I returned my A101 a few weeks ago because memory would get down to 50MB or so after a while, and the whole tablet would then become quite sluggish.
I liked everything else about it, though. I wonder if the new firmware manages memory more efficiently and allows free RAM to stay at 80MB+ or so, or perhaps keep apps from loading themselves for no reason.
I'm afraid it's a hardware issue (simply too little RAM to start)... but you never know. Surely the Archos people by now have had an earful of complaints about this issue...
Free RAM on my archos 101 is constantly at 30Mb and I have no problem with sluggish performance.
I never kill apps unless they misbehave badly (badly written apps).
You can not maintain a 80Mb free level unless you don't use the device.
Killing apps just to free memory is a big nono.
Android uses a method to kill background apps automatically when space is needed in RAM. So effectively it cleans up after itself.
Here is a fairly good explanation of how the system is designed.
http://android-developers.blogspot.com/2010/04/multitasking-android-way.html
and
http://lmgtfy.com/?q=android+why+you+don't+need+a+task+killer
argie said:
I returned my A101 a few weeks ago
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Why return it? They are selling on eBay for more than MSRP right now. LOL I would have sold it if I was you...made a little profit in the process.
ExploreMN said:
Why return it? They are selling on eBay for more than MSRP right now. LOL I would have sold it if I was you...made a little profit in the process.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
lol, that wont last....
Not saying it will...but for now...right now...he could have done that.
wdl1908 said:
Free RAM on my archos 101 is constantly at 30Mb and I have no problem with sluggish performance.
I never kill apps unless they misbehave badly (badly written apps).
You can not maintain a 80Mb free level unless you don't use the device.
Killing apps just to free memory is a big nono.
Android uses a method to kill background apps automatically when space is needed in RAM. So effectively it cleans up after itself.
Here is a fairly good explanation of how the system is designed.
http://android-developers.blogspot.com/2010/04/multitasking-android-way.html
and
http://lmgtfy.com/?q=android+why+you+don't+need+a+task+killer
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
When I first got my Archos 70 IT 250GB, I was constantly killing apps! Didn't seem to do any good, but I kept killing those apps ... I almost sent my Archos 70 back too. I even got the RMA from J&R. I don't think I'll be returning this beauty any time soon .... Also have a 3-year extended warranty.
Until I learned that it isn't necessary. I quit killing apps several days ago, and my Archos is running more smoothly. Still sluggish at times, but I have 12 folders on the desktop, along with 9 shortcuts! Most of those folders have lots of apps in them. I'm guessing that is why the desktop is so sluggish.
I can have Internet radio running while doing other stuff. The radio cuts out sometimes, but isn't much of an issue.
Internet runs smoothly about 1/2 the time. I didn't get my Archos 70 for high-end usage though, mostly just for reading, and watching short videos, and listening to Internet radio and playing music when I'm out and about (riding the bus, riding my bicycle, shopping).
Really comes in handy for having my shopping list with me, listening to my favorite tunes while walking around! I also have sticky notes with daily journal reminders that I'll transfer to my MacPro. Also use the calendar for appointments and events.
Some interesting reading in those 2 links. Thanks.
Related
In the SGS task manager the RAM (after everything has been cleared states 291MB/833MB why is this please?
Thanks
jameslfc5 said:
In the SGS task manager the RAM (after everything has been cleared states 291MB/833MB why is this please?
Thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Answer is simple, total ram is 1024 Mb but the gpu required 129 mb. So the rest remains for programs. 291 is used by android system.
thats 542 mb free. my galaxy s when cleared shows 154/304 so only 150 free. Well over 3 times the amount is very impressive.
I hope that dosent mean theres just 290 free ram, but it might be the case. my DHD has 768mb ram and im usually around 200mb free all the time, sometimes even like 115mb when i use a few apps. android has some serious ram eating issues.
sharkonland said:
I hope that dosent mean theres just 290 free ram, but it might be the case.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It seems to indicate theamount of *used* RAM.
