BeagleBone Black

Rev C (2014) has 4GB flash on board so it comes with Debian pre-installed. My older board has 2GB but I can use a MicroSD card for additional space.

Rev C BBB's are available for $55 from various and sundry including Sparkfun and Adafruit and Mouser.

The official site is http://beagleboard.org/

TI Sitara processor http://www.ti.com/tool/linuxezsdk-sitara

Reason to use BBB instead of RPI? Android.

Capes

Device Tree Overlays: https://learn.adafruit.com/introduction-to-the-beaglebone-black-device-tree

Code: https://github.com/ArcadiaLabs/chipsee-bbb-exp

http://Chipsee.com/ 7" LCD touch screen includes

   7" Capacitive Touchscreen; 1024 x 600 resolution
   5-point capacitive touch, with Armorplate Glass
   3-axis digital accelerometer
   1 audio out
   1 mic- or line-in (configurable via Jumper)
   2 RS232 ports
   2 RS485 ports
   1 CAN bus
   Buzzer
   5 User Keys
   Power button, Reset button and LED's
   Supported by Android 4.1 and WinCE 6.0
   5V DC input

I probably bought mine at Logic Supply. http://www.logicsupply.com/bbb-exp-c/ They have downloads for it.

TNC-X $43 http://www.tnc-x.com/TNCBlack.htm based on a PIC processor; full schematics available

Debug cable

I just ordered this serial debug cable for $10: https://www.sparkfun.com/products/12977 Works for Raspberry Pi, too.

I need to look at the generic adapter I bought a couple years ago to see if it does 3.3v.

Options for operating systems

Android

Someone released Android 10 for the BBB.

"Build your own tablet" tutorial slides http://www.slideshare.net/SGAndroidDevs/build-your-own-android-tablet

Android -- KitKat (4.4) is at http://bbbandroid.sourceforge.net/

KitKat tutorial http://www.2net.co.uk/tutorial/android-4.4-beaglebone

TI's Android page is outdated (2.3 Gingerbread) http://processors.wiki.ti.com/index.php/BeagleBone-Android-DevKit_Guide

Wireless Android BBB http://nelenkov.blogspot.com/2013/07/building-wireless-android-device.html

Linux

Debian 11 is available.

Angstrom

Ubuntu see https://groups.google.com/forum/#!topic/beagleboard/Y-rcKPITy0Q/discussion

Books

https://www.packtpub.com/hardware-and-creative/android-beaglebone-black

There are several other BBB books from Packt too.