Desktop GIS 'control', royalty free, under US$1000

Desktop GIS 'control', royalty free, under US$1000


I have been using MapInfo & Manifold for some time now. Both do the
job fine, but increasingly annoying licencing requirements for
runtimes have led me to look for an alternative.

Does anyone know of any desktop GIS control that can meet the
following specs:

a) No royalties on runtimes - my applications are used & installed on
ships where there is no Internet connection, making all these
licencing requirements too difficult to handle.

b) Under US$1000. It will be difficult to convince the powers-that-be
to pay more for this unless it is pretty special.

c) Should work with VB.Net (& preferably also VB6 so it can be
incorporated into some older applications - not essential as we can do
re-writes to VB.Net if necessary).

d) Should be commercially supported & peer-group supported.

I have looked into the following so far:

PepperWhite Street - http://www.pepperwhite.com
No longer seems to be supported. Emails & phone calls are not replied
to.

SharpMap - http://www.codeplex.com/SharpMap
Looks promising, but so far I have been unable to get it working, and
peer support seems lacking - one vague reply to my question in a
couple of weeks & not many other postings.

GIS.Net - http://www.geoframeworks.com/Default.aspx
Also looks good, but costs US$1800. Has forum support.

AvisMap GIS Engine - http://www.avismap.com/gis_products/avismap_gis_engine.html
The sample codes and documentation are perfect. but the site seems
under construction. the price is 199$
email support only

Can anyone add any more? Or am I asking too much to be able to get
what I want for under US$1k?

Thanks,

Alex

Try http://www.tatukgis.com/products/Dk/kernel.aspx

MapObjects LT is also royalty free and fairly cheap.

But tatukgis is probably your best bet, since it has both .NET and OCX
versions.