On my GII...
Samsung's Task Manager: 233MB/833MB
TasKiller: 596 M Available memory
The operating system is supposed to fill up the RAM as much as possible, Android is trying to utilize the resources at their best. "Free" RAM doesn't mean a thing, it is better used as a cache. Parts of that cache will be dropped as soon as an application needs more RAM. Windows uses RAM in a similar fashion.
You shouldn't run any "RAM freeing"-programs as they are counterproductive - typical snake-oil software.
PartyMango said:
You shouldn't run any "RAM freeing"-programs as they are counterproductive - typical snake-oil software.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm all for putting my RAM to good use, the reason why I use a TaskKiller is to exit apps which after a day of use continue to run even though I'm not using them / apps I forgot to exit.
PartyMango said:
The operating system is supposed to fill up the RAM as much as possible, Android is trying to utilize the resources at their best. "Free" RAM doesn't mean a thing, it is better used as a cache. Parts of that cache will be dropped as soon as an application needs more RAM. Windows uses RAM in a similar fashion.
You shouldn't run any "RAM freeing"-programs as they are counterproductive - typical snake-oil software.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Of course, but it just amazes me how much ram is needed by android. I say this because, on every android phone ive had to date, once the ram goes below 150mb, things start to really get choppy, i dont know why. I assumed by that point, every app i would use is already in the ram so it should actually make things faster, but normal things like opening apps and scrolling through menus start getting very choppy, even in apps things are choppy which lets mek now ram is low. Thats when i realize i need to do a quick reboot.
In that sense, i really have a lot of respect for apple, they do some crazy ram optimizations. I know they dont have things like widgets or whatever, but everything runs like butter, also you have to admit the iphone4 has a very high res screen and the apps are much more visually taxing but they are damn fast. But with 1gb of ram, I doubt we will be running into these issues.. I wonder if the SGS3 will have 2gb ram..hehe
sharkonland said:
Of course, but it just amazes me how much ram is needed by android. I say this because, on every android phone ive had to date, once the ram goes below 150mb, things start to really get choppy, i dont know why. I assumed by that point, every app i would use is already in the ram so it should actually make things faster, but normal things like opening apps and scrolling through menus start getting very choppy, even in apps things are choppy which lets mek now ram is low. Thats when i realize i need to do a quick reboot.
In that sense, i really have a lot of respect for apple, they do some crazy ram optimizations. I know they dont have things like widgets or whatever, but everything runs like butter, also you have to admit the iphone4 has a very high res screen and the apps are much more visually taxing but they are damn fast. But with 1gb of ram, I doubt we will be running into these issues.. I wonder if the SGS3 will have 2gb ram..hehe
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The ram issues on Android are because of how it's designed.
iOS each app has it's slice of RAM that is managed completely by the app itself. When the app exits, the OS doesn't check anything, it just flushes the whole piece of RAM, which is very quick. When 'multitasking' and the phone runs low on RAM, it can quickly flush the ram on any 'background' app without having to do any checks.. very fast operation.
Android has a far more complicated structure, with the Android system managing the RAM within each app. Each app is broken into separate blocks (activity, service, etc) and while the whole app can be flushed (with a force close), Android doesn't do this. When Android is low on RAM, it follows a set order on what to close first, such as unused activities. This takes quite a lot of calculating and slows stuff down.
All those complications are 'fixed' with the SGS2 though. Dual core means the calculations don't bother your running task. High ram means the calculations don't happen often. Works very nicely.
i use tittainium backup and freeze unwanted apps, i get around 650-700mb free
The SGS2 has 1024MB of RAM. 833MB is available to the Android system and the rest is used by the radio.
I would like to ask some users...
Somebody reported that they have 910MB of TOTAL Ram.. Some have 830+
How can i know this?
BlackRainX said:
I would like to ask some users...
