More Newbie Questions-Adding more memory?

[karbar32]

I know that adding memory to a desktop computer will allow it to run faster. I was wondering if adding a memory card to a tablet would do the same, or is adding memory to the tablet just for increasing storage space?
Will the tablet run faster if a memory card is installed.

 

[biking4jesus]

Adding an SC (memory) card to your tablet won't make it faster, but it will make it more useful. An external SD card is more like a hard drive than a memory chip on a desktop. Your external card is primarily used for storing app data, media files, and backups. For many of us having plenty of room for audio files, pictures, videos, and books is very important. Having more internal memory in your tablet will improve performance in the sense that you can have more things going on at the same time.

Unfortunately, tablet makers partition the internal memory in a confusing way. Part if it is dedicated to running applications and OS. It is usually referred to as system memory or internal memory. The A500 comes with 1GB of this, of which about 700MB is available. The rest of the built-in memory on the table is referred to as "SD card". The A500 comes with 8, 16, or 32GB of this. (actually only about 75% of this is available for your use; the rest is system overhead) Never waste internal SD card memory with media files. There are many types of files that can't be relocated from the internal to external SD card, so store things on the external card whenever you can.

So, get the most internal memory you can afford, since you can't really expand it later. Faster SD cards may improve performance, since files can be read from them more quickly. I'm still using cheap class 4 cards, and my performance is OK, but I'm on the lookout for a good deal on a 32GB class 10 card.

 

[karbar32]

Thank you. My Acer is the 16GB Ram version, and after a month's usage, there 12GB free. I couldn't recall how much the OS used before the family started snapping pictures with it all over the place. and was curious as to whether adding an SD card would make a difference in performance.

 

[biking4jesus]

I don't know how you still have 12GB free. I have a 16GB A500, and it only has 12.85GB available after the OS overhead. So, you must have less than 1GB of pics, etc. I have 2.6GB left on my internal SD Card. Some of that can be moved to the ext. card, but I haven't gotten around to doing that. I've also got a couple of hundred apps, five of which are over 100MB, and many are over 20MB.

Once you get an external SD card, be sure to change the Storage Source on the Camera to "SD card" (which means external SD Card here). Also, any other apps that have a option to specify where data is stored should be pointed to the external SD Card. When you copy files to the tablet, be sure to copy them to the external SD card.

 

[karbar32]

You're right, total space is listed as 12.79GB,..since it's a 16GB rom, I mistook that number for the remaining available space. There's 10.11GB of free space left. I ordered a 16GB card (class 6) from Newegg, so I won't have to worry about (I hope0 about it getting too cluttered.
And thank yiou again for all your advice. It is appreciated.

 

[Douvie]

Unfortunately, tablet makers partition the internal memory in a confusing way. Part if it is dedicated to running applications and OS. It is usually referred to as system memory or internal memory. The A500 comes with 1GB of this, of which about 700MB is available. The rest of the built-in memory on the table is referred to as "SD card". The A500 comes with 8, 16, or 32GB of this. (actually only about 75% of this is available for your use; the rest is system overhead) Never waste internal SD card memory with media files. There are many types of files that can't be relocated from the internal to external SD card, so store things on the external card whenever you can.

The 1GB you're referring to is actual working RAM that the TEGRA 2 Processor uses when your tablet is working. The internal SD card (8, 16, 32GB) is memory where your data, apps and other such are stored - much like a hard drive on a PC. The external SD card (slot) is like an additional drive.

So, get the most internal memory you can afford, since you can't really expand it later. Faster SD cards may improve performance, since files can be read from them more quickly. I'm still using cheap class 4 cards, and my performance is OK, but I'm on the lookout for a good deal on a 32GB class 10 card.

Faster cards generally ensure less data corruption - but this not always the case.