New BeagleBoard released

[pokerfan]

BeagleBone offers up ARM A8 processor, Linux and 10-second boot for $89



BeagleBoard has kept our collective news-tails wagging with plenty of (often disparate) DIY hardware projects. Now, the BeagleBone ($89) has arrived, with Linux Angstrom preinstalled, and power provided through a USB port. Giving the hardware more of a chew reveals Open GL ES 2.0, a microSD connector and two 46-pin female expansion headers for easy augmentation. There's also a 100Mbit Gigabit Ethernet connection on this new development platform, which promises to play nice with older BeagleBoard, er, boards. Serial (port) DIYers can check out a full run-down video after the break.

http://www.engadget.com/2011/11/01/beaglebone-offers-up-arm-a8-processor-linux-and-10-second-boot

:bounce:

ETA this description of a generic BeagleBoard from Wikipedia:

[struggle4progress]

1. Whoa. The computer I bought for $2000 15 years ago had a 450mhz cpu and 128mb ram.

This little guy has at least 500mhz cpu and 256mb ram

I wonder if one could actually build a super-cheap usable desktop computer with one of these suckers

[pokerfan]

2. but your computer 15 years ago won't do the things you expect a computer to do today

Still...

The immediate comparison potential customers will make is to the oft-mentioned Raspberry Pi, a $25 barebones board which famously ran Quake 3 at 1600×1200 with 4x AA at about 20fps. The diminutive Raspberry Pi is a very different animal than the BeagleBone – while the folks out at BeagleBoard are attempting to make a utilitarian board with multiple expansion opportunities, Raspberry Pi’s goal is only to provide computing at the lowest possible price.

Both solutions run full-fledged Linux. The BeagleBone ships with a 2GB microSD card pre-loaded with the Angstrom Distribution, node.js, and the Cloud9 IDE. As of early November, there is no official word what will come with the Raspberry Pi.

<...>

On the other end of the spectrum, the BeagleBone sports two 46-pin, two-row female expansion headers, gigabit Ethernet, microSD, onboard LEDs, a USB port with serial/JTAG conversion – and strangely, no standard monitor outputs, relying instead on its 46-pin headers for multiplexed output to LCDs. Simply put, this will not even replace your mom’s PIII desktop, this is a different niche. There is the $149 BeagleBoard-xM, which sports a higher clockspeed, dedicated HD-video capable DSP, and DVI-D, but it does so on a larger board with a larger price.

http://semiaccurate.com/2011/11/02/say-hello-to-beaglebone-a-preview

[struggle4progress]

3. otoh a number of people only need a machine for simple stuff like word processing,

spreadsheets, and email

[pokerfan]

4. The biggest drawback will be the lack of a standard monitor output

Might want to look at the xm if you want what's essentially a DIY net-top.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BeagleBoard#BeagleBoard-xM