Somebody reported that they have 910MB of TOTAL Ram.. Some have 830+
How can i know this?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Task Manager
Hold down the Home Button
Task Manager
RAM
Sent from my GT-I9100 using XDA App
Yep but i want to buy it from e-shop where i cant see the amount of ram..
Hello,
I am about to get the G9 80 Turbo as the form factor appeals to me. However I am reluctant due to the 512mb RAM. The only experience I have with HC and memory usage is with the HC roms for gtablet and the memory his been a tad high edging towards 512mb .... I do have a number of background tasks running but nothing crazy.
Anyhow does anyone know if the 1.2ghz turbo still comes with only 512mb - archos isn't too forth coming with this info on the tech spec sheet
Also what are folks experiences wrt to memory usage on the 512mb G9 80... (I'm getting mixed reviews)
Thanks a lot, FredT
As far as I know, the turbo devices are still 512mb. I do experience some lag on my regular 80 at times, but a reboot generally fixes that. I am stock everything, so I haven't tried different launchers to see if that helps with lag. I love this tablet, just wish it had a bit more RAM.
Yea archos are tight arses when it comes to ram Scrooges
G9 80 Turbo rocks?
...it does not rock
StocChr said:
G9 80 Turbo rocks?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So I took the plunge and picked up the G9 80 Turbo (1.2ghz). In a nutshell it does not rock.
Archos, why oh why did you not go with 1gb RAM ?
I get it, the price point of this device was key, but I still feel that compromising on the RAM was a mistake and will cause a suboptimal user experience.
Frankly I worry how ICS is going to run on this.... hopefully ICS has optimized memory usage.
At this price I certainly have lowered expectations but the 512MB RAM and the screen ripple (which mine does have) is making me rethink this purchase.
The problem is that I really like the device's form factor and overall make-up, so I want this thing to be successful...
I use my tablet 3 hours a day but only have the basic android apps installed/running: facebook, RSS reader, tweekdeck, tvshow sched watcher and the standard android / google framework stuff... I even turned off the live wallpaper.
...and it still feels draggy overall and painful when switching from say tweetdeck to browser and then back, tweekdeck and/or the browser have to reload data and reset positions. Frustrating...
I now understand why Archos bundled the convenient System Monitor with the Kill All Apps button
Each time I check free memory it shows 50 - 60mb free, I'm going to poke around and see if I can figure out where the memory is going - maybe I can optimize this thing a bit.
Anyhow with all that said for the price I think I am going just keep it to hack around with android and as a GPS tether to phone...
...but I can not see using this as a daily driver.
Which is a big shame as I think Archos is on to something with this device.
FredT
Fredplex said:
So I took the plunge and picked up the G9 80 Turbo (1.2ghz). In a nutshell it does not rock.
Archos, why oh why did you not go with 1gb RAM ?
I get it, the price point of this device was key, but I still feel that compromising on the RAM was a mistake and will cause a suboptimal user experience.
Frankly I worry how ICS is going to run on this.... hopefully ICS has optimized memory usage.
At this price I certainly have lowered expectations but the 512MB RAM and the screen ripple (which mine does have) is making me rethink this purchase.
The problem is that I really like the device's form factor and overall make-up, so I want this thing to be successful...
I use my tablet 3 hours a day but only have the basic android apps installed/running: facebook, RSS reader, tweekdeck, tvshow sched watcher and the standard android / google framework stuff... I even turned off the live wallpaper.
...and it still feels draggy overall and painful when switching from say tweetdeck to browser and then back, tweekdeck and/or the browser have to reload data and reset positions. Frustrating...
I now understand why Archos bundled the convenient System Monitor with the Kill All Apps button
Each time I check free memory it shows 50 - 60mb free, I'm going to poke around and see if I can figure out where the memory is going - maybe I can optimize this thing a bit.
Anyhow with all that said for the price I think I am going just keep it to hack around with android and as a GPS tether to phone...
...but I can not see using this as a daily driver.
