TabS (SM-T808) 10.5". Lack of Memory.

[Benedict01]

My Smart Manager shows 90% internal memory used with 1.5 Gb free =14.5/16Gb

I have a memory card with 4.4 / 29.8 Gb used.

I clear most of my emails daily have 14 opened in Inbox, 2 in the saved folder,  4 in Sent, Zero in Trash & Junk.

I am running with the bare minimum  of software icons on the screen, in fact there is space for another. The bloatware like Knox, kids stuff NY times , Evernote  etc is either disabled or deleted where possible or reduced to factory settings.

Any attachments/Downloads are either deleted or saved to   the memory card.

I carry out a Norton Sweep to remove cookies and other rubbish daily plus activate my Smart Manager.

Can I create anymore memory space on the tablet as sometimes I  get halfway through an email which tend to be more than one liners  and the tablet freezes up due to lack of working memory, then I loose it and have to start again.

I only use the tablet for emails andsurfing the internet, few photos which are transferred to the memory card into the appropriate folder.

Any real computing I use my HP desktop. 

[Benedict01]

Spun1 , appologies accepted, I couldn't find what you were talking about, so maybe a blessing in disguise.

My background was Marine Engineering  even calculators were something new, I did all my exams and courses using a slide rule.

I first came across and used a computer back in mid 1980's when the 286 came out and using DOS , no Windows , no mouse but a huge CRT screen and floppy discs and before that cassettes  through a cassette player you plugged into the computer.

Been through all the Windows, 98 to Win 10.  Still thought XP was the best. 

But thats progress maybe. Did you know the first manned space flight they used slide rules to design the spacecraft. It doesn't matter how many decimal places you have you can only manufacture  to 0.001" 

[Spun1 · Accepted solution]

Lol. I have background in agriculture and heavy construction. My dad is a physics engineer.  Slide rule is among my many lost skills like playing guitar. Used to be able to read sheet music, was in band. Can't play a thing now. 

 Anyway started out using the Commodore Vic 20. The 64's lil brother. Later we had an 8088 (286 predecessor?) I was pretty computer savvy then.  Then I didn't really use computers much for 20 years. But when I got my 1st Smartphone, it just felt right. I've gotten back into computers since,  but the Smartphone and tablets just make sense to me.  I don't know why.

Anyway back to the issue. I looked up your device to be sure. You are just another victim of "planned obsolescence." Your device is 8 years old. Samsung only meant for you to use it for 2. That's why you only get 2 or 3 major OS upgrades. Also, the memory and chip you have were probably great on the 1st two upgrades. But by the last update, the OS needs more memory than you did when you bought it.  And needs more power. I'm surprised your battery still works if you've been using the tablet the whole time. 

The "Samsung cure" would be to buy brand new one. Not everyone wants to spend the money.  I'm using the s9 phone and have no plans to upgrade.  I mean, I'd love a brand new tab and phone every year. But I prefer things like eating and being able to drive and those cost money too.

In another year or 2,maybe a little longer, google services will no longer support your OS and your tablet will be a brick.  I know they stopped supporting OS 4.1.2 and that was from 2012? Your device is a couple years newer. So a couple years more.  

You can look up planned obsolescence on the net. You probably heard of it. If you sell the perfect car,  phone, computer, LIGHT BULB (this planned obsolescence started there), then customers would only buy 1. Bad business model i guess. So products like raylon pantyhose were tested and tinkered with until they break easier, but not too easy.

Sorry for the history lesson. Personally I'd start window shopping now so you have an affordable alternative that will meet your needs when your tablet finally gives up. Definitely recommend minimum of 16G internal ( 32 is better.) You'll need it for newer OS. My Tab E (2015?) Used almost 8G on OS alone. Higher the RAM the better. Always. But more always costs more. But at least 4G nowadays. And that's low end.

My mom broke her Tab 4 (antique almost) screen a few months ago. I bought her a new  tab A, not sure the number,  on Amazon for  $129. And was sold from Samsung, not a 3rd party seller. It's not the top of the line flagship model, but going from android 4.4.1. to Android 11 blew her mind. She loves it. It has basically replaced her laptop, as most newer tabs have apps for almost everything a PC can do.

[Benedict01]

Spun1, If you were using Commodores  then you will be no spring chicken like myself   and your mum must doing pretty well for her age using a tablet, unless she used a computer in her earlier life, perhaps working off a  mainfrain with the dreaded green screen. 

You will notice all those commands from Word Perfect using Cntrl, Alt and Fn keys are still there on MS in the various programs of Office. I remember having a cheat strip with the commands on propped on my keyboard when I fist started computing, I couldn't even type then , still cannot touch type all fingers. But using a stylus I am probably faster than on the keyboard now. When I livedin Tampa Florida, I remember going to a seminar  on Lotus 123 ( former Excel)   and Harvard Graphics ( former Powerpoint)  and taking a night class  on Autocadd running on DOS with the green screen and no mouse, then used the next version at work inwhich you had this template  on like an electronic clipboard for a better description. There were certain stiff plastic  overlays depending on what sort of drawing you would be doing, straight mechanical like components, pipe diagrams  which had bends, different types of valves and parts that you would put in a piping system, think there was structural for ships hulls  and electrical . When I returned to Britain I took a night class on Autocadd again but the 2nd year it was 3d Autocadd which I wasn't quite ready for  due to the lapse in use   and no longer in a job that I used it.

Interesting times though, but this AI is no good when you contact an organisation and an animated voice comes on asking questions. They don't like phonetics it really messes them up, as in Beta India, Delta, Echo, November. When you ring up you need to talk to a live person ( well as alive as they get in those jobs).

I have the money to buy a new one, but I like to keep using something as long as possible as its a waste to keep changing stuff, plus later ones are usually not as good as the one you are replacing, with even less on it, more cumbersome to use, you have to buy software rather than it bei g already loaded like this one is with Hancom Office suit which works very well for a tablet.  I was able to  buy a pigskin leather case for my tablet and its wearing very  well, plus the wife's, but couldn't find one for my Motorola phone, not that its ever turned on, its there for medical or car emergencies only or when travelling. My life does not revolve round a phone and social media.   Any way thanks for delving into things for me, I will make the most of my tablet before it "pops its cloggs". 

[antikythera]

I'm not quite old enough to have used a slide rule but have seen my parents use them. Our first computer was an AMSTRAD CPC6128 which was pre-DOS. It ran BASIC and loaded stuff from cassette tapes or 3" (not 3.5") floppy diskettes. In school the computers had 5.25" diskette drives. My Mother was a programmer for ICL so I have also seen computers the size of a room which used tape drives clattering away.

[antikythera]

Okay sounds good. Google Docs will save to office format too if you want to check it out. You don't even need to have it installed on the tablet but you can if desired. All the spreadsheet and word apps will run inside Chrome browser over the internet.

[Benedict01]

 Will leave Hancom on at the moment, sounds as if I have acouple of more years left.

I had a look on the Samsung website for new tablets, they have all the technical specs on memory etc, but they don't say what software comes with them apart from some arty stuff which seems to be going  the Apple route and the segment of society who buy them.  I hate to pay a fortune for a tablet then have to keep paying monthly for software that I don't always use, thats why my phone is Pay as You Go.

They have got pricey  and I don't suppose come in leather covers not plastic or vegan leather which is plastic.

During the Covid years I replaced my Vista pc  which was fine had it not been for various companies pulling stuff out of it with their updates to make it run slower, forcing you to buy a new one when electrically and mechanically   it was running fine.

Unfortunately that's the world of greed which we live in.