used to using a mouse rather than a touchpad, an external USB mouse might be appreciated. Finally, do your dad a favour by installing the latest Windows updates, then download most of the Windows Live Essentials suite, if not already pre-installed. This free suite includes a desktop email program that works well with Gmail (set to IMAP) and Hotmail, Messenger, an excellent Photo Gallery/organiser, and 25GB of free online space in SkyDrive. The email program automates the process of sharing photos by uploading the photo (or a whole folder of photos) to SkyDrive and emailing the recipient a link. Hotmail now provides access to web-based versions of Microsoft Office programs, and enables document sharing as well. Windows Live Mesh lets you synchronise documents and photos between different computers (including Macs), synchronise settings and Internet Explorer bookmarks, and connect to your PC remotely from a different computer. Finally, Windows Live Essentials integrates with Windows Phones, for the few that have them. It's an excellent set of programs that would be even more widely used if people actually tried it. As for "the simplest of word processors", Windows already includes a free one: WordPad. The new version in Windows 7 has an Office-style ribbon and a customisable Quick Access bar that makes most commands instantly available. It doesn't have many features so it is certainly easy to learn. WordPad can't handle a wide range of formats, but it can open plain text, rich text files (.rtf), Microsoft Word documents (.docx), and OpenDocument Text (.odt) documents, which covers most needs. If not, the open source AbiWord is worth a look.