Which is a big shame as I think Archos is on to something with this device.
FredT
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Couple of things you can do to get it to run faster are : install ADW launcher EX and Advanced Task Killer, those 2 should get you running a bit better, other thing is, root the device and get the CPU to run 1.2GHz Full blast...
I didn't realize this thing has 512mb. That stinks. I thought the Turbo ones had 1gb like my Acer A100. That's not very Turbo to me. I just re-read a review, said it has 1gb. IT assuredly does not.
I've been using this tablet for about 3 weeks now and it is amazing, you just need to do a few tweaks and it is well worth your money, might not be as "perfect" as other tablets but it is spectacular for under 300€
I do like a lot about it, for the day I had it. Seems as fast as my A100, but I had to send it back due to 2 stuck on pixels. Hope the new one doesn't have bad pixels. I want more storage and battery life than the Acer, the Archos should hopefully do that.
I find that every time I check I am using 470+ ram even after I clear it in task. wtf?
stop clearing task then. its not needed as soon as you do this the required parts will just start back up. you havnt needed to use anything like advanced task killer since android 2.0 we are now on 2.3 time to stop making ur phone use more battery life.
So your telling me that next to stock I should be using up 3/4ths of my ram with no windows or programs opened. Sounds strange to me
yup.. Its how android works.. its not like say the way windows mobile used to be.. having to kill off programs left an right. android keeps those apps in the ram for a reason.
I comprehend the keep running in background, my point is some, I haven't had to bad, people complain of lag or lack of smoothness. Well if I am using all my ram for things running in background am I not restricting the amount I can now pull up. Like I said I am close to stock, couple apps installed, and stock is loading 4-500 megs out of my 750. Hmmm just saying ya know. If you sell me on gig of ram and cut it down to 750 and load it up with 500 in all honesty you are giving me 250. might as well call it an iPhone....hides head and runs.
ghettopops said:
I comprehend the keep running in background, my point is some, I haven't had to bad, people complain of lag or lack of smoothness. Well if I am using all my ram for things running in background am I not restricting the amount I can now pull up. Like I said I am close to stock, couple apps installed, and stock is loading 4-500 megs out of my 750. Hmmm just saying ya know. If you sell me on gig of ram and cut it down to 750 and load it up with 500 in all honesty you are giving me 250. might as well call it an iPhone....hides head and runs.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
U are WAY off. The phone is allocated a certain amount of ram for its internal workings. Leaving you the 700+ ram for apps and other things. Ur phone works better if u let it manage Ur ram for u. It will naturally kill off apps as u need more ram for other processes that are being called on. Free ram is wasted ram using the ram will actually make Ur phone smoother. And if Ur not using the super charger script i would take a look at it. It helps as well. Or get Rom tool box and do it manually.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I717 using xda premium
Hi!
Because of the low memory issue in the International edition, I request for all Kernel Dev's that implement the possibility of the use of Swap file.
There are programs that make and use this Swap file to get more free RAM, but this programs needs that the Kernel support it.
Like :
https://play.google.com/store/apps/...sMSwxLDEsIm9yZy5hemFzb2Z0LmZyZWUuc3dhcHBlciJd
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=lv.n3o.swapper2&feature=nav_other
What do you think?
Cheers!
P.D:sorry for my bad english.
I think you are in the wrong section. There is a dedicated section for questions and not in the Development thread
What Low memory issue??? We have 1GB of RAM (almost) on the device! Everything works smooth on the phone!
maybe he wanna say that free memories are from 2xx~3xx mb only, which is actually less than S2 even S3 also has 1GB ram.
If the files can increase more free ram, it would be good for some heavy games and softwares to run more smoothly.
Wrong forum, but indeed I agree.
It's virtually impossible to run 2 heavy programs at once. One of them will always close when it's in the background, even if it implements a Service.
For example, Waze - It closes whenever I receive a phone call.
