So I just got a new laptop (Dell Inspiron 14R) and I have a quick question. Now the website I ordered it from (Walmart) listed it as having a hard disk size of 645gb, but I just received it and the total memory size I have is 576gb. I know that some memory goes off for system purposes and whatnot, but I want to know if the about 65gb difference between the listed and the actual size I got is too much, and if i should return it.

 

Windows calculates sizes based on 1073741824 bytes per GB, while anyone involved in selling HDs uses 1000000000 bytes per GB. This covers about 45 GB of the gap, and 20 GB for a recovery partition is reasonable.

 

Look up the model on the manufacturer's website. What does it say?

 

I am not certain if there is or there isn't, how do I find out?

The models on the Dell website has models that are customisable, so I'm not sure if the website is any help. Here's the model I bought off of Walmart: This

 

The manufacturer's website, not the OEM's. WD, Samsung, Hitachi, etc. The company that made the hard drive. You look in wherever Windows shows you the model name and number of the actual hard drive, and you google it, and you look at the real technical specs on the manufacturer's website. Not the ad, not the brochure, not a reseller's bullet point list but the real thing. For example, look at "WD6400BPVT" from WD.

Recovery partition: You open LDM and you look how the thing is partitioned. start->run->diskmgmt.msc

 

I did the LDM thing and 3 volumes showed up; no name-102mb, OS C)-576.54gb and Recovery-19.53gb. Interestingly, the WD model you chose as an example is the one I have (at least partially); I checked on the WD site and it listed the formatted capacity as 640gb. I then did a google search for disk drive's full name (WDC WD6400BPVT-75HXZT1; the WD site didn't have this name in full) and this website listed the capacity range as 596.2gb here which is the exact sum total of the volumes I have, so I guess what I have is accurate and the 640gb listing on Walmart is just misleading.

 

It's what Saot said. Manufacturers use base 10 to sell goods, while disks work in base 2.

 

As was said, from the small print on the WD specs page I've linked to:

 

Thanks for the help folks, this is why I love DLP.