How does 512MB of memory affect operation of Android?

[New Daddy]

I'm a long-time Win Mo user looking to switch to Android. Qwerty keyboard is really indispensable for me (I've used XV6700 and now TP2). So naturally I'm looking forward to the release of Droid 3, slated for early July.

But I've seen people lamenting, among others, the small size of memory - 512MB - that will be equipped on Droid 3.

So, what does it really mean? For Windows Mobile, 512MB of main memory, albeit not plentiful, is not bad. All you have to do is install the essential apps on the main memory, and non essentials on the SD memory. Apps running from the SD may be slower, but Win Mo is slow to begin with. Why would 512MB on Android be problematic? Can't you install and run apps from an SD memory the way you do with Win Mo phones?

 

[ninja_reject]

The 512 refers to ram, not memory. The droid 3 is sure to have much more memory, I am imagining somewhere around 16 gigs on-board, along with the sd card.

 

[dan330]

all OS.. get updated.. new versions...
each update gets bigger..

as OS get more powerful and more functions...
so do the apps.. they get bigger and better.

512mb was fine last year...
but most new top of the line phones are headed to 1GB of RAM to handle all the new bigger software.

 

[AndroidSPCS]

Welcome to Android Forums!!! 512MB of storage is actually fine for me. I have plenty of space left on my Android phones.

 

[alostpacket]

The 512 refers to ram, not memory. The droid 3 is sure to have much more memory, I am imagining somewhere around 16 gigs on-board, along with the sd card.

The 16GB I would call storage, as it makes more sense from a tech standpoint to equate memory and RAM, but that's a minor nitpick.


Anyways @OP The more the better. 512MB is decent but if you plan to sign a 2 year contract be aware that by the end of those two years at some point you will more than likely feel the effects of low RAM.

It shouldn't stop anything from working, but may cause slowdows when switching from one task to another, say if you were using a very RAM heavy app like Google Maps Navigation...

 

[daveybaby]

The 512 refers to ram, not memory.

YouTube - ‪IT CROWD: MEMORY IS RAM!‬‏

 

[alostpacket]

I love that show

 

[New Daddy]

It shouldn't stop anything from working, but may cause slowdows when switching from one task to another, say if you were using a very RAM heavy app like Google Maps Navigation...

That could be a deal breaker. One of the minor reason I'm choosing Android over iPhone is the turn-by-turn navigation of Google Maps. You could go with Bing for that with iPhone, but I hate having to run Google Maps for regular search, at which it is better than Bing, and then run Bing for navigation, when just running either of them can bog down my TP2 beyond the boundaries of useability.

I guess I'll have to aim for a phone with bigger memory, or RAM.

 

[alostpacket]

Google Nav works pretty well. I'm saying when you switch to another app after using something intense like Google Nav, there might be a slight delay as it reclaims the memory.

But it never hurts to have more RAM.

 

[takeshi]

So, what does it really mean?

Depends on your usage, really. I have a Droid with 256MB. Generally it's not an issue for me. YMMV.

That said, you can never have too much RAM/storage/processing power. See also "640K is more than enough for everyone".

 

[Usta]

Just to be clear - we are referring here to 512MB RAM and not internal storage!

I can understand OP's concerns, especially when the competition is putting 768MB (Sensation) or even 1GB (SGS2) RAM in their phones.

I think 512MB is good enough, since I've never had a RAM shortage on Desire.
That is, as long as heavy memory intensive UIs/apps are not going to be used the future.