Just annoying. Problems I never had on S II
eitama said:
Wrong forum, but indeed I agree.
It's virtually impossible to run 2 heavy programs at once. One of them will always close when it's in the background, even if it implements a Service.
For example, Waze - It closes whenever I receive a phone call.
Just annoying. Problems I never had on S II
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is exactly that I mean.
Sorry for the mistake to put this topic in this subforum, please, any mod move it to the correct section.
Cheers!
Wow, I definitely want this! Kernel devs : please implement this!!!
------
Send from my Galaxy SIII going PARANOID
Swap will make the phone lag terribly since the ssd writing/reading speeds are far inferior to what you neel for normal operations.
It also makes sure the internal/external storage will not live very long.
While it's a good idea to combat memory issues, paging to disk is not suitable for normal situations.
Sent from my GT-I9300 using xda premium
Haha we have not needed swap since the days of the HTC hero
Sent from my GT-I9300 using Tapatalk 2
d4fseeker said:
Swap will make the phone lag terribly since the ssd writing/reading speeds are far inferior to what you neel for normal operations.
It also makes sure the internal/external storage will not live very long.
While it's a good idea to combat memory issues, paging to disk is not suitable for normal situations.
Sent from my GT-I9300 using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Swap file to internal SD: max speed 26MB/s I think there is not a problem, but I prefer more memory. And I tell that implement the function and optional you can enable it, if you don't want you don't need to enable.
Cheers!
Can I ask you why you think you have low memory?
please select one of the following:
1) Phone going so slow it takes age to do anything I ask
2) Apps keep getting killed mid-use
3) I have looked at the numbers and they look low....
I can't choose any option. I want to explain:
-I open Internet Browser and open a Web with many videos, photos, etc, and browser closes itself.
-Open 1 game (NOVA3 for example), then put it on background to see a Web Page or check email... or open the Web browser, open 3 Webs then go to email to check, then go again to browser and all is closed, the phone needs to open all Webs again (in this case is your first option).
I think that you prefer a UNIX computer with 256MB of RAM than a UNIX computer with 16GB of RAM because you optimize the 256MB of RAM. I prefer waste memory (really don't waste it) because I want to RUN many programs at the same time.
Sorry for my very bad english, because I can't explain exactly what I want.
I'm SYSADMIN and I know what I say.
Cheers.
I understand where your coming from but I think you have failed to understand the purpose of multi-tasking on a phone (and the reason that not many phones have more than 1gb of ram yet).
Multi-tasking on a phone is designed to let you go from webpage to sms, or music to email etc, i.e. between smaller, less hungry apps.
Switching between a high ram usage game and other things is always going to be a problem, the phone was never designed to allow you to multi-task while gaming.
I know that this is a phone, not a Core I7 - 16GB RAM - SSD with Windows 7 Ultimate, but, Did you have a SGS2? with SGS2 you can make what you want and you don't have this problems off memory.
I said an example of a Web page with a lot of videos and photos that make Browser closed., not only with Games.
This is Why I want to try the Swap file. Off course if the phone goes slow down I'll prefer no Swap file, but I think that is a good idea.
Perhaps with a new firmware update Samsung solve this issue...
Cheers!
Off course if the phone goes slow down I'll prefer no Swap file, but I think that is a good idea.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Have you ever had your Windows computer have to heavily page to disk (aka swap)? Even with my OCZ Vertex4 it's unbearable.
Just get rid of all the background apps (such as AllShare) that the S3 has running and you should be better off, it got rid of any hint of memory underrun I my had.
Get Houmiak TaskManager from market, find out which apps are running and freeze them in Titanium Backup. Problem solved
Lennyuk said:
I understand where your coming from but I think you have failed to understand the purpose of multi-tasking on a phone (and the reason that not many phones have more than 1gb of ram yet).
Multi-tasking on a phone is designed to let you go from webpage to sms, or music to email etc, i.e. between smaller, less hungry apps.
