[MinnowBoard] My Initial thoughts on the MinnowBoard Max

[David Anders]

David,

On 08/12/2014 11:43 AM, David Rolfe wrote:
> Hi,
>
> Bearing in mind the revolutionary ideas behind the MinnowBoard Max, 
> and the fact that these boards are now starting to arrive in the hands 
> of 'end users', I have to say that I am quite surprised at the lack of 
> general information available, and indeed the absence of even a 
> general discussion forum anywhere.... and I have not even found an 
> unboxing video on You Tube yet... or seen one for sale on eBay!
>

MinnowMax is just not shipping to the pre-orders placed via Mouser and 
Tigal, so there really hasn't been enough time for people to start 
posting such things...

> It is possible of course that I am completely missing the point here, 
> but I am placing this product in the same league as the Raspberry Pi, 
> the Beagle Board together with other recent updated SOC boards such as 
> the Banana Pi, Cubieboard etc.
>

feature wise, yes they are in a similar league, however, since MinnowMax 
is not ARM based, there are some significant differences in the overall 
usage of the board.

> These are all so called development boards, which (as a basic example) 
> just require a power supply, a USB keyboard/mouse plus a monitor, and 
> of course a suitable operating system or Linux based 'distro' to turn 
> them into a simple personal computer... as I assume can the 
> MinnowBoard Max, and thus have also caught the attention of the home 
> hobbyist, or small computer enthusiast.
>
indeed, since the MinnowMax is a very standardized 64-bit Intel 
Architecture using the Baytrail processor, virtually anything "out 
there" that works on a "PC" works on MinnowMax. This is a primary 
difference between ARM development boards as you listed above.

> That being the case I would have thought that a few 'fanboy' or 
> 'enthusiasts' websites would have appeared by now, together with third 
> party offering of such items as cases, cables, power supplies, 
> pre-programmed micro SD cards etc. Not everyone will be interested in 
> this sort of thing of course, certainly not the more advanced 
> developers, but there are a lot of no so experienced prospective 
> customers out there who certainly would be... me included!
>

there will be some third party shops that will be selling kits and 
cables as such, but as i stated before, one of the best aspects of the 
MinnowMax is that it is very similar to a standard "PC" which means any 
Fry's , MicroCenter, or Best Buy carry what you need to use MinnowMax.

as for getting an OS running, anyone who has installed a linux distro on 
a standard "PC" knows how to get it working on MinnowMax. even so we 
have a wiki page with listings of basic instructions for most of the 
more common distros:

http://www.elinux.org/Minnowboard:MinnowMaxDistros

> Perhaps it is still early days or possibly the MinnowBoard Max is not 
> really suitable for use in this way, although I sincerely hope it is!
>

yes it is indeed early, but MinnowMax will tend to attract a slightly 
different user base that the boards you mention earlier. most will 
require a lot less hand holding, and tend to much more centered around 
professional development. while the MinnowMax does lend itself to the 
Maker crowd, it probably will take a little while longer for it to take 
hold there due to the cost differential with other boards...
>
> Please don't take this as a criticism of the manufacturers in any way, 
> but I genuinely cannot understand why there is not a lot more 
> coverage, in one way of another on the 'web' of this board, or even 
> some initial reviews! Personally, although I tend to follow 
> developments in this area fairly closely, it was only a few days ago 
> that I really became aware of the MinnowBoard Max for the first time.
>
> I am sure that I am about to be enlightened though!
>


thanks
Dave Anders

> Regards,
>
> David
>
>
>
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