Managing data storage on Android Optimus V
October 9, 2011 8:31 PM   Subscribe

Help me manage SD/phone data storage on an Optimus V.

Very much non-techie here. I just bought my first ever smart phone: an LG Optimus V with Virgin Mobile. Less than a week after I got it, it told me that it was all but out of storage space!

I guess I just would have assumed that a) a smart phone would have reasonable amount of storage space, and that b) I wouldn't have to worry about filling it up if I didn't put big media files on it.

Of course, there's (bear with me here, I know nothing about these topics) something called an SD card in the phone which has most of the storage (2 GB, I think), and the phone itself has very little. Which is how ~10 photographs filled it up today.

So I'm going to Settings --> Applications --> Manage Applications and moving some applications from the phone onto the SD card. (Apparently most of the apps are not able to move off the phone, however.) But I really have no idea how things are being saved on this phone. Someone blue-toothed me the photos... where are they being saved? How do I make sure such files get saved on the SD card and not the phone? How do I make sure any photos that I take get saved on the SD card and not the phone?

(I'll save you my rant about my comparison between this and the iPod Touch, the only smart-phone-like gadget I've ever had, for which everything seemed to run perfectly smoothly and the screen was 50 times as beautiful. If I had more than $35/month to spend, maybe I'd get an iPhone, but I don't -- so I get what I pay for.)

---------

1) Any basic knowledge about data on this phone that anyone can impart?

2) Any tricks to make managing data on Android 2.2 work smoothly?

3) In particular, where are my photos being saved?
posted by lewedswiver to Technology (3 answers total) 2 users marked this as a favorite
 
I was about to post this question myself, so no answers here but perfect timing on your part.

I tried using Astro file manager, but while it shows me directories I can't figure what's taking up all this damn space on my phone that keeps giving me low space warnings.

Today it got so bad that I ran out of space for new text messages, yet I transfered everything I can think of to my SD card.
posted by gregoryg at 10:18 PM on October 9, 2011


Page 148 of the manual [4.4Mb PDF]:
NOTE: • Pictures and videos are stored in a microSD card. Please make sure that the device has a microSD card inserted.
From this review:
I have issues with the internal storage memory. It's not that it's bad memory or anything; there just isn't enough of it. The total internal storage available to the user is 178MB, but only about 160MB is usable; past that, the phone will start complaining that it is "Low on [internal] space" and refusing to sync until space is cleared.
posted by unliteral at 10:53 PM on October 9, 2011


I have the very phone! Assuming you inserted the microSD card (and you should make sure about that), your photos should be stored on the card. The low space warnings however are not about the card, they're about the internal storage, which as unilateral says is irritatingly low. The only solution I've been able to find is to not install too many apps, and move all apps to the sd card as much as possible, especially games.

The easiest way I've found to manage photos is via either a bluetooth or USB connection to a PC or Mac. Once you have the connection, you can move or delete your photos. That said, the sd card can hold 1500+ of the highest quality photo the camera can take, so the pictures are probably not your problem.

To check if your SD card is working correctly:
Home Screen->hit the settings button->settings->SD Card & Phone Storage

Under SD card, mine says Total Space 1.84GB, Available Space 1.16 GB.

Under Internal Phone Storage, mine says Available Space 42.50 MB.
posted by contrarian at 5:18 AM on October 10, 2011


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