Switching between a high ram usage game and other things is always going to be a problem, the phone was never designed to allow you to multi-task while gaming.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You are wrong.
This is my 4th Android phone.
Multitasking between several Applications which implement the Service Android Class should be possible without any of the services being killed.
I don't care about the Activity. I care about the service.
Example :
I run Torque & Waze at the same time and tend to skip between them.
If I receive an incoming call, they are both killed because of low memory.
How do I know? when I go back to either of them, the state is not kept, and waze even complains about not being stopped correctly.
Believe me I removed ANY resident useless services, uninstall about 30 system apps from wanam lite using titanium pro, and still, no good.
These things used to work on older phones like SGSII and Galaxy Note and even SGS I with stock samsung roms.
There is no reason SGS III should suffer regression in this department.
It is very easy to understand that while samsung have added plenty of "Cool" features to the phone, they have left us with an overwhelming amount of garbage. I want smart stay, I want usb OTG, I want the camera app, I want Touchwiz dialer and I want HDMI,
But not at the expense of basic use-cases.
Hell, on the Galaxy Note I was sometimes shocked at the amount of Activities left in the ram, I was impressed. Having 10 apps running in task manager. And no, I never closed them. I don't used task killers, and I don't care about "Free" ram.
I care about my Applications life cycle which sadly sucks on SGS III.
BTW, Galaxy Note had the same screen resolution give or take as the SGS III.
Something is terribly under optimized.
600MB used just by core crap.
PS. I am angry at samsung, not at you, apologies if I sound harsh.
It's also aggravating when posters here instantly assume other posters only care about Free ram. HERE - TAKE MY FREE RAM.
About the swap to sdcard, I'm not sure that is the solution.
But I am sure we need "A" solution.
Edit:
If anyone knows how I can understand exactly which process/app/apk/activiy/service is taking how much, I would happily compare it to Galaxy Note. I'm sure we will find basic applications taking too much.
If it's the GPU reserving too much memory, I am willing to settle for less GPU ram while not running games. Hell, the Galaxy Note was not that slower then SGS III
It even preserved me a lot of time which I now waste on Navigating multiple times with waze when it is closed because of a phone call.
Don't know if this has anything to with it as I haven't received my S3 yet. With the HTCOneX I had this problem as well. Then I found out, that in the
"settings".
in the "development section"
"Don't keep activities" which is unticked by default. One has to tick it ( I went on recent apps to make sure it would be saved) and then untick it again. Afterwards the HTC1X was quite cabable of multitasking. The default setting seems to have some hybrid impact and has to be set straight by hand.
Hopefully this helps your issue.
eitama said:
You are wrong.
This is my 4th Android phone.
Multitasking between several Applications which implement the Service Android Class should be possible without any of the services being killed.
I don't care about the Activity. I care about the service.
Example :
I run Torque & Waze at the same time and tend to skip between them.
If I receive an incoming call, they are both killed because of low memory.
How do I know? when I go back to either of them, the state is not kept, and waze even complains about not being stopped correctly.
Believe me I removed ANY resident useless services, uninstall about 30 system apps from wanam lite using titanium pro, and still, no good.
These things used to work on older phones like SGSII and Galaxy Note and even SGS I with stock samsung roms.
There is no reason SGS III should suffer regression in this department.
It is very easy to understand that while samsung have added plenty of "Cool" features to the phone, they have left us with an overwhelming amount of garbage. I want smart stay, I want usb OTG, I want the camera app, I want Touchwiz dialer and I want HDMI,
But not at the expense of basic use-cases.
Hell, on the Galaxy Note I was sometimes shocked at the amount of Activities left in the ram, I was impressed. Having 10 apps running in task manager. And no, I never closed them. I don't used task killers, and I don't care about "Free" ram.
I care about my Applications life cycle which sadly sucks on SGS III.
BTW, Galaxy Note had the same screen resolution give or take as the SGS III.
