Hello and some general advice.

[vinylash]

Hi guy's. I'm new to the forum. I'm an sbc enthusiast and currently own a raspberry pi 0,2,3 and 3b+ as well as an odroid XU4Q. But I've turned my attention to a pine A64 (512mb) variant, which I've been able to pick up for a really good price. 
 
Before it turns up in the post I have some general questions:
1. What would be the recommended Linux OS for this board? I know it's the lowest hardware version so after something lightweight but usable for light DE tasks and possibly packages to set up a Nas. What have other users found a good set up? 
2. I've read a few threads in regards to these boards being picky about being powered through micro usb and a workaround by powering through the EULA bus. Could I chop the end off one of my 5v2amp pi adapters and connect to the DC in pins? 
3. What micro SD cards are guys using on their boards? Any perticular brands that work well? 
4. And finally, what sort of heat does the SoC give off? Will I potentially need to apply a heatsink? My pi 3 makes some mega heat when under load. 

Any other advice or things to watch out for would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance?

Ash

[tllim]

Hi guy's. I'm new to the forum. I'm an sbc enthusiast and currently own a raspberry pi 0,2,3 and 3b+ as well as an odroid XU4Q. But I've turned my attention to a pine A64 (512mb) variant, which I've been able to pick up for a really good price. 
 
Before it turns up in the post I have some general questions:
1. What would be the recommended Linux OS for this board? I know it's the lowest hardware version so after something lightweight but usable for light DE tasks and possibly packages to set up a Nas. What have other users found a good set up? 
2. I've read a few threads in regards to these boards being picky about being powered through micro usb and a workaround by powering through the EULA bus. Could I chop the end off one of my 5v2amp pi adapters and connect to the DC in pins? 
3. What micro SD cards are guys using on their boards? Any perticular brands that work well? 
4. And finally, what sort of heat does the SoC give off? Will I potentially need to apply a heatsink? My pi 3 makes some mega heat when under load. 

Any other advice or things to watch out for would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance?

Ash

1. Try Armbian: http://wiki.pine64.org/index.php/Pine_A6...se#Armbian
2. Yes, you cam do so
3. My preference is Samsung EVO
4. No or small heatsink

[vinylash]

Hi guy's. I'm new to the forum. I'm an sbc enthusiast and currently own a raspberry pi 0,2,3 and 3b+ as well as an odroid XU4Q. But I've turned my attention to a pine A64 (512mb) variant, which I've been able to pick up for a really good price. 
 
Before it turns up in the post I have some general questions:
1. What would be the recommended Linux OS for this board? I know it's the lowest hardware version so after something lightweight but usable for light DE tasks and possibly packages to set up a Nas. What have other users found a good set up? 
2. I've read a few threads in regards to these boards being picky about being powered through micro usb and a workaround by powering through the EULA bus. Could I chop the end off one of my 5v2amp pi adapters and connect to the DC in pins? 
3. What micro SD cards are guys using on their boards? Any perticular brands that work well? 
4. And finally, what sort of heat does the SoC give off? Will I potentially need to apply a heatsink? My pi 3 makes some mega heat when under load. 

Any other advice or things to watch out for would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance?

Ash

1. Try Armbian: http://wiki.pine64.org/index.php/Pine_A6...se#Armbian
2. Yes, you cam do so
3. My preference is Samsung EVO
4. No or small heatsink

Thank you very much for the reply and taking the time to advise. I will have a look at Armbian. Is it optimised well for low power devices? And do you happen to know if hardware video acceleration is supported? 

Thanks