The recently launched Microsoft Surface RT tablet models are available in two storage capacity variants – 32 GB and 64 GB. Now, it is a well known fact that the advertised storage capacity and the actual user available storage capacity is much lower than the advertised value. In case you didn’t know that, let us inform you that usually, the internal storage capacity is divided in to user available memory and some “reserved” memory that is used by the operating system and other system files. The manufacturer however advertises the entire storage capacity and it is only the more knowledgable of users that are not surprised to see lesser than expected (actual) storage capacity on their gadgets.
Apparently, a lawyer from California, Andrew Sokolowski who bought himself a 32 GB variant of the tablet wasn’t too happy to see that his tablet’s internal storage was just 16 GB (which even we think is quite low!) He also quickly ran out of his internal memory thanks to him adding a lots of media files to his tablet. Annoyed, he has sued Microsoft for false advertising. He is also seeking class action status for the suit.
Microsoft was however quick to respond to the suit and has already issued a statement which reads:
“Customers understand the operating system and pre-installed applications reside on the device’s internal storage thereby reducing the total free space.”
Microsoft also added that users can always increase storage capacity by using easily available Micro SD cards as well as external hard drives – which are available in large capacities. The latter however limits the portabaility of the tablet significantly.
Microsoft also asserts that they had clearly stated on their website as to how much user-available memory is available on the Surface tablet variants. The clarification posted on November 5, 2012 states that the 32 GB version has 16 GB of user available space while the 64 GB variant boasts of 45 GB of actual user available memory. Microsoft also adds that Sokolowski purchased his device on November 7 – a good two days after the clarification was published.
On the other hand, Sokolowski asserts that the information regarding the actual storage space is not easily visible and that the information is hard to find on the website.