Something is terribly under optimized.
600MB used just by core crap.
PS. I am angry at samsung, not at you, apologies if I sound harsh.
It's also aggravating when posters here instantly assume other posters only care about Free ram. HERE - TAKE MY FREE RAM.
About the swap to sdcard, I'm not sure that is the solution.
But I am sure we need "A" solution.
Edit:
If anyone knows how I can understand exactly which process/app/apk/activiy/service is taking how much, I would happily compare it to Galaxy Note. I'm sure we will find basic applications taking too much.
If it's the GPU reserving too much memory, I am willing to settle for less GPU ram while not running games. Hell, the Galaxy Note was not that slower then SGS III
It even preserved me a lot of time which I now waste on Navigating multiple times with waze when it is closed because of a phone call.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
+1
I'm completely with you on this.. .. I have had both the original galaxy, the s 2 the note and other Android phones with this one being my first where larger apps are closing due to low memory resources. I had Nova, my browser, videos, music, angry birds and other processes in the background on my s2 with only388megs used out of 863.... this phone, I load the browser and everything in the background closes with 675megs used out of 754.... not cool. There must be some kinda solution.. why is it that my note and s 2 have 140 more free ram anyways?
I've been quietly lurking on this site for about 2 weeks since I got a nook tablet (16GB) with an N2A card (which was horrible). I came to this site looking for a way to mod my device and ended up learning a lot more than I intended. I have sampled quite a few ROMs on here and am astonished at the amount of work that has gone into these ports. I have a device that is so much more functional it's not even funny. Already I've reclaimed the space that BN had partitioned from users. I still have a lot to learn but I wanted to express my thanks to all the developers who work hard on these. I am very appreciative that a device which is technically 'obsolete' can be revitalized and turned into something very usable. I am still trying out various ROMs to try to see which is giving me the best stability and RAM use. So far the one I am using I unfortunately forgot the name of. Any way of finding out which ROM you might have flashed? What I like about it is most of the ROMs use so much RAM I am left with around 200MB of RAM without anything running. One particular ROM I'm using consistently gives me around 400-450 MB of free RAM even with some background apps running. A HUGE improvement. A couple ROMS literally left me with less than 100MB. Anyway if anyone has any advice or happens to know how to determine which ROM I might be using I'd be very happy. Mainly I wanted to introduce myself and thank the developers. GREAT STUFF!
Some info that most Android users are not aware of, as its a bit non-intuitive:
Having less memory (RAM) available is actually a good thing. Apps can be "running" in the background without actually using the processor or other resources. They are cached via the RAM in order to allow you to relaunch them quickly. Android's memory management is quite good, albeit different from say Windows.
This is why Task Killers are generally a bad idea. I used to use them as a means to kill apps when they froze or whatever, but now, with the roms I have on my devices, I have set long-press of the back button to kill the current app, should I need to do this.
Read this article for a bit more info.
tl;dr less memory available is not necessarily a bad thing on Android.
Sorry for delayed reply
Forgive my tardy response. Our internet was out for 2 days. I understand what you are saying but what I was noticing was a huge number of active programs that were not in use, nor are commonly in use enough to justify their being cached. One particular ROM was leaving me with less than 200 MB of RAM with the same processes referred to above being inactive as well. A 200MB difference with the same stuff running. The particular one I'm on now keeps a number of things running in the background and still leaves me with well over 300MB with 4-5 programs going at the same time. So while I agree with you that some might be doing more cache than others, my experience is telling me the build with the most RAM (ie whichever one I am using...I unfortunately forgot which I installed...a CM10 but not sure if it was the cherry pick or chris'.) is the one that is managing the memory the best. I can figure out no other explanation for the same number of programs using an extra 200 MB of memory over another rom and thinking that is a good thing. For example, the ones I am thinking of are running stuff in the background I don't even use. Power Amp is a huge offender for whatever reason. I see no reason to have it running 24/7 but it does!