The breakout board really does need all of those power supplies if it is to serve all the functions that it currently does.
- Powering from USB is normal, and not supporting that would unusual.
- Powering from battery is very nice to have, and is one of the selling points of the Edison. Having a built-in battery charger is also very desirable.
- The 7-17V input is necessary for providing USB host functionality. This is questionable on such a small board, and I've gone back and forth on similar boards that I've designed, but it is nice to have. The other alternative for USB host would be to have a 5V input that both powers the board and feeds out the USB port, but then you need to ensure that it really is 5V.
My biggest complaint is that the Edison doesn't support up to 5V. It would be much simpler for may designs if they could bump the maximum voltage to 5V.
