No actual PCIe or M.2 connector on the board, the M.2 hat won't be available at launch, and it appears to block the required(?) coolers from being fitted.
I still have a bad taste in my mouth from the Pine64 I bought from their Kickstarter. The thing lasted 4 months before it stopped booting. I have no faith in any subsequent products.
There were reports that many of the original Pine64 Kickstarter boards had this bootloop problem. While I understand this was one of there first products, I still don't want to sink money into something when better and more stable options are available.
If that’s true then they fixed any quality issues on subsequent boards, so you questioning the stability and quality of the current boards is no longer substantiated
Meanwhile, anyone that supported their Kickstarter got screwed.
but I’m curious what you would consider a more stable option?
Why would I bother when you're obviously just going to pick it apart, just like you did with the Pi immediately after asking that question. You like the Pine64, great. Good luck with that. I won't touch them with a 10 foot pole. That's my opinion. Have a nice day.
The problem is that the M.2 thing still is a HAT, and basically sits about 10mm above the main board, leaving no room for proper active or passive cooling - or at least making it very complicated to achieve. Putting the M.2 slot at the bottom of the main board would have been a good solution that would have avoided a lot of problems.