225mb Free Space Left on XBOX 360 Internal Memory After System Update

When I first got my Jasper XBOX 360 with 512mb internal memory, I discovered that the capacity of the internal memory unit was actually 451mb with 323mb free space left.  After my first system update without the hard disk attached, I found that the free space remaining went down to 225mb or around half of the internal memory capacity.

I expected this to dwindle further after the latest system update.  However, the free space of the internal memory unit remained at 225mb after the update.  This led me to believe it's currently normal to have around 225mb free space left after the latest system updates.

I was shocked at first at the significant decrease in my internal memory after a system update.  I couldn't find any article or post regarding this occurrence.  After the most recent system update which added USB storage support, I was able to find these posts and comments:

Xbox 360 Elite or Arcade? - Yahoo! Answers
Does my arcade have 256 mb or 512 mb memory?
xbox arcade 256MB but actually 512MB? - 360 - Gaming
Waste a Work Day: Console Meta Game Edition

These posts and comments show that I wasn't alone in having a 512mb Jasper console with less than 300mb free internal memory space.  In fact, it seems that 225mb of free internal memory is the standard for 512mb Jasper XBOX 360 consoles after the latest updates.

Brand new 256mb Jasper XBOX 360 Arcade consoles start out with 214mb free space.  So if an XBOX 360 has more than 214mb free space left on its internal memory, automatically we can conclude that it's a 512mb Jasper.

Initially, a Jasper with 512mb memory will have 128mb space used by the system.  I believe that after a system update, an additional 98mb will be used up.  So around half of the 451mb capacity seems to be in use by the system after the most recent system updates.

The only reason why my XBOX 360 had 323mb free space left for so long was that I was always using my hard drive and all system updates were saved to the hard disk instead of taking up space in internal memory.  When I updated without the hard disk, the system updates were saved to the internal memory unit.

I think that the reason why it's so hard to find articles or posts complaining that system data was taking up half of the space of a 512mb Jasper's internal memory unit, is because the decrease in free space is only noticeable by people who don't often update their internal memory.  This is the case for owners of XBOX 360 hard drives.

In fact, very few owners of hard drives would save system updates to their consoles' internal memory.  Since only a small number of people save system updates to both their hard drive and internal memory, only a few are surprised by the decrease in free space and even fewer post on the web to ask about it.

The response of most people to those curious about system updates taking up half of the internal memory capacity would be, "who cares and why bother since you already have a hard drive" and this is shown in the posts linked above.

For those people who are curious why their internal memory is now only half of its capacity, I'd just like to let them know that after the latest system updates have been applied, 225mb free space on their internal memory unit is normal and standard for a 512mb Jasper XBOX 360.