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Venue 8 Android Storage Memory (How Much?)
I just recently purchased a Venue 8 Android, which indicates on the box it has 32 GB internally. However, in the settings, the Storage information indicates: Total Space 26 GB, Available 24.8 GB. I have no SD card installed right now. I have downloaded perhaps a dozen apps onto it.
I understand the OS takes up some space, and perhaps there are hidden files, but I have another new tablet which is running 4.1.2, and it has 8 GB internal storage memory, and it indicates Total Space: 8 GB, Available 4.8 GB after I downloaded some Apps onto it.
I don't know if this is a change in how the Total Space is read between the two devices, if Dell is doing something with 6 GB which is hidden and doesn't show up, or if there is something wrong with the internal flash memory and it "lost 6 GB somewhere.
Could someone check their Venue 8 Android with 32 GB and see what the Total Space reading is on theirs, looking via Storage in settings?
Thanks
chairszz
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December 20th, 2013 12:00
i dont have exact numbers but 26 gigs from a 32 gig hard drive is the norm . the 6 gigs go towards driver files, the os, and the system apps and other files needed to run android. (with root you can access most if not all these files)
obviously if we were to install a custom rom and removed and cherry picked whatever apps and files we dont need the space would increase towards the 32 gig exponentially. but it still wouldnt be excatly 32, ever.
1stDell
24 Posts
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December 21st, 2013 04:00
I guess the problem I am having is with the different ways each manufacturer is describing "Total Space" within Android. I fully understand what you wrote, but there seems to be no consistency between use of the term "Total Storage".
I have a nearly new 7" tablet made by a Korean company whose name starts with an "S". It has 8 GB of storage memory according to the specs. It is running their version of Android 4.1.2. When I go to the storage info page under settings, it indicates "Total Storage 8 GB" and then, free storage is about 5 GB. I understand that the OS, apps, etc storage within the internal memory is taking up the missing 3 GB.
However, now I look at the Dell Venue 8, and it is supposed to have 32 GB of internal storage. If the same system was used as with my other tablet, the Total Storage would state 32 GB, and the free storage would still indicate 24.8 (which is what my Venue actually does report right now for Free Storage) .
However, what the Venue does report is that the Total Storage is 26 GB, not 32 GB. So, this appears to be a different usage of the term "Total Storage". My 7" "S" product uses the actual Storage space installed into the unit and then subtracts all used space for OS, files and apps, etc. and calls what's left "free storage", but the Venue seems to be making a distinction between the OS and built in software (and subtracting that 6 GB off the top) and then doing a second subtraction of the additional apps and other things I have stored on the internal memory, as a second subtraction from the actual internal memory. I find it odd that two units both running similar versions of Android would use totally different meanings for "Total Storage". I also find it interesting that the very stripped down version of Android on the Venue uses 6 GB just for the basic OS, while my other tablet appears to use only about 3 GB for both the OS and all the apps loaded on it ("S" has a quite elaborate skin and add-ons to the Android OS, and I have also loaded a lot more apps on that tablet, so I don't understand why a "crunched" version of Android on the Venue takes up so much more room when the feature set is so much smaller. Something isn't making sense, unless Dell has some major hidden files in the internal memory area.
It's almost like the "S" brand is using a secondary rewritable flash memory beyond the 8 GB they indicate to put the OS and built in apps, while Dell is using 6 GB of the 32 GB internal flash memory to store the OS. I'm not sure if this is difference of nomenclature